Planning a wedding is no joke–especially a Desi one! But, it’s important for brides to take the time out to relax and spend some quality time with themselves and what better way to do it than to get lost in a book? The Sari-Clad Bride’s book corner reviews and recommends stories that will take your mind off of your Big Day. While our main subjects of interest are hilarious wedding tales and South Asian authors (combining the two themes of The Sari-Clad Bride!), we’re open to reviewing anything you guys will enjoy. If you have any book or short story suggestions, please email us at thesaricladbride@gmail.com. Enjoy!

There are so many books out there that cover the South Asian diaspora that writers tend to get repetitive with the subject. But, Madras on Rainy Days is an offbeat, more scandalous version of what happens when an 19-year-old  Indian-American girl, Laila, goes back to Hyderabad to get married. What’s so endearing about Samina Ali’s main protagonist, Laila, is that she does not fight her heritage. In fact, in some aspects, she’s more comfortable being Indian than she is being American.

Madras on Rainy Days goes beyond the cliched ABCD vs. FOB struggle, dealing with taboo subjects such as abortion and homosexuality. Laila spends half the year in Hyderabad, India and the other half in Minneapolis. Her parents are strict Muslims and at the age of 19 they arrange her marriage to a young engineer in Hyderabad. Laila is reluctant to get married, not for the usual reasons–not wanting to marry an Indian, not wanting an arranged marriage–but because of of a secret from her past that she carries with her to Hyderabad during her wedding. Laila does everything in her power to make sure the wedding does happen. Ultimately, they do get married and Laila falls into another quandary–this time, it’s her husband that has the secret and it’s a big one.

Apart from the interesting story line and the strength of Laila’s character, I love the rich and velvety descriptions of Laila’s wedding preparations! Samina Ali painstakingly details all the rituals of a Hyderabadi Muslim wedding–from the mehndi to the nikkah to the walima. Each outfit, each event is described so beautifully that I found myself rooting for Laila’s marriage, because what a waste such a lavish wedding would be!

“We were all dressed in yellow. The Hyderabadi Muslim wedding lasts five days, each ceremony bearing its own ritual along with its own color. The first three days are the gold that promises fortune and fertility, the wedding nik’kah is the blood red of union, and the walima dinner that is given only upon a successful coupling is the green of Islam, of submission.

Silver trays were shuffled about and finally settled at my feet. They were loaded down with flowers strung into lush neckalces and bracelets, sweetmeats covered in thin sheets of edible silver, engraved bowls filled with turmeric and rosewater, a short flask of jasmine itar, almond oil, and even this, a bottle of hair removal cream. “

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