There was one special proposal for Sulo. The young man had studied in a Roman Catholic seminary but had not yet found his vocation. He was seen in the photograph kneeling in the holy city of Jerusalem, at the altar of one of the churches. His sister, a Roman Catholic nun, had brought the proposal. ‘I want him to have a happy life,’ she sighed. The mother-in-law to be looked formidable. The man had rejected other proposals because the girls had either lived abroad too long or looked too westernized with western clothes and too much make-up. Whether Sulo would be considered suitable was the question asked by the nun, Sister Felicitas.

Sulo’s mother also consulted Rosie Aunty. A meeting was arranged. Sulo was led like a sacrificial lamb to the altar. They met, parents, relatives, matchmaker, the proposed bridegroom, Sulo, Meena. The bridegroom to be had come from the Middle East. He was a computer engineer with a salary of forty thousand rupees a month. He liked Sulo. So did all the others. Then he took her to a quiet corner for a private conversation. He stood beside her, compared their heights. He was short, wore heels to look taller.

‘Are you worried that I am short?’ he asked Sulo anxiously, and then continued: ‘The woman I marry must not wear even a drop of make-up. No tilak even on her forehead. She must dress simply and be well covered. I belong to a religious sect which lays down such rules. We do not socialize much either. No parties or elaborate functions …. I would like to marry you without delay and take you with me. Are you prepared?’

‘I want some time to decide,’ Sulo said. Her mother was happy. So were the boy’s parents and relatives.

‘Marry him. He’s a good match. You’ll be well off too. Think of your mother,’ said Rosie Aunty.

‘Sulo, marry him,’ the mother pleaded.

‘How to marry him, Amma? He is short. Same height as myself. Also I can’t enjoy life with all these rules of his religion, no? No parties even. Can’t dress up nicely also. Not even pottu on the forehead to match my saree, and praying, praying all the time.