On Wed, 2014-07-16 at 08:48 -0700, Heather Madrone wrote: > I feel utterly incompetent to arrange a marriage for another person! > How > do parents proceed in this business? Has anyone on this list been > involved in arranging a marriage for their children?
Sorry. I forgot to mention, in my last message - after a suitable "boy" or "girl" is identified it is typically the parents of the boy who approach the family of the girl. But there is no hard and fast rule that it must happen that way. Telephone numbers of the parents of the "target" girl/boy are obtained and a call is made and the parents meet - usually with photos or with the real thing physically present. If both sides think the match looks OK the boy and girl are asked if they would like to meet. They are then given an opportunity to meet and size each other up. If they are OK, then the process of fixing a date for the marriage starts. Indian parents often demand a "horoscope". If you don't have a horoscope you simply give the date and time and place of birth and the people who want the horoscope can get it done by their friendly neighbourhood astrologer. I get the impression that a horoscope is a polite way to decline a match - by saying "The horoscopes don't match". Alternatively they may dearly desire that the marriage takes place because the horoscopes match beautifully :) shiv
