Farahad Zama – författare

What does somebody with a wealth of common sense do if retirement palls?Why, open a marriage bureau, of course. And soon Mr Ali, from beautiful Vizag in South India, sees his new business flourish as the indomitable Mrs Ali and able assistant Aruna look on with careful eyes.But although many clients go away happy, problems lurk behind the scenes as Aruna nurses a heart-rending secret; while Mr Ali cannot see that he rarely follows the sage advice he so freely dishes out to others. And when love comes calling for Aruna, an impossible dilemma looms...A colourful coastal town and contemporary marriage bureau prove a perfect backdrop for a splendid array of characters making sense of all sorts of pride and prejudice - and the ways in which true love won''t quite let go - in this witty and big-hearted debut novel.

Mrs Ali''s much loved home is suddenly under threat - a road widening scheme threatens to destroy both it and the family business, the Marriage Bureau for Rich People. Meanwhile, Mrs Ali''s niece, Pari, a young Muslim widow, adopts a destitute Hindu boy, and this unorthodox arrangement offends both Muslim and Hindu in the sleepy eastern Indian town of Vizag. The Ali family are plunged into crisis, threated by police action, social boycott and excommunication.There is one plan that might just keep Pari and her son together, and the home Mr and Mrs Ali have shared for many years intact, but it''s a desperate gamble. Do they risk everything for a small chance of success? But can they afford not to?

Can true love triumph in the face of fierce family opposition? Mr Ali''s marriage bureau is flourishing but trouble isn''t far away once son Rehman begins secretly to woo TV journalist Usha in the small cafes and on the beautiful beaches of South Indian Vizag in an ill-advised romance.Meanwhile the lovely Aruna has a problem or two all her own. She enjoys being Mr Ali''s right-hand woman at the marriage bureau, having a wonderful husband Ram, and living in a mansion a far cry from her parents'' cramped one-room house; but how long can Aruna remain happy once her spiteful sister-in-law Mani comes home to stay? When Usha''s father finds out about Rehman, a Muslim, the fat is in the fire. And what will Mr and Mrs Ali have to say when they discover too their son has been dating a non-Muslim?

Mr Ali''s flourishing marriage bureau seems to have chalked up another success when his ward, Pari, receives a surprise proposal from a rich, handsome aristocrat. But why is the boy''s family so keen to get him married to Pari - an orphan, a widow, and now a single mother?Meanwhile Communist insurgents on the warpath in India''s rural hinterland, and gays on the march for their rights in the big cities of Bombay and Delhi seem from another world. But soon these threatening forces invade the peaceful lives of Mr and Mrs Ali, their son Rehman and their able assistant Aruna...