THE ART OF MATRIMONY
SEARCHING FOR THE PERFECT PARTNER
The Perfect Wife
A Mulla Nasrudin Story
By
VIKRAM KARVE
There is this beautiful young lady. She is intelligent, doing well in her career and is a most sought after “eligible” young girl.
She wants to get married but it seems that she just cannot seem to find anyone suitable matching her “stringent” requirements. She wants a "perfect" husband.
She is surrounded by so many “eligible” boys, as colleagues at work, her ex-classmates and college-mates and in her friends’ circle, from whom she can pick and choose if she prefers a “love” marriage.
And also she has “seen” and “rejected” a large number of boys her parents and well-wishers keep lining up for her, in case she wants to go in for an “arranged” marriage.
So many boys seem to be interested in marrying her, but sadly none of the boys seems to come up to her perfect standards and high expectations.
But one thing is sure. She does want to get married.
I wonder whether I should tell her this apocryphal Mulla Nasrudin story – THE PERFECT WIFE:
Mulla Nasrudin was sitting in a tea shop when a friend came excitedly to speak with him.
“I am about to get married,” his friend said, “and I am so very excited.”
“Congratulations,” Mulla Nasrudin said, nonchalant, pokerfaced.
“Tell me, Nasrudin, have you ever thought of marriage yourself?” the about to get married friend asked Mulla Nasrudin who had remained a chronic bachelor.
Nasrudin replied, “Of course I did think of getting married. In my youth, in fact, I very much wanted to get married.”
“So, what happened...?” the friend asked curious.
“I wanted to find for myself the perfect wife,” Nasrudin said, “so I travelled looking for the perfect wife. I first went toDamascus. There I met a beautiful woman who was gracious, kind, and deeply spiritual, but she had no worldly knowledge."
"Oh, how sad...!" said the friend, “then what did you do...?
"Then I travelled further and went to Isphahan. There I met a woman who was both spiritual and worldly, beautiful in many ways, but her social graces were not of the highest standards.”
“What a tragedy...then what did you do...you gave up...?” the friend asked.
“No...No...I don't give up so easily...and I very much wanted to get married...so I kept on searching for the perfect wife and travelled all over the world meeting so many women..." Nasrudin said.
“And did you find her...? Tell me, did you finally find the perfect wife...?” the friend asked eagerly.
“Yes,” Nasrudin said, “after travelling all over finally I went to Cairo and there after much searching I found her. She was spiritually deep, graceful, and beautiful in every respect, at home in the world and at home in the realms beyond it. I knew I had found the perfect wife.”
“Then why did you not marry her...?” the friend asked excitedly.
“Alas,” said Nasrudin as he shook his head in dismay, “Unfortunately, she was searching for the perfect husband.”
Tell me Dear Reader:
Should I tell the beautiful and bright young girl this Mulla Nasrudin story right now...? Or should I wait till she perfects the art of remaining single...?
VIKRAM KARVE
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.
VIKRAM KARVE educated at IIT Delhi, ITBHU Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale, and Bishop's School Pune, is an Electronics and Communications Engineer by profession, a Human Resource Manager and Trainer by occupation, a Teacher by vocation, a Creative Writer by inclination and a Foodie by passion. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories and creative non-fiction articles in magazines and journals for many years before the advent of blogging. His delicious foodie blogs have been compiled in a book "Appetite for a Stroll". Vikram lives in Pune with his family and pet Doberman girl Sherry, with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.
Vikram Karve Creative Writing Blog - http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/blog/post
Academic Journal Vikram Karve – http://karvediat.blogspot.com Professional Profile of Vikram Karve - http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
Email: vikramkarve@sify.comFoodie Book: Appetite for a Stroll
What a brilliant way to tell a fact sir... I suggest you must tell the girl this story and if something you would like to add then pls tell her, "We make mental images about good, bad and perfectional stuff. Based on that we judge people, it is like looking at the world through a broken glass fitted in your memory. It is like trying to fit a circle in a square. This is harmful, instead to search a soulmate the person should not change himself/herself because somebody has to love you the way you are."
ReplyDeleteI hope this helps her.
Thanks and Regards
Thanks Manish.
ReplyDeleteI told her the story.
She got married pretty fast!
Well this is the story of every next boy and girl, we should learn to adjust and understand.. I wish i could narrate this story all eligible one's.
ReplyDelete"Wonderful story with great moral that ,there can be no perfect person, only near perfect matchmaking. How close the match is to perfection, depends largely on the two people involved in it.Therefore the threshold and meaning of perfection have to be seriously considered.
ReplyDeleteWiser people will know this and will accept a person with his/her flaws so that they can also expect to be accepted the same way. Wise people will learn this and there will still be others who will have so much of a problem learning this truth that, they will never be able to enjoy life to the fullest !."
@ Nags - You are right: wise people will adapt themselves and adjust their thresholds and not be too dogmatic. Thanks for your enlightened views.
ReplyDelete@ Matrimony - Please do tell this story to all eligible couples.