Learning (a) Disability

My car driver is a young Muslim man in his twenties. He smokes a lot, hates Telugu, and is suspected of stealing petrol, either in kind or by using the AC when we are not around. He is tech savvy and brings his own UCB dongle loaded with a wide variety of music, including, hold your breath, “Summer of 69”. But he needs that compulsory three hour break on Friday afternoons. All said, lets come to the point.

Salim is getting married. I being his employer have the  privilege of certifying him to the marriage broker. Being better among the worse, I endorsed him positively. That was a month back.

He had plans to take a week off on marriage. And one light afternoon, his plans somehow crossed my mind. When asked he said something I would not have expected a Muslim to say: “my granny asked for too much money”.

Salim found nothing wrong in the status quo – “Everyone does it. We will start a business.”

Religion dictates Muslims to practice Mehr, practically the inverse of dowry – the groom’s family has to pay up. Now, I have seriously started suspecting his Friday afternoon breaks.