The Marriage Bureau for Rich People by Farahad Zama

Author:Farahad Zama
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: India
Publisher: For the Benefit of Mr. Kite
Published: 2007-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Twelve

The next day, Mr Ali and Aruna were going through their lists to identify non-members. These were people who had responded to ads but had never become members themselves. Mr Ali wanted to write to them reminding them to become members. They had been at this task for over an hour when Mrs Ali finished preparing lunch and came out with three glasses of cool sherbet and sat with them. She used the end of her sari to wipe her brow and brought the chair a little forward to better catch the breeze from the fan. Mr Ali called a stop to their work.

“Let’s take a break,” he said. “This is hard work.”

The three were silent for a few minutes while they sipped the dark red drink.

“What is this, madam? I’ve never had this drink before,” asked Aruna.

“This is rooh afza. I suppose you can call it rose syrup. It is an old cooling drink used by Muslims. Most young people don’t know about it now – they all drink Coke or Pepsi,” said Mrs Ali.

After some time, Mrs Ali asked her husband, “So, what did all you oldies do on the beach yesterday?”

Mr Ali laughed. “The usual – we walked along the beach, talked about our aches and pains and how much money our sons are earning or how much our little houses are now worth.”

Mrs Ali asked, “How many of you were there?”

Mr Ali thought for a moment and said, “About ten of us. Oh, one more thing happened…”

Mrs Ali frowned. “What happened?” she asked softly.

“As Azhar and I reached the beach, a Christian missionary stopped us. He started telling us how the Bible was the one true book and we should follow it if we wanted to go to heaven,” said Mr Ali.

“I bet Azhar walked away from him and you didn’t,” said Mrs Ali.

“How did you know?” asked a surprised Mr Ali. “I looked around and Azhar had disappeared. I told the missionary that it was a miracle, the way my brother-in-law had disappeared, but I don’t think he had a sense of humour.”

“Poor man,” said Mrs Ali in a sympathetic voice.

“Yes, I know. Here I was, ready to join my friends on the beach and this guy stops me and wants to talk religion,” said Mr Ali.

“Not you. I meant the missionary. Poor man, that he encountered you. You must have destroyed his confidence,” said Mrs Ali.

Aruna laughed. Mr Ali looked at her severely and she bent her head, studiously looking at the lists.

“What do you mean?” asked Mr Ali, turning to his wife.

“Did you or did you not exchange words with him?”

“Yes, but – ”

“What exactly did you tell him?” asked Mrs Ali.

“Well, he showed me a pamphlet that he said proved the truth of the Bible. The pamphlet talked about how the Bible gave the order of creation of animal life – fish, reptiles, birds, land animals and finally men. He said that the probability of getting such a sequence right was one in many billions – that it proved the Bible must have been divinely inspired.

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