What's a horse without a carriage?

Will the reel love story please stand up? Haha. That's a headline from the Sunday Times of India. The story, or rather stories, were quite interesting, though. It was a whole special report on love (for V-day, of course). The gist: does love really make the best marriage? The resounding answer: no. Most people would rather let their parents choose a spouse for them than marry their girlfriend or boyfriend. They like the idea of love that they see in movies, but they don't have much faith in so-called "love marriages."

So I decided to check out the personal ads - half of them have been submitted by parents seeking suitable matches for their children. And so it's no surprise that when I am asked if I am married (one of the first questions, sometimes before "what's your name"), and I say no, everyone is shocked.

Some staggering statistics (to me, anyway): 57% of girls in India are married by age 18. In Rajasthan (the state I am spending the most time in), 17% of girls are married by age 10! (Though I have been told they don't move in with their husbands until they are older.)

Sent from my BlackBerry wireless handheld.