Liz: It’s the age old question, how do you know if love is going to last? Would it be great if there was some way you could predict what your chances are for having a long lasting satisfying relationship with the person you’re intending to marry?
Male: Then we go for a horoscope matching.
Liz: Horoscope? So, if you like her before you even go on a date?
Male: No.
Liz: No, next thing get a horoscope.
Male: You go for a horoscope matching.
Priya: We do have the horoscope matching the astrology part of it.
Liz: And when did that happen?
Priya: Actually that happened after we met because my husband has not to keep me hidden like all this the horoscope part and stuff like that. He says if I like the girl then I’ll go ahead with it.
Liz: So, who—
Priya: Luckily for us I think it matched because I still don’t know and I do want to know but I don’t want to know if the stars agree.
Liz: Okay.
Male: If the horoscope match, then only it proceeds otherwise it stops so that there and we go for next.
Liz: So, even if you like her, beautiful everything working but if a horoscope astrologer says it’s not a good match.
Male: Then we cannot go.
Liz: Then you say no, forget it.
Liz: They seemed a little extreme to me so I decided to sit down with an astrology expert and ask a few questions.
Shahad: When you match the horoscopes, astrologist say three things are important.
Liz: Okay.
Shahad: Intellectual companionship is very important, emotional involvement and sexual life. If these three things matched properly then your married life is okay.
Male: —I got horoscope done, they say it doesn’t match.
Liz: Your horoscope together is bad.
Male: Yeah. It’s very bad and both of them are not matched. Then also my father-in-law is very great. He says”’ Okay, if you like my daughter and my daughter likes you, I don’t have any hassle to go for the marriage.” And he allowed me to go for it.
Liz: So eventhough the stars were no aligned, they let you marry her?
Male: Yeah.
Shahad: How long?
Liz: I don’t know. How long will love continue? That is a good question.
Shahad: In order that love should continue lifetime, you have to match the natures.
Liz: And how did it work out?
Male: Very good, very well. For the last 30 years very well, we’re doing very well, no problems.
Liz: Now, do you think couples start not getting along in the middle of their marriage because of the planets?
Shahad: Sometimes the planet, people changes are not good.
Liz: What do you tell the parents of why you don’t want to see her again or why you don’t want to marry her? Will you say she’s not pretty enough? No?
Male: Like that we cannot tell.
Liz: No, so what do you say?
Male: We say that our horoscope is not matching. You give the excuse.
Liz: You give the excuse. Our horoscopes don’t match. So you sometimes you lie.
Male: —your girl is not pretty or she is fat.
Liz: No, you can’t say that.
Male: You’ll get a slap.
Liz: You’ll get a slap? Right so you say, the astrologist that we use says that our horoscopes don’t match which is a code word for—your daughter’s not pretty?
Shahad: Planet position at the time of birth is your horoscope. But current planet position makes a lot of difference. Daily changes, so your love should be so powerful—
Liz: It all sounds so scientific, so logical. When you think about how we let people in the throws of infatuation makes this enormous life altering decisions based on very little information or whatsoever, it makes us all seem a little careless about the whole thing but what about freedom? What about progress? In Mumbai, what’s it like if you just want to be free to date?
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