Dear Sonia,

I know you must be desperately trying to contact me. Actually, my phone is not active at this particular junction since I just flew into India and roaming charges are going to cost an arm and a leg. Unbelievably, my father is ill and has just gone through minor heart surgery post his heart attack last week. So suddenly, I just got a call from my mother in the office and I had to catch the earliest flight to India as soon as possible and really didn’t have a chance to call you. I was quite preoccupied with this whole situation. I’m so sorry! You must be freaking out. I hope I didn’t scare you too much.

Now, my father is recovering quite well after being hospitalized for two days. I need to tell you one more important thing. As my father just barely survived the attack, my parents are now forcing me into and arranged married with a girl they picked out for me several years ago. She was our next-door neighbor here when we were kids. As you know it is customary in my culture to have arranged marriages and I am at the age where Indian men are to be married and start having a family.

I tried convincing them that it’s not the best way for me especially since I’m more accustomed to Canadian culture these days, but they just won’t hear me out. So, actually I’m kind of stuck in an awkward situation since I feel I will have to get married to her taking into consideration my father’s illness and my parents wishes. But you can rest assured that I’m only doing this outta respect for them, and putting my interests out of the way now.

My heart is really torn and breaking, I feel I’ve lost all sense of self, I’m really at a loss for words. Please understand that at this particular moment, I had to accept the proposal, and so I am writing this letter to temporarily say goodbye. I say this because I think I will find a way to resolve it all once my father gets healthier. Please forgive me for this, but understand that I hope we can stay in touch and see each other again soon.

Yours loving,
Sudhir