Disbelief!

My parents have been looking for a groom for me. That's fine. I can deal with that. I mean, what do I have to lose right? Besides, it's whichever one comes first and right now - the suitors lining up my door (all two of them) are not really prospective grooms. So I'm letting Amma and Appa (but mainly Amma!) do what they need to do. And also, arranged marriage is different to forced marriage. The way I see it is - it's the same sort of thing as my friend's trying to set me up!

Anyways - things have started rolling now. My Amma being the non social butterfly and not knowing anybody (the benefits being no one can gossip back to her about my antics, the drawbacks being what will follow!) has resorted to some crazy tactics about letting the world know that she has a single eligible daughter ready to be carted off. I'm too scared now to answer the house phone for fear of talking to somebody who's the parent of a potential groom, she keeps pestering my siblings to open up a profile for me on all matrimonial sites from here to Timbuktu and last but not least she has advertised in the matrimonial column of a Tamil newspaper! Stop laughing - it's really not funny!

And recently, my siblings have had to set up an email account for her to deal with the influx (OK - who am I kidding?! The few!) emails. My siblings were telling me about a potential boy they'd found. My mum had been conversing with his parents and they seemed to like each other. Photos were exchanged. This is the scary part. Not being the most confident of people - I am surprised if someone finds me attractive. Yeah, I get by but not amongst my own if that makes sense.

Having not had the Internet for a few days, I didn't the picture of the groom until yesterday. (Let me quickly tell you another story kind of related. My parents had previously tried this about three years ago. And the description of the photo of the guy as my siblings put it: "He looks like a professor!". There is nothing wrong with that at all but being faced with that statement and that photo (he had a tweed jacket on with elbow pads) in your early 20s kinda makes you say no. I'm not shallow but he wasn't my type!)
I kept asking my siblings if he was better or worse than the professor (who had become our reference point it seemed!) and they wouldn't comment.
Opening the photo, I was met with a LARGE guy. Now I'm not stick thin (if only!) but this guy was large. My initial reaction was "He's large. Tall and nice enough looking but large" (Obviously in my head). I could feel my siblings watching my as I took in the photo.
"So?" says my sister.
"So?" says I.
"What are you going to do?" asks my brother.
"I'll talk to him and see what he's like" I reply.

And in slow motion I see my brother turn around and face me with his jaw wide open and ask "WHAT?!". He didn't seem to be able to believe that I'd even said that!! And so I clarified for him again.
To which he replied "Just tell them you're not interested. Amma and Appa have already decided anyways!".
I'm still trying to get them to at least let me talk to him - what do I have to lose?!

And that is how it's going so far!