The big fat Indian wedding is the subject of a new book which also looks into various underlying issues related to marriages like dowry, inequality, body shaming, social media pressure and physique anxiety.
In "Encounters of a Fat Bride", Samah Visaria comes out with Madhurima Pandey's story of struggle and survival in the run-up to her D-Day.
Madhurima is 25, single, and gradually coming to terms with the annoying 'you're next' nudges from family and friends. But soon they realise that chances of finding a groom for her are slim. At 93 kg, she knows she isn't the ideal weight for marriage, even if her family believes she's the ideal age.
Despite her reservations, the hunt begins, and so does a spree of rejections until Harsh comes along. Madhu cannot believe that a boy with no obvious flaws has agreed to marry her. Low self-esteem makes her suspect he's either impotent or a homosexual, but she doesn't turn down the proposal immediately.
A negligible period of courtship and a hurried engagement follow.
Mumbai-based marketing professional Samah wanted to write a simple story, relevant to the generation of today; in sync with the way everything is around us.
The idea of a fat girl's brush with arranged marriage was something that resonated with her idea of a contemporary story.
"What must finding love be like for a person who does not conform to the Photoshop-savvy generation of society? How would a person who is sandwiched between the Shaadi.Com and the Tinder varieties adapt to manage with both? These thoughts sowed the seed of a plot in my mind and eventually gave birth to 'Encounters of a Fat Bride'," she says.
According to the author, her book, published by Penguin Random House, tries to capture what it's like to be flawed in this day and age.
"Personalisation is everything. The modern Indian has taken every tradition and given it a twist, made it personal," she says.
"It's this rapid shift in society that I witnessed over the years that prompted me to write a story about a fat girl's experience in a crazy, perfectly imperfect world," Samar says.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
