Knotty People

In 2009, author Farahad Zama created something of a stir when he won the Melissa Nathan Award. Zama was a student of electrical engineering and worked in an investment bank in London (as he does even now). The prize-winning novel, The Marriage Bureau for Rich People, had been written on the train, during his daily commute. But most surprisingly, the Melissa Nathan Award was for comedy romances and Zama was the first man to win the award. The Marriage Bureau for Rich People introduced readers to Mr. Ali, a retired gent who lives in the south Indian city of Vizag, or Vishakhapatnam, and runs a marriage bureau. The Wedding Wallah is the third book in this series. The cover of The Wedding Wallah describes it as “a novel of pride, prejudice and unsuitable arrangements” but this is not the world of an Indian Jane Austen. Along with the marriage bureau, there are Maoists, kidnappings, closeted gay men, call centre workers and women who like to be on top. Despite all this, Zama’s storytelling is nimble. Unfazed by the seriousness of the issues surrounding his characters, Zama takes us back to Vizag and to the crow-shooing retired life of Mr. and Mrs. Ali.

The Marriage Bureau for Rich People saw Mr. Ali set up his marriage bureau to fill up his post-retirement days. In the next book, The Many Conditions of Love, Mr. Ali’s assistant, Aruna, got her love story. The Wedding Wallahs is mostly about Dilawar and Pari. Dilawar works in Mumbai and his Vizag-based mother is desperate to get him married. His mother approaches Pari, Mr. and Mrs. Ali’s widowed niece who has adopted an orphan and works in a call centre. It seems to be a perfect match but Pari isn’t sure and Dilawar is happy living with his boyfriend in Mumbai. A tug of war follows. Everyone is convinced that this marriage is ideal, but for the two people who are to be wed. In Mumbai, gay pride rattles the closeted Dilawar. In Vizag, the tranquil lives of Aruna, Mr. Ali and others are threatened by the Maoists.

To tackle both homosexuality and rural insurgency in a popular fiction title is ambitious, and to Zama’s credit he balances these diverse elements ably in The Wedding Wallah. The undemanding plot unfolds steadily and doesn’t lose its pace when the Maoists enter the narrative. Barring some grim sequences, Zama holds on to the light tone of comedy romances and, predictably, the Naxalite movement is simplified in the pursuit of happy endings. Zama is at his best when he describes the everyday affairs of small-town life. The mundane struggles involving family and neighbours are charmingly portrayed. Despite contemporary elements like the call centre and insurgency, there’s a quaint, sepia-toned romanticism to Zama’s fictitious Vizag and its residents. It’s a world that is recognisably Indian but without bleakness and disillusionment. Whether you are a Maoist, an aristocratic gay Muslim man or a widow, happy endings are possible here.

The Wedding Wallah by Farahad Zama, Hachette, Rs295. Buy it from Flipkart.com.