Emdad Rahman & Rekha Waheed discuss Asian weddings
Maya Malik wants a big glamorous Bollywood wedding. And now Maya has found Jhanghir Rahman, her perfect man, it's time to start the mammoth task of planning it. But fifteen designer wedding boutiques, seven venues, two jet-set dashes to Dubai and Dhaka, and one trip to Tiffany's later, with interfering aunties on her tail, her enthusiasm is flagging.
And with the Maliks and Rahmans fighting over dowries and every decision related to the 600 strong guest list, Maya questions if it's all worth it. Most importantly, she starts to doubt if Jhanghir really is Mr Right...
How was the response to your debut novel - ‘The A-Z Guide to Arranged Marriage’?
How far will readers identify with Maya Malik?
Quite strongly I hope. She's a sassy city savvy Bengali girl who wants the best of old world traditions and new world offerings. Finding Mr Right isn't enough these days, getting past all the wedding hurdles and family expectations to get to married is a challenge in itself. Young women, irrespective of race or religion, will relate to Maya’s attempt to turn Mr Right into Mr Forever!
What type of gent is Maya's suitor Jhangir Khan?
Jhanghir Khan is the accomplished, good-looking best friend that we girls have but forget to consider in the search for Mr Right. What he’s not is the bad boy, and when one comes along Maya Malik forgets what’s right for her. Which girl hasn’t been in that position?
Is there a lot of pressure on newly weds to go for the "perfect Bollywood wedding?"
If we're honest, it's more a case of self-imposed pressure. A perfect Bollywood wedding is an ideal, it’s our Asian equivalent of having a church white wedding!
Ok, so we can get carried away in to the Ashwariya/Abishek inspired celebrations, and sometimes we can compromise the tasteful for the gimmicky, but given the choice, don’t we all want a little bit of indulgence on the big day!
Are Asian weddings becoming too expensive?
Inexcusably expensive. That’s one of the themes addressed in ‘My Bollywood Wedding’ because we have to be honest about this issue. Weddings can stretch budgets and put couples into debt. A recent statistic put the average Asian wedding in England at approx £30,000 - that's a phenomenal amount of money and an immense amount of pressure on couples and families that often leaves people in debt. That’s not how anyone should start a marriage.
Should there be an awareness campaign launched at potential couples - advising them on being sensible with wedding planning budgets?
We, as a community, have to move on from the mentality that big is best and that inviting 500 + people with a brick’s weight of gold in dowry is a prerequisite is to getting married.
Having an intimate small wedding is as amazing as a blingtastic wedding. These certainly beat wedding where you’re an arbitrary chairfiller for a distant relative you’ve never met!
With a global financial meltdown, why can't Maya have a simple wedding?
Maya Malik has a nasty wake up call about the costs of putting together a glamorous wedding and it puts the wedding at risk. Read 'My Bollywood Wedding' to find out what happens next.
Does your work tackle issues such as forced marriage and interfering family members who cause unnecessary strain and pressure on couples?
‘The A-Z Guide to Arranged Marriage’ helped to distinguish between the virtues of arranged marriages and the illegality of forced marriages. ‘My Bollywood Wedding’ addresses the issues of interfering family members and financial management that greatly affect the success or failure of marriages. It’s time we started tackling these issues.
Is this a chick flick or is it aimed at a broader gender and cultural audience?
It’s a modern sassy novel aimed to make us laugh, cry and enjoy the realities of what it takes to get married in this age. We all have interfering familiy members, traditions to live by, budgets to manage and dreams for an amazing wedding day – ‘My Bollywood Wedding’ puts all that into a neat little story for singletons, brides-to-be and married ladies to enjoy!
Who has been your greatest literary influence?
My Mum and Dad – they instilled a great love and respect for the written word.
What is the secret to a happy and lasting marriage?
If I knew, I’d be a very rich lady!
What's next for Maya?
Babies…!
What's next for Rekha?
Only Allah (SWT) knows, so watch this space!
You’ve heard of Bridget Jones, Ally McBeal and Carrie Bradshaw, now meet Maya Malik. The ‘plagued by singledom’, quirky main character undoubtedly reaches out to a new generation of women through redefined stereotypes and new cultural challenges. All women will relate to her paranoia about singledom. The book is a contemporary, witty and proud representation of the controversial topic that has already created considerable interest.
After tackling, with lashings of humour and style, the perils of finding Mr Right in The A-Z Guide to Arranged Marriage, a sassy story that unapologetically celebrates the realities of an age-old tradition for the new generation, Rekha Waheed will delight her many fans with the trials and tribulations of preparing for The Big Day in her latest novel.
Born and raised in West London and of Bengali origin, Author Rekha Waheed graduated from SOAS, University of London, with a BSc. and Masters in Economics. Rekha is a regular on BBC Asian Network, women's programs and literary events, often debating social issues affecting British Asians in the west.
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