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THE MUSH REGISTER

Best arrangement Satyanarayan Venkataramana, project manager (software division), Standard Chartered Bank, with wife Priya

Priya

The period of discovery was wonderful — even if it exposed qualities in each other that had to be corrected — such as forgetfulness. Our honeymoon (Shimla and Kulu Manali) was punctuated with anxious moments. At Meenambakkam we realised our tickets were not with us. He drove back at a tearing speed that could put Schumacher in the shade. When we reached Shimla, we were looking for the mountaintop hotel (where our stay had been arranged) in vain. When we learnt after hours of futile search that a 60-km trek downhill would take us to the hotel's doorstep, we were struck by a sense of absurd comedy. We laughed ourselves silly and in that magical moment, I realised I was on the road to a lifetime of happiness.

Satyanarayan Venkataramana

Arranged marriage is strange. Often, it hauls two unwilling people, so unlike each other in a 1001 things, to the altar and still makes both think they could not have found a person so suitable on their own. I had barely set foot on Indian soil when I was whisked away to keep my date with destiny. She did not look very short, but she did not "rise" to my expectation either. Nor was she as slim as I hoped she would be. But under a barrage of questions meant to unmask me, I was transfixed. I even found myself warming up to this short girl who, I thought, had to lose weight.

(AS TOLD TO PRINCE FREDERICK)

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