Weddings are the new snake charmers. The willful orientalisation of the East by the West continues to this day and this shit-show is just another manifestation of the same.
So Seema Aunty from Mumbai is in the business of ‘matchmaking’. Her clients include flashy upper class Indian families and well to-do NRIs. The show lays bare everything that is wrong with the way marriages are perceived among Indians, be in in the country or saat samandar paar.
Be it the hunt for slim, trim, educated but cultured brides (read: discosavitris) or clueless young men unable to think beyond their mothers when it comes to choosing their life-partners. The ruthless trampling of individuality of women in the name of asking them to be ‘flexible, accommodating and compromising’ to perpetuating notions that a strong headed woman is ‘unstable’. The premium on good-looks (‘physically and mentally attractive’ said a participant, wtf?) or the importance of alignment of stars for a person to possibly succeed at anything in life.
The show endorses misogyny, patriarchy, casteism, racism, colourism, class-divides, superstition, body-shaming, divorce-related stigma, lack of individuality and an idea that for a young person its ‘marriage or nothing’.
What’s more is that it doesn’t have one success story to boast of (which was probably why I saw it till the end hoping Nadia to get hitched). Even Preeti Aunty’s dumb fuck son is still single despite her willingness to drown the bride in flashy jewelry and gaudy outfits.
Do yourself a favour and don’t watch the show!
(If you don’t value your time – the new show is streaming on Netflix)
