Perkara pertama yang menyebabkan saya tertarik pada buku adalah warna (kulit)nya. Dan kemudian judulnya.

Ia mengisahkan Mr. Ali yang membuka biro perkahwinan selepas dia bersara. Sudah tentu ia mendapat sambutan hangat kerana perkahwinan yang diaturkan masih kekal dalam budaya masyarakat di India. Klien Mr. Ali terdiri daripada pelbagai agama dan kasta. Dan klien Mr. Ali terkadang menetapkan syarat-syarat yang sangat spesifik contohnya ada yang mencari menantu lelaki yang tinggi untuk anak daranya yang rendah tidak sampai 5 kaki (dengan alasan supaya cucu-cucunya nanti sekurang-kurangnya mempunyai ketinggian sederhana).

Aruna, pembantu Mr. Ali pula cekap membantu Mr. Ali menguruskan bironya. Meski dia mempunyai kebolehan menyuaipadankan pasangan, Aruna sendiri redha dalam mencari jodohnya sendiri. Keluarganya mempunyai masalah kewangan dan tidak mampu menyediakan hantaran perkahwinan walaupun berasal dari kasta Brahmin (kasta yang berada di puncak tertinggi dalam sistem kasta masyarakat India).

Ada beberapa situasi ironi dalam novel ini seperti Mr. Ali yang sibuk mencari jodoh untuk orang lain sedangkan anak terunanya sendiri belum berkahwin kerana sibuk menjadi aktivis masyarakat. Juga kisah seorang jurujual yang paling berjaya dalam syarikatnya, tetapi dia sendiri gagal ‘menjual’ dirinya dalam mencari calon isteri.

Buku ini ditulis dalam bahasa yang mudah dan menarik. Namun ia bukanlah sebuah buku 'unputdownable' malah saya boleh meninggalkan buku tanpa membacanya langsung selama dua hari. Begitupun, ketika membacanya saya mahu terus mengikutinya kerana ingin mengetahui apa yang terjadi seterusnya (rasanya seperti menonton drama bersiri).

Buku ini banyak menerangkan tentang amalan dan budaya masyarakat India, malah Mr. Ali sendiri berpengetahuan luas dalam pelbagai hal yang melibatkan pelbagai agama dan budaya di India. Novel ini adalah salah satu contoh yang menerapkan unsur-unsur harmoni dalam masyarakat majmuk.

Zama turut memuatkan lirik lagu Hindi yang popular berkaitan perkahwinan:

Color your hands with mehndi,
And keep the palanquin ready.
Your love is on his way,
To take you away,
My fair lady.

Terus saya berasa teruja – berkat membaca sarikata apabila menonton filem Hindi saya tahu itu adalah lirik daripada lagu 'Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna' dari filem 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge'.

Turut diterangkan adalah upacara pernikahan orang Islam di India yang saya dapati berbeza sedikit daripada upacara pernikahan di Malaya. Ia mengingatkan saya pada babak dalam filem 'Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham' apabila rakan Anjali bernikah dan Anjali dengan gembira berlari-lari memberitahu “Kabul! Kabul” kepada mereka yang menghadiri perkahwinan itu. Mungkin memang begitukah upacara pernikahan masyarakat Islam di India?

Markah: 3.75 bintang.

Finished this one in a day. It was a cute, sweet story. Relatively predictable, but I liked it. It reminded me of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency - it tells the story of a recently retired man who has nothing better to do, so he sets up a marriage bureau. Then you read about several episodes with clients with a lot about the owner's life thrown in as well. A simple book, an easy read, and just fun.

A quick lark. This could have been a charming Indian version of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, but it fell a bit short. Still, it was a pleasant read.

I really enjoyed this - it was a sweet book and a quick read. The pace and characters reminded me a little bit of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, only set in India. It was also interesting to read about all of the requirements for brides and grooms in India - right caste, right status, not too tall, not too short, not too dark, etc. How complicated!!

The Marriage Bureau for Rich People is a sweet novel about a retired government official in India who decides to set up a Marriage Bureau. He helps families find appropriate brides and grooms for their family members' arranged marriages. There are some side stories that help show other sides of modern day India, such as one about how his son has become an activist fighting for the rights of farmers against encroachment from industry and another about his assistant's troubles that stem from financial hardships suffered by her father. It was a light novel that taught me a lot about modern day Indian culture, both how it is changing and how it has remained the same. Each couple helped by the agency showed the reader something about a different segment of Indian culture. It wasn't a deep novel, the story remained light and the characters were not complicated, but I really enjoyed it as a fun and easy read. It showed me aspects of Indian culture that I was unaware of and I am glad I picked it up.

A very fun book, predictable but still satisfying. Some nice insights to modern India, in a corner not usually mentioned in western media. As far as the writing goes, Jane Austen it isn't - however, the characters are lovable and the cultural differences provide a surprise or two.

This is a bit like a Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency book, only with an Indian marriage bureau. Absolutely delightful. Also, made me hungry for Indian food.

So good. A light and fast read. Fans of Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency will enjoy the similar style and casual tone of Zama's writing.

What a delightful little gem of a book! It reminded me a lot of the "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" books. Well written and charming, I can't wait to get my hands on number two of the series!

I knew nothing about this book prior to picking it up, but I gather that it was marketed as being in the vein of The Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency series (which I love). If that's the case, then for once the publisher's comparison is fairly apt. This gentle book is about a retired Indian civil servant who establishes a marriage matchmaking service on the veranda of his house in order to pass the days, and it's very similar to the Ladies No. 1 series -- albeit without any crime. The story features a fairly lovable trio of protagonists: Mr. Ali and his wife, who run the bureau, and Aruna, a local Hindu girl he hires as an assistant. The supporting cast includes a number of their relations, as well as a steady stream of clients seeking suitable marriage partners.

There's not much of a plot per se -- more a series of vignettes about people who need the marriage bureau's help, along with running storylines involving Aruna's families money woes and the distress brought about by the Ali's son, who is working as an activist for social justice. There's a slightly repetitive aspect to the book, as each matchmaking challenge seems designed to reveal some aspect of caste/class/religion/wealth/family in contemporary Indian society. The fact that these criteria are still so dominant will likely not come as a surprise to anyone with even a cursory knowledge of Indian culture, but the criteria of height was one I was unaware of! Still, the flow of customers allows the author to comment on marriage as an institution, through the lips of the Ali family. The storylines involving their son and Aruna's woes follow a predictable but pleasing arc, and there's plenty of descriptions of food that will make the reader's mouth water. Some of the descriptions of customs and traditions can feel a little bit too much like teaching, but on the whole, it's a fairly winning and heartwarming debut novel (it's sequel is The Many Conditions of Love).