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    ummary: `Everything's Arranged' by Siew Yue Killingley, is about arranged marriages practised

    by the Indian communities.The story is centered around Rukumani, a young maiden from theCeylonese Tamil community whose family has settled in Malaya. Arranged marriages are highly

    considered and respected by the Indian and Ceylonese families. It is considered as a dignity and

    a symbol of family honour.

    The story I have chosen for my assignment is `Everything's Arranged' by Siew Yue Killingley. It

    is about arranged marriages practised by the Indian communities.The story is centered around

    Rukumani, a young maiden from the Ceylonese Tamil community whose family has settled inMalaya. Probably her father or grandfather was brought to this land by the British those days.

    Though Rukumani, is sent to study in the university (`MU' as stated in the story ), the thinking of

    her parents is just like how it was back in their motherland, Sri Lanka. The Ceylonese, howevereducated, still hold to their tradition, beliefs and family values so adamantly. Education failed to

    change their thinking. Social life is a taboo for their young sons what more for a daughter.

    Rukumani, the protagonist is studying at the university and has fallen in love with a guy named

    Devanayagam, also from the same community as she is. So what is the problem one may think.Oh No! Rukumany has created a big problem. She has ruined her family's dignity and respect toan extend that her parents could not face the other members of their community ; Yes, falling inlove is a great sin, according to her parents.

    So goes this story and tells us how the poor Rukumani suffers to hide her love from her parents,

    how she suffers to get away from the arranged marriage her parents are planning for her, how she

    suffers without seeing her lover Devanayagam and worst of all what happens when she finally

    tells her parents about her love.

    The External Conflicts

    In this story, Rukumani, the protagonist faces a number of external conflicts; the conflict

    between her and her traditional Ceylonese Tamil family, the conflict between her and her

    mother, the conflict she has with her younger brother who messes up things for her, to name afew.

    Conflict 1

    Rukumani's parents are very old-fashioned in their ideas about marriage. The only one type ofmarriage which is accepted by them is the arranged marriage. Parents of the groom and the bride

    meet, talk about their background, status and materialistic things such as dowry and so on and

    then fix the marriage between their children. Neither the man nor the woman to be married isconsulted. There is no room for love or feelings in the matrimony of the two hearts. This is thetype of parents Rukumani has but she is in love. This is the main conflict.

    Conflict 2

    Rukumani and her mother are two different women who belong to two different worlds. Well,Rukumani is 22 years old, a university undergraduate specializing in Economics. She is exposed

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    to other cultures and values. Though she comes from an old fashioned, traditional Ceylonese

    Tamil family, due to her university education and the multi-cultural society she is in, she has adifferent view about life. She is nothing like her mother. Her good friend is a Chinese girl, Amy

    Wong and she feels free to talk to her classmate Johnny Chew. To her it is something very

    normal but not for her mother. Her mother suspects her to be in love with her classmate Johnny

    Chew when he visits her. She does not believe that a boy and a girl can be just friends.

    `Young people nowadays have no shame. My mother would have sent me out of the house if Ihad entertained a boy friend as freely as that. All that whispering. What will the neighbours

    think? A Chinese boy coming to whisper with my daughter. Do the Radakrishnans next door

    allow their daughters to run wild"'( pg.200, line 10-15 )

    says her mother. She quite often says that girls of the younger generation are no more

    obedient and are too modern. This irritates Rukumani. Her mother believes that education

    has nothing to do with how a girl should behave. Girls should never think of any boys and

    the moment a girl speaks to a boy, she is of no more good values. When Rukumani talks

    to her classmate Johnny Chew, her mother says that she is shameless.

    Conflict 3

    When Rukumani's parents are trying to arrange her marriage with someone she has not met, she

    decided to write to Deva and wanted to pass the letter to him through Johnny Chew. This is

    where the blunder started. Ruku's little brother known as `Boy' (whose real name is Nadarajah )

    saw her passing the letter to Johnny, and he blew the issue out of proportion. It was a blunderbecause after that Ruku faced so much problems from her family as her parents threatened her

    that they would commit suicide if she continues her relationship with Johnny. They thought that

    she is in love with Johnny and moreover her brother `Boy' announced that her boyfriend hascome when Johnny visited Ruku. Her aunts and uncles blamed her for bringing down the

    family's name.

    The Internal Conflicts

    Conflict 1

    Rukumani is going back home for holidays. She will not be able to see her lover Devanayagamuntil the holidays are over. At least Deva could come back to the university towards the end ofthe holidays to do some reading in the library but in the case of Rukumani, it is impossible

    because her parents would not allow such a thing. According to her parents,

    `She would be open to all sorts of dangers and temptations since there would be no classes to

    attend and therefore no lecturers to keep an eye on her chastity.' ( pg.186, line 3 - 5 )

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    Though Rukumani misses her lover Devanayagam very much, she cannot do anything about it.

    Conflict 2

    Rukumani badly wants to confide in somebody about her love and feelings towards Deva but she

    does not know with whom she could share her feelings. For a moment she thought that she couldtalk to her sister Susheela or `Baby' as she is known. Something stopped her from doing sobecause she believes that she will lose her authority as an elder sister if she shares her feelings

    with her.

    Conflict 3

    When Rukumani failed to share her feelings with anyone else, she decided to write to the

    newspaper and her letter appeared in the `Auntie Sally' column. She was so worried that her

    parents would force her to marry a stranger. She even talked about committing suicide. She

    definitely sounded so desperate and lost. But the reply was not of much use to her wounded

    heart. 'Auntie Sally' advised her to follow her mother's advice and marry the person whom herparents have arranged.

    Conflict 4

    Rukumani's boyfriend Deva is not as bold as Rukumani. He was so worried that she will write tohim while he is in his home. Unlike Ruku, he still has the opportunity to write a few lines to her

    when he goes to cinema with his friends but he was so afraid to let his family know about his

    affair. She realized that Deva is not as strong as she is in her feelings. He might marry the girl of

    his parents' choice if they were to force him.

    Outcome of the story

    In actual fact Rukumani's parents and Devanayagam's parents are arranging a marriage for them.

    But Ruku and Deva did not know who is going to be his or her life partner. This is the irony ofthe whole situation. Rukumani, thinking that she is going to be married to a stranger quickly tells

    her parents about her lover Devanayagam. Her parents were shocked about their daughter's

    `disgraceful act'- to fall in love with someone she likes. Rukumani thought that her parentswould be pleased with her for choosing a Ceylonese Tamil and not a Chinese for a life partner.

    But to her great disappointment neither her side nor Devanayagam's people agreed for the

    marriage.

    Conclusion

    Arranged marriages are highly considered and respected by the Indian and Ceylonese families. Itis considered as a dignity and a symbol of family honour. It also portrays the obedience and

    respect of the children to their parents. Though the parents actually arranged the marriage

    between Rukumani and Devanayagam, they cancelled it after knowing that Ruku and Deva arein love with each other. Ridiculous...right? The story tells us how stubborn the parents are where

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    marriages are concerned. They think it is their prerogative to choose the right match for their son

    or daughter.

    My Personal View

    `A remarkably good story with an unexpected ending !' That is how I felt after reading the story.The writer has been very observant about the happenings in a Ceylonese Tamil family'shousehold. It is very authentic in nature. We have a feeling of being into the household and

    mingle among the members...seeing how the ladies talk more than the men and how the men

    uphold their passive but stern role as the head of the family. I would have preferred it if

    Rukumani had married her lover, Deva but probably the unexpected ending is the one whichmakes this story memorable.