The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan In Color
Monday, August 31, 2020 — 7
Heard the ruckus for the new
Netflix reality TV show “Indian
Matchmaking,” but not sure if
you want to watch it? Don’t fret
the details, I won’t spoil any-
thing, but I’ll help you navigate
whether or not this is a show for
you.
If you come from a Desi fam-
ily like me, you grew up hearing
about how the numerous rela-
tionships in your family were
based upon an arranged mar-
riage. While it is not as com-
monly practiced today, arranged
marriages are super common
within Southeast Asian house-
holds, as well as most Central
Asian countries and the Middle
East. That’s why when I saw the
commotion around Netflix hav-
ing a show focused on the South
Asian community, I couldn’t wait
to see this rishta aunty work her
magic in what I understood as a
nuanced modern take. While the
show is based between both India
and the United States, the rela-
tionships are inherently driven
by regressive ideals of colorism,
classism and gender stereotypes.
Sima Aunty, the rishta queen
of Mumbai, pulls biodata to
form the most compatible pairs,
in which contains information
about the single men and women
seeking to get paired based on
age, height, education, career and
more. Needless to say, the show is
extremely toxic but insightful on
a harsh reality for many within
Desi culture.
A fun game Sima Aunty sub-
consciously plays is find-the-
backhanded-compliment. If the
man or woman does not fit the
idealistic norm of being rich, fair,
petite or beautiful enough, don’t
worry! This rishta aunty might
say their personality makes up
for what’s lacking. And if the lad
or laddie has the “better rated”
for looks, education and stabil-
ity, they’ll get the upper hand in
Sima Aunty finding them more
suitable matches. If you’re the
bottom end of the pair — and to
make her job easier — she’ll rec-
ommend how you’ll have to com-
promise on personal desires in a
future spouse in order to make
the marriage work.
Depending on the focus, be it
the man or woman, the narra-
tive changes but the superficial-
ity is maintained. For all the girl
bosses — independent and run-
ning their lives — Aunty suggests
it will be harder to match them
because they have a mind of their
own and the financial mobility
to do so, inconveniencing Sima’s
search. Similarly, if a client was
previously divorced or is not the
ideal body weight, you’ve gotta
give Sima more time because
you’re burdening her with under-
sible characteristics.
Meanwhile, the men on the
show are in an entirely other
ballgame. While you get the
occasional sweet laddu padhus
who will charm the audience
with their wholesome charisma,
Sima prefers they have stable
careers and six-figure jobs. The
best part about being a male on
her show is the richer you are
the more choices you get. These
men get hundreds of biodatas to
choose from because objectify-
ing women is so much fun! And
who’s to blame them? They, or
rather the parents, have to make
sure their son’s wife is beauti-
ful and fair enough for their off-
spring because we all know it’s
the male that carries the brain in
the household — so that is already
guaranteed.
Overall, if you’re looking for
a show to make you feel better
about yourself, this is the show
for you! Let this show bring out
your own insecurities. The best
part is if you have immigrant
families
from
similar
back-
grounds, they can reminisce,
reliving extreme trauma from
their own past, but this time with
the whole family! As a female
South-Asian American, I feel like
this show is a mockery of cultural
Desi traditions and households,
only to be the laughing stock of
the Western world. But hey, by all
means Netflix—at least it sells!
IZZA AHMED-GHANI
MiC Staff Writer
A satiric review of Netflix’s ‘Indian Matchmaking’
Disclaimer: *names have been
abbreviated in order to ensure the
privacy of the identities involved
In October 2019, the people of
Lebanon began to fill the streets
chanting “kellon yaani kellon,”
which translates to “all of them
means all of them.” All of them,
referring to the corrupt sectarian
government officials who have pri-
oritized their own greed over pro-
viding the Lebanese people with
fundamental aid and services for
years, leaving Lebanon to be the
third most indebted country in the
world. Lebanon has a debt to GDP
ratio of 152 percent, and has over
75 percent of its population living
below the poverty line. The country
is without a stable economy, stable
electricity, waste management ser-
vices and food security for no rea-
son other than the government’s
inherent greed. When the Lebanese
people chant, “kellon yaani kellon,”
it is intended to leave no question
that all politicians, whether the
president or a cabinet member, are
the problem. As long as the current
ideologies
perpetuated
through
political power persist, Lebanon
will be stuck in an eternal cycle of
corruption.
Years of a broken economic sys-
tem, characterized by corruption
and heavy reliance on imports, the
pegging of the Lebanese currency to
the US dollar and a diaspora which
endlessly pumps cash into a fragile
banking system, has inevitably led
to the toppling of Lebanon’s econo-
my. In recent months, the Lebanese
currency has crashed and prices
have skyrocketed, creating a disap-
pearing middle class and further
distress on the poor. Over 49 per-
cent of Lebanon’s population (6.8
million) are food insecure, and with
the price of grocery staples dou-
bling, or even tripling, low income
people are destitute. Some parents
have to decide if they are going to
buy formula or diapers — as there is
no way for them to afford both.
HK*, who has lived in Lebanon
throughout her whole life, includ-
ing the civil war, told The Daily the
economic collapse has left Lebanon
in the worst state she has ever seen.
“During the civil war, we were
mostly scared of bombings,” HK
said. “We had hope that the war
would end. Now, we are scared of
tomorrow and we cannot see hope.”
Lack of hope, a shared sentiment
among the Lebanese, is reasonable,
given the little to no aid the govern-
ment is providing for the people.
The government has failed to reim-
burse hospitals, making it impos-
sible to pay staff and buy medical
supplies, exacerbating the effects of
COVID-19.
“COVID-19 is a problem, like it
is everywhere in the world, but it
is not our main problem,” HK said.
“The economy is our biggest prob-
lem.”
Videos have surfaced of pregnant
women eating from dumpsters and
mothers on the streets offering to
sell their organs to feed their chil-
dren. Among those belonging to
the most vulnerable communities
are Syrian refugees— 30 percent of
Lebanon’s population. Over 87 per-
cent of the refugees lack food, 73
percent lack a permanent home and
each one of them are at devastating
odds against Lebanon’s economic
crisis and COVID-19.
“With all the suffering going
on, the government is not doing
anything,” HK said. “We need a
government that cares about their
people — both the poor and the rich
people.”
Although the economic crisis
hits the poor the hardest, those with
economic stability are still affected.
Banks are limiting withdrawals and
those who have bank accounts in
dollars are getting paid in liras —
which are worth nothing.
“I went to the supermarket and
spent around half a million liras.
That bought me hardly anything,
basically nothing,” HK said.
Like most of Lebanon’s public
services, electricity is poorly provid-
ed through a government-owned
company. Electricite du Liban, the
state power company, cannot afford
to purchase enough fuel to provide
twenty-four-hour electricity for
the Lebanese people but can easily
afford to put millions of dollars into
the pockets of government leaders
and their colleagues. When the pro-
testors say kellon yaani kellon, they
are talking about the government
leaders who fail to keep the lights
on, the garbage off the streets and
the Lebanese children fed and in
school. Kellon yaani kellon until the
lights are always on.
MAYA KADOUH
MiC Staff Writer
Kellon Yaani Kellon
Illustration by Hibah Chughtai
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