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 the
Ceylonese 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 in
Malaya. 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, however
educated, 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 to
an extend that her parents could not face the other members of their community ; Yes, falling in
love 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 a
few.
Conflict 1
Rukumani's parents are very old-fashioned in their ideas about marriage. The only one type of
marriage 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 is
consulted. There is no room for love or feelings in the matrimony of the two hearts. This is the
type 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
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 a
different 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 I
had 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 blunder
because 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 has
come 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 Devanayagam
until the holidays are over. At least Deva could come back to the university towards the end of
the 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 )
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 could
talk to her sister Susheela or `Baby' as she is known. Something stopped her from doing so
because 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 her
parents have arranged.
Conflict 4
Rukumani's boyfriend Deva is not as bold as Rukumani. He was so worried that she will write to
him 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 of
the 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 parents
would 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. It
is 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 are
in love with each other. Ridiculous...right? The story tells us how stubborn the parents are where
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's
household. 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 which
makes this story memorable.