0:00:12.484,0:00:14.827
It all started on a Tuesday.

0:00:15.694,0:00:18.527
I'm at work, working away,[br]and I get a call from my mom.

0:00:18.911,0:00:20.072
I had declined.

0:00:20.422,0:00:22.048
I get another call from my mom.

0:00:22.408,0:00:23.655
I had declined.

0:00:24.730,0:00:26.488
I get yet another call from my mom,

0:00:26.488,0:00:29.917
and I pick up, "Mom, I'm busy at work,[br]can I call you back?"

0:00:30.757,0:00:33.685
"No, Son, I need to talk to you[br]about something important."

0:00:33.875,0:00:35.791
"Yes, Mom, I'm busy."

0:00:36.080,0:00:38.337
"You need to go to New York[br]City this weekend."

0:00:38.337,0:00:39.337
"What?"

0:00:39.337,0:00:41.480
"You need to go to New York[br]City this weekend;

0:00:41.480,0:00:44.492
there's a proposal for you,[br]and it's my best friend's daughter."

0:00:46.062,0:00:48.322
"Mom! I'm not going to go[br]just to New York City

0:00:48.322,0:00:50.293
just like that to meet a random girl.

0:00:50.603,0:00:52.433
This is not how love works.

0:00:52.736,0:00:54.889
You're not going to get me[br]arranged marriage."

0:00:55.640,0:00:59.178
"Just check your email, and when you[br]buy your ticket, let me know."

0:00:59.180,0:01:01.491
(Laughter)

0:01:02.001,0:01:05.595
My mother, if nothing,[br]is a determined woman.

0:01:05.665,0:01:09.319
She decided that, at age 30,[br]I needed to get married,

0:01:09.569,0:01:12.402
and at age 32, I was already[br]two years too late.

0:01:14.231,0:01:16.311
My mother, being from Hyderabad, India,

0:01:16.311,0:01:18.030
a royal city in India,

0:01:18.030,0:01:20.196
believes in the custom[br]of arranged marriages.

0:01:20.666,0:01:24.122
She believes that first[br]comes the right person,

0:01:24.392,0:01:25.974
then the love comes afterwards.

0:01:26.624,0:01:28.450
But I'm an American,

0:01:28.760,0:01:30.049
I'm an entrepreneur,

0:01:30.359,0:01:31.536
I'm a millenial.

0:01:33.046,0:01:35.617
I'm also a curious guy, [br]so I checked the email.

0:01:35.617,0:01:38.616
(Laughter)

0:01:40.036,0:01:42.853
and when I do, I look,

0:01:42.853,0:01:43.851
and ...

0:01:44.011,0:01:45.487
Well, next thing you know,

0:01:45.487,0:01:46.551
I buy a ticket,

0:01:46.551,0:01:48.838
and I'm off to New York City,[br]later that weekend.

0:01:48.838,0:01:50.246
(Laughter)

0:01:50.684,0:01:52.781
So as I'm flying to NYC,[br]I'm prepping myself,

0:01:52.781,0:01:54.971
"OK, Omar, remember[br]you have to be a gentleman,

0:01:54.971,0:01:57.791
you have to do all the right things[br]you know you have to do:

0:01:57.791,0:02:01.129
pull chairs, pay the bill,[br]do everything, be sincere, be funny.

0:02:01.129,0:02:02.295
Just be you."

0:02:03.025,0:02:05.704
I meet her at a restaurant,[br]and I do all of those things.

0:02:05.704,0:02:08.680
We have what looks to be a great time.

0:02:09.550,0:02:12.790
So at the end of the night,[br]after dropping her off, I text her,

0:02:13.235,0:02:15.044
"Hey, it was great meeting you.

0:02:15.484,0:02:18.562
I'm here one more day.[br]I'd like to see you tomorrow for coffee."

0:02:19.163,0:02:20.163
Send.

0:02:22.063,0:02:24.064
I don't get a response[br]till Sunday morning.

0:02:24.064,0:02:25.327
When I get a response,

0:02:25.327,0:02:27.563
I'm so excited, I go outside by myself.

0:02:27.563,0:02:28.713
There's a body of water.

0:02:28.713,0:02:30.603
I want to read it by myself. I look ...

0:02:33.105,0:02:34.904
"It was great meeting you Omar.

0:02:36.094,0:02:37.556
I don't see you that way.

0:02:39.196,0:02:40.526
You're just a friend."

0:02:40.596,0:02:41.686
(Laughter)

0:02:41.746,0:02:43.451
I was devastated.

0:02:43.451,0:02:46.258
I called my mom, "Mom,[br]I can't believe you made me do this.

0:02:46.258,0:02:48.868
I told you arranged marriages[br]were not for me.

0:02:48.868,0:02:51.002
This is not how love works.

0:02:51.902,0:02:53.413
You know, that's it. I'm done.

0:02:53.413,0:02:55.785
She said 'No,' Mom. She just said, 'No.'"

0:02:55.785,0:02:56.807
Click.

0:02:57.497,0:03:01.881
And now I'm off -[br]back to Miami, back to work,

0:03:01.881,0:03:04.385
and I don't talk to any girl [br]for months on end.

0:03:04.385,0:03:06.873
I feel like a hamster on a hamster wheel:

0:03:06.873,0:03:08.698
running, seven days a week.

0:03:08.868,0:03:12.390
Monday through Friday,[br]I work as financial building analyst;

0:03:12.479,0:03:14.959
Saturdays, I'm doing my MBA at FIU;

0:03:15.419,0:03:18.645
and on Sundays, I run[br]Mr.Omar's Chess Academy.

0:03:18.645,0:03:20.858
I teach my students[br]how to make the smart move.

0:03:22.778,0:03:25.412
And I had no time for love anyways.

0:03:28.166,0:03:29.865
My mother calls again,

0:03:31.636,0:03:35.087
"Son, marriage is essential in life."

0:03:35.087,0:03:38.092
(Laughter)

0:03:38.662,0:03:39.890
"Mom!"

0:03:40.010,0:03:41.539
"Think of your life with a wife.

0:03:41.679,0:03:43.388
Think of your future generations.

0:03:43.768,0:03:46.986
Think of your mother's[br]and your grandmother's happiness."

0:03:47.366,0:03:49.735
(Laughter)

0:03:49.735,0:03:51.223
My mother's a smart woman -

0:03:51.223,0:03:55.425
she knows that by invoking[br]my grandmother that she'll get to me.

0:03:57.605,0:04:01.605
Born in America, raised in India[br]by my grandmother,

0:04:01.705,0:04:05.031
my upbringing was not that[br]of the average American.

0:04:06.881,0:04:10.503
Raised by my grandmother for the first[br]five formative years of my life,

0:04:11.033,0:04:13.807
my grandmother was my mother,[br]my father, my everything.

0:04:14.677,0:04:19.031
She taught me to speak Urdu,[br]our cultural language.

0:04:19.085,0:04:21.857
She taught me to honor[br]our religion, and our customs,

0:04:21.857,0:04:23.513
and to have love for humanity,

0:04:23.513,0:04:25.884
and I loved and adored my grandmother.

0:04:25.884,0:04:28.508
And she wanted me to get married,

0:04:28.508,0:04:31.425
and she even joked that she[br]wanted to be a grand-grandmother.

0:04:34.735,0:04:37.920
After months of denial and deliberation,

0:04:39.270,0:04:41.748
I give in to another arranged meeting,

0:04:42.308,0:04:45.145
and this is all my mother needed.

0:04:45.995,0:04:48.896
My mother is a persistent woman.

0:04:49.956,0:04:51.347
What did she do this time?

0:04:52.737,0:04:54.830
She gets a matchmaker.

0:04:54.830,0:04:57.190
She finds a family -

0:04:57.190,0:05:01.052
a distant family member[br]who does matchmaking as a hobby,

0:05:01.132,0:05:02.132
(Laughter)

0:05:02.212,0:05:05.892
and Mrs. Fatima was a fun, [br]lighthearted, bubbly woman,

0:05:05.892,0:05:07.378
and she tells me,

0:05:07.958,0:05:11.662
"Matches are made in heaven;[br]I just bring the right people together.

0:05:11.662,0:05:14.661
(Laughter)

0:05:14.661,0:05:17.221
(Applause)

0:05:19.201,0:05:20.866
That sounded OK to me.

0:05:20.866,0:05:23.746
(Laughter)

0:05:24.256,0:05:27.396
So now, I'm set for the first process,

0:05:27.556,0:05:30.340
which is to create a biodata.

0:05:31.930,0:05:33.740
A marriage biodata.

0:05:34.160,0:05:35.742
What is that, you ask?

0:05:35.742,0:05:38.675
Well, basically like what a CV[br]is for an employment base,

0:05:38.675,0:05:41.190
this is what you call a "marriage resume."

0:05:41.220,0:05:42.220
(Laughter)

0:05:42.250,0:05:46.257
So you enter your age, your education,

0:05:46.257,0:05:48.979
your employment, your family background,

0:05:48.979,0:05:51.679
your ambitions, desires,[br]what you look for in a woman,

0:05:51.679,0:05:53.015
and you include pictures.

0:05:53.185,0:05:54.520
Easy enough, right?

0:05:55.210,0:05:57.874
The matchmaker gives me a format[br]and says, "Follow this,"

0:05:57.874,0:05:59.542
which is very bullet-pointed.

0:05:59.542,0:06:01.206
I'm like, "No, no, no" ...

0:06:01.206,0:06:02.595
OK, I'm going to be creative.

0:06:02.595,0:06:03.791
If this is going to work,

0:06:03.791,0:06:06.666
I'm going to write the story[br]as from the heart.

0:06:06.866,0:06:08.922
And what I do, I intel all those things,

0:06:08.922,0:06:11.302
I make it funny, and just[br]let my personality shine,

0:06:11.302,0:06:12.851
and after a week long,

0:06:12.851,0:06:15.986
I sent it to Mrs. Fatima, the matchmaker,

0:06:17.574,0:06:21.810
and my biodata becomes a hit.

0:06:22.710,0:06:26.073
Girls from all across the country[br]are calling my matchmaker;

0:06:26.073,0:06:28.541
I even got proposals[br]from England and Canada.

0:06:28.541,0:06:29.541
(Laughter)

0:06:29.541,0:06:31.792
My matchmaker's an agent[br]calling me, telling me,

0:06:31.792,0:06:32.887
"What about this girl?"

0:06:32.887,0:06:33.892
"I don't know.

0:06:33.892,0:06:34.941
She'll move to Miami?"

0:06:34.941,0:06:35.937
"No she"s not."

0:06:35.937,0:06:37.002
"OK, no."

0:06:37.002,0:06:39.998
(Laughter)

0:06:41.698,0:06:43.608
After months of this process,

0:06:44.618,0:06:46.428
I still am a skeptic,

0:06:46.428,0:06:47.788
I don't find the one,

0:06:47.788,0:06:51.441
and I don't think arranged[br]marriages do actually work.

0:06:52.701,0:06:57.041
But, like my grandmother had taught me,

0:06:57.041,0:06:58.361
I kept faith in God,

0:06:58.361,0:07:01.215
and I just was just optimistic[br]that somewhere out there,

0:07:01.215,0:07:03.055
my true love was out there.

0:07:04.405,0:07:06.960
June 21st, 2015.

0:07:07.530,0:07:10.497
The summer solstice,[br]the longest day of the year,

0:07:10.678,0:07:13.010
and the third day of Ramadan,[br]just last year,

0:07:13.080,0:07:15.150
my mother calls me and says,

0:07:15.150,0:07:17.143
"We got the perfect proposal."

0:07:17.530,0:07:18.890
There is a "we" again.

0:07:18.890,0:07:20.390
(Laughter)

0:07:20.390,0:07:21.620
Quickly check,

0:07:22.170,0:07:24.198
and I find out that her name's Areeba,

0:07:24.898,0:07:26.175
and she's beautiful.

0:07:27.495,0:07:29.630
As nervous as I was that first time,

0:07:29.630,0:07:30.752
I call her.

0:07:32.952,0:07:34.852
And there was natural chemistry.

0:07:35.132,0:07:36.132
OK!

0:07:36.132,0:07:38.772
We talk and talk and text for 30 days.

0:07:38.772,0:07:40.724
We go on and ...

0:07:40.724,0:07:43.033
everything seems to be going really well.

0:07:43.503,0:07:45.853
We decide to meet 30 days later,

0:07:45.853,0:07:50.315
but prior to that, I find out, I learned [br]that she's a pediatric neurologist,

0:07:50.745,0:07:53.825
and she loved kids, just as much as I did,

0:07:53.825,0:07:56.665
and she loved that,[br]along with my career in finance,

0:07:56.665,0:08:00.096
that I ran a chess academy [br]for kids on the weekends.

0:08:03.866,0:08:04.895
So ...

0:08:05.968,0:08:07.058
we were set to meet.

0:08:07.058,0:08:09.948
Everything up until this point[br]was going very smooth,

0:08:09.948,0:08:12.936
up until the day of travel.

0:08:15.666,0:08:18.121
Starting off with my first morning flight.

0:08:18.121,0:08:20.627
I get to the counter,

0:08:21.756,0:08:22.979
everything is set,

0:08:22.979,0:08:26.026
and I'm there - 60 seconds -

0:08:26.026,0:08:28.701
I'm late, I missed that flight.

0:08:28.701,0:08:29.751
OK!

0:08:29.751,0:08:30.943
I have to get to Chicago.

0:08:30.943,0:08:32.173
I look, second flight.

0:08:32.173,0:08:33.970
I get, I find out this airline,

0:08:33.970,0:08:36.286
I get through the line,[br]everything, I get there,

0:08:36.906,0:08:37.906
I'm set to pay.

0:08:37.906,0:08:41.260
The gentleman's like,[br]"All right that'll be 1,175 dollars."

0:08:41.260,0:08:42.455
(Laughter)

0:08:42.455,0:08:43.460
"Oh my God, OK!"

0:08:43.460,0:08:45.702
I know she's worth it,[br]of course she's worth it.

0:08:45.702,0:08:46.702
OK, I'll do it,

0:08:46.702,0:08:47.893
I have to get to Chicago.

0:08:47.893,0:08:49.373
I take my license, credit card,

0:08:49.373,0:08:52.296
I'm set to pay, and immediately[br]I think, "Southwest,"

0:08:52.296,0:08:54.576
and I run, grab my everything and run,

0:08:54.576,0:08:55.576
(Laughter)

0:08:55.576,0:08:57.146
run to terminal three.

0:08:57.146,0:08:58.146
(Breathes hard)

0:08:58.146,0:09:00.043
I get there, I see a line,

0:09:00.043,0:09:01.963
and I get through it,

0:09:01.963,0:09:02.959
I'm set to pay,

0:09:02.959,0:09:04.886
"I need a flight to Chicago ASAP."

0:09:04.886,0:09:08.624
Lady says, "All right,[br]that will be 375 dollars."

0:09:08.624,0:09:10.194
"Yes, I'll take it."

0:09:10.194,0:09:11.724
Give the credit card.

0:09:11.724,0:09:13.274
"OK sir, your license?"

0:09:13.734,0:09:15.711
Yes, my license ...

0:09:16.480,0:09:17.994
Um, um ...

0:09:18.494,0:09:19.949
Where's my license? Oh my God.

0:09:19.949,0:09:22.330
I know I have my license,[br]I should have my license.

0:09:22.330,0:09:23.642
and immediately I think,

0:09:23.642,0:09:25.010
"Oh, terminal two!"

0:09:25.010,0:09:27.814
So quickly, I grab my bags,[br]and I run, I run,

0:09:27.814,0:09:30.098
get back, the gentleman [br]leaves this license out,

0:09:30.098,0:09:31.948
I grab the license, run back.

0:09:31.948,0:09:33.408
Now the line is a mile long -

0:09:33.408,0:09:34.751
I'm thinking there's no way

0:09:34.751,0:09:36.564
I make the line to make this flight,

0:09:36.564,0:09:38.594
and I have to get to Chicago today.

0:09:38.594,0:09:42.654
So as I'm searching and looking,[br]at the corner of my eye,

0:09:42.914,0:09:45.473
I see a woman clocking in,[br]getting in to work.

0:09:45.473,0:09:46.474
I run to her ...

0:09:46.474,0:09:48.985
(Breathing hard)

0:09:48.985,0:09:51.961
"I need to get to Chicago[br]on your next flight.

0:09:51.961,0:09:54.923
Tonight I'm meeting the woman [br]I may marry tonight.

0:09:54.923,0:09:55.923
(Laughter)

0:09:55.923,0:09:58.200
Please help me, in the name of love."

0:09:58.200,0:10:01.200
(Laughter)

0:10:01.800,0:10:04.820
The lady says, "I don't hear[br]that one very often,"

0:10:04.820,0:10:06.140
(Laughter)

0:10:06.140,0:10:09.090
and quickly my bad luck[br]turns to good luck.

0:10:09.090,0:10:12.450
She prints the ticket, gets it to me,[br]I skip the mile-long line,

0:10:12.450,0:10:13.460
and I'm set,

0:10:13.460,0:10:18.000
and I'm thinking everything is set[br]on this last flight to Chicago.

0:10:18.320,0:10:23.123
Now even that, Mother Nature [br]plays its hand and "thunderstorm."

0:10:23.123,0:10:24.520
Another delay.

0:10:25.410,0:10:29.160
And quickly, I text her, let her know[br]I'm on my way, everything is fine.

0:10:29.260,0:10:31.250
I get there seven hours later.

0:10:31.250,0:10:33.091
Seven hours later, I'm in Chicago,

0:10:33.091,0:10:35.801
and I'm thinking there's no way [br]she's going to say yes.

0:10:35.801,0:10:38.446
I'm late. This is not going to work.

0:10:39.491,0:10:41.482
But love was in the air,

0:10:41.702,0:10:44.011
she was just happy that I made it,

0:10:44.191,0:10:47.903
and she just wanted to see me,[br]just as much as I wanted to see her.

0:10:51.463,0:10:54.074
As soon as I walk[br]in that door and I see her,

0:10:54.074,0:10:55.712
my first glimpse of her,

0:10:56.762,0:10:59.781
and I felt a deep affection,

0:11:00.148,0:11:02.108
a feeling of gratitude,

0:11:02.308,0:11:04.372
and, if you look in the dictionary,

0:11:04.372,0:11:06.432
I felt the definition of love.

0:11:06.642,0:11:10.301
I felt it, she felt it,[br]and my hopes soared.

0:11:10.551,0:11:14.049
Later that evening, we talked more,[br]we get to know each other.

0:11:14.049,0:11:17.310
My sister was there, my mother was there,[br]her mother was there -

0:11:17.310,0:11:18.835
we sat all together.

0:11:18.835,0:11:21.844
(Laughter)

0:11:23.454,0:11:27.214
Later, Areeba and I do take a walk,[br]and we talk by ourselves,

0:11:27.214,0:11:28.516
and so ...

0:11:28.516,0:11:31.515
(Laughter)

0:11:32.117,0:11:33.775
Towards the end of that night,

0:11:33.775,0:11:36.343
I'm instructed to sit here,[br]Areeba sits across from me,

0:11:36.343,0:11:38.904
my mother and then[br]Areeba's mother sit across.

0:11:38.904,0:11:44.408
My mother begins and asks Areeba,[br]"Do you like Omar enough to marry him?"

0:11:44.408,0:11:45.986
(Laughter)

0:11:45.986,0:11:47.281
She says, "Yes."

0:11:47.781,0:11:49.981
Then she asks Areeba's mother,

0:11:49.981,0:11:53.998
"Do you like Omar enough to be your son?"

0:11:54.338,0:11:55.688
She says, "Yes."

0:11:55.688,0:12:00.689
Now Areeba's mother does the same,[br]and Areeba's mother asks my mother,

0:12:00.837,0:12:03.475
"Do you like Areeba [br]enough to be your daughter?"

0:12:03.475,0:12:05.084
My mom says, "Yes, I do."

0:12:05.084,0:12:06.953
Before she can say, "Omar do you like "

0:12:06.953,0:12:07.953
"Yes!"

0:12:07.953,0:12:09.975
(Laughter)

0:12:09.975,0:12:12.866
and then both mothers[br]ask us together in unison,

0:12:12.866,0:12:14.106
"Omar, Areeba do you ... "

0:12:14.106,0:12:15.146
"Yes!"

0:12:15.186,0:12:16.474
Both of us nod.

0:12:17.824,0:12:22.934
That Saturday night, I went home,[br]and I knew that she was the one for me.

0:12:23.974,0:12:27.508
That Sunday morning, I wake up,[br]take my mother and sister,

0:12:27.508,0:12:29.335
go out, buy the ring.

0:12:30.115,0:12:33.456
Sunday evening, I'm set to meet her.

0:12:33.456,0:12:34.981
Sunday evening, I see her,

0:12:34.981,0:12:39.705
and I propose that next [br]day after meeting her.

0:12:41.150,0:12:44.260
We were set to get married[br]a year after that,

0:12:44.780,0:12:46.560
which we did in July,

0:12:46.770,0:12:48.319
just a few months ago.

0:12:49.178,0:12:52.178
(Audience) Aah!

0:12:52.823,0:12:53.823
(Audience) Woo!

0:12:54.208,0:12:57.210
(Applause)

0:13:04.020,0:13:08.948
After our wedding, we went for an 11-day[br]honeymoon to Andalusia, Spain,

0:13:08.948,0:13:10.965
where we just had a romantic getaway,

0:13:10.965,0:13:12.385
and we came back.

0:13:12.385,0:13:16.785
And so, I used arranged marriages,

0:13:16.785,0:13:20.151
and I found the love, [br]the woman of my dreams.

0:13:21.191,0:13:25.855
I listened to the wisdom [br]of my mother and my grandmother.

0:13:26.335,0:13:29.200
Arranged marriages[br]have been practiced for centuries

0:13:29.664,0:13:34.396
from civilizations, from dynasties[br]in Europe, Asia, and Africa.

0:13:34.824,0:13:37.806
In my research, I found an article[br]in the Chicago Tribune:

0:13:38.606,0:13:42.596
"A surprising new look shows[br]arranged marriages in the United States

0:13:42.596,0:13:47.800
lead to love, satisfaction,[br]and commitment."

0:13:48.779,0:13:51.443
Arranged marriages[br]are not forced marriages.

0:13:51.803,0:13:57.420
Arranged marriages, rather,[br]are a chance to meet someone,

0:13:58.130,0:13:59.480
an arranged meeting.

0:14:00.760,0:14:03.117
I found love behind arranged marriages,

0:14:03.807,0:14:05.183
and so can you.

0:14:05.343,0:14:06.425
Thank you.

0:14:06.425,0:14:08.421
(Applause)