I was realizing by now that sifting through prospective grooms was harder than valuing distressed assets.
‘You are not doing this properly,’ my mother said as I rejected a guy because I didn’t like his printed Hawaiian shirt.
‘But I hate that shirt. How could he wear it?’ I laughed.
‘He is a doctor. We are shortlisting him. You can choose his clothes after marriage,’ mom said.
We finished at 4 in the afternoon, with a shortlist of ten potential grooms to be contacted further.
‘I’m tired. You want to step out for a coffee?’ I said.
‘Sure,’ she said.
We walked to a Pret a Manger café near Earl’s Court tube station. My mother held my hand.
‘We have done something together after a long time,’ she said.
‘Yeah, bonding over shortlisted grooms,’ I said and laughed.
‘You wait and see. I will find a prince for you,’ she said.
34
‘Hi, can you see me?’ I said. I sat at my dining table, facing my laptop.
I had a Skype call fixed with Raj Bakshi, a doctor based in Boston, USA.
‘Yeah. It’s a little dark though. Can you switch on another light?’ Raj said. He was thirty years old, had a thin moustache and wore a light blue shirt.
Before I could respond, my mother switched on all the lights in the apartment.
‘Mom? What are you doing here?’ I whispered to her.
‘Yeah, much better,’ Raj said.
‘One sec, Raj,’ I said and muted him. I bent the laptop screen to cover the camera.
‘What happened? Don’t keep him waiting. Talk,’ mom said.
‘Mom, if we are doing this, we are doing this my way.’
‘I am only trying to help...’
‘Thanks. But let me talk to them without you hovering around.’
My mother made a face and left the room. I resumed the Skype call.
‘Hi,’ I said.
‘Hello. Must be quite late there?’
‘It’s midnight, yes. London is five hours ahead.’
‘Sorry. I just came back from work,’ he said.
‘You are a doctor, right?’
‘Yeah. And what exactly do you do? Your profile said banking.’