1
00:00:12,484 --> 00:00:14,827
It all started on a Tuesday.

2
00:00:15,694 --> 00:00:18,527
I'm at work, working away,
and I get a call from my mom.

3
00:00:18,911 --> 00:00:20,072
I had declined.

4
00:00:20,422 --> 00:00:22,048
I get another call from my mom.

5
00:00:22,408 --> 00:00:23,655
I had declined.

6
00:00:24,730 --> 00:00:26,488
I get yet another call from my mom,

7
00:00:26,488 --> 00:00:29,917
and I pick up, "Mom, I'm busy at work,
can I call you back?"

8
00:00:30,757 --> 00:00:33,685
"No, Son, I need to talk to you
about something important."

9
00:00:33,875 --> 00:00:35,791
"Yes, Mom, I'm busy."

10
00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:38,337
"You need to go to New York
City this weekend."

11
00:00:38,337 --> 00:00:39,337
"What?"

12
00:00:39,337 --> 00:00:41,480
"You need to go to New York
City this weekend;

13
00:00:41,480 --> 00:00:44,492
there's a proposal for you,
and it's my best friend's daughter."

14
00:00:46,062 --> 00:00:48,322
"Mom! I'm not going to go
just to New York City

15
00:00:48,322 --> 00:00:50,293
just like that to meet a random girl.

16
00:00:50,603 --> 00:00:52,433
This is not how love works.

17
00:00:52,736 --> 00:00:54,889
You're not going to get me
arranged marriage."

18
00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:59,178
"Just check your email, and when you
buy your ticket, let me know."

19
00:00:59,180 --> 00:01:01,491
(Laughter)

20
00:01:02,001 --> 00:01:05,595
My mother, if nothing,
is a determined woman.

21
00:01:05,665 --> 00:01:09,319
She decided that, at age 30,
I needed to get married,

22
00:01:09,569 --> 00:01:12,402
and at age 32, I was already
two years too late.

23
00:01:14,231 --> 00:01:16,311
My mother, being from Hyderabad, India,

24
00:01:16,311 --> 00:01:18,030
a royal city in India,

25
00:01:18,030 --> 00:01:20,196
believes in the custom
of arranged marriages.

26
00:01:20,666 --> 00:01:24,122
She believes that first
comes the right person,

27
00:01:24,392 --> 00:01:25,974
then the love comes afterwards.

28
00:01:26,624 --> 00:01:28,450
But I'm an American,

29
00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:30,049
I'm an entrepreneur,

30
00:01:30,359 --> 00:01:31,536
I'm a millenial.

31
00:01:33,046 --> 00:01:35,617
I'm also a curious guy, 
so I checked the email.

32
00:01:35,617 --> 00:01:38,616
(Laughter)

33
00:01:40,036 --> 00:01:42,853
and when I do, I look,

34
00:01:42,853 --> 00:01:43,851
and ...

35
00:01:44,011 --> 00:01:45,487
Well, next thing you know,

36
00:01:45,487 --> 00:01:46,551
I buy a ticket,

37
00:01:46,551 --> 00:01:48,838
and I'm off to New York City,
later that weekend.

38
00:01:48,838 --> 00:01:50,246
(Laughter)

39
00:01:50,684 --> 00:01:52,781
So as I'm flying to NYC,
I'm prepping myself,

40
00:01:52,781 --> 00:01:54,971
"OK, Omar, remember
you have to be a gentleman,

41
00:01:54,971 --> 00:01:57,791
you have to do all the right things
you know you have to do:

42
00:01:57,791 --> 00:02:01,129
pull chairs, pay the bill,
do everything, be sincere, be funny.

43
00:02:01,129 --> 00:02:02,295
Just be you."

44
00:02:03,025 --> 00:02:05,704
I meet her at a restaurant,
and I do all of those things.

45
00:02:05,704 --> 00:02:08,680
We have what looks to be a great time.

46
00:02:09,550 --> 00:02:12,790
So at the end of the night,
after dropping her off, I text her,

47
00:02:13,235 --> 00:02:15,044
"Hey, it was great meeting you.

48
00:02:15,484 --> 00:02:18,562
I'm here one more day.
I'd like to see you tomorrow for coffee."

49
00:02:19,163 --> 00:02:20,163
Send.

50
00:02:22,063 --> 00:02:24,064
I don't get a response
till Sunday morning.

51
00:02:24,064 --> 00:02:25,327
When I get a response,

52
00:02:25,327 --> 00:02:27,563
I'm so excited, I go outside by myself.

53
00:02:27,563 --> 00:02:28,713
There's a body of water.

54
00:02:28,713 --> 00:02:30,603
I want to read it by myself. I look ...

55
00:02:33,105 --> 00:02:34,904
"It was great meeting you Omar.

56
00:02:36,094 --> 00:02:37,556
I don't see you that way.

57
00:02:39,196 --> 00:02:40,526
You're just a friend."

58
00:02:40,596 --> 00:02:41,686
(Laughter)

59
00:02:41,746 --> 00:02:43,451
I was devastated.

60
00:02:43,451 --> 00:02:46,258
I called my mom, "Mom,
I can't believe you made me do this.

61
00:02:46,258 --> 00:02:48,868
I told you arranged marriages
were not for me.

62
00:02:48,868 --> 00:02:51,002
This is not how love works.

63
00:02:51,902 --> 00:02:53,413
You know, that's it. I'm done.

64
00:02:53,413 --> 00:02:55,785
She said 'No,' Mom. She just said, 'No.'"

65
00:02:55,785 --> 00:02:56,807
Click.

66
00:02:57,497 --> 00:03:01,881
And now I'm off -
back to Miami, back to work,

67
00:03:01,881 --> 00:03:04,385
and I don't talk to any girl 
for months on end.

68
00:03:04,385 --> 00:03:06,873
I feel like a hamster on a hamster wheel:

69
00:03:06,873 --> 00:03:08,698
running, seven days a week.

70
00:03:08,868 --> 00:03:12,390
Monday through Friday,
I work as financial building analyst;

71
00:03:12,479 --> 00:03:14,959
Saturdays, I'm doing my MBA at FIU;

72
00:03:15,419 --> 00:03:18,645
and on Sundays, I run
Mr.Omar's Chess Academy.

73
00:03:18,645 --> 00:03:20,858
I teach my students
how to make the smart move.

74
00:03:22,778 --> 00:03:25,412
And I had no time for love anyways.

75
00:03:28,166 --> 00:03:29,865
My mother calls again,

76
00:03:31,636 --> 00:03:35,087
"Son, marriage is essential in life."

77
00:03:35,087 --> 00:03:38,092
(Laughter)

78
00:03:38,662 --> 00:03:39,890
"Mom!"

79
00:03:40,010 --> 00:03:41,539
"Think of your life with a wife.

80
00:03:41,679 --> 00:03:43,388
Think of your future generations.

81
00:03:43,768 --> 00:03:46,986
Think of your mother's
and your grandmother's happiness."

82
00:03:47,366 --> 00:03:49,735
(Laughter)

83
00:03:49,735 --> 00:03:51,223
My mother's a smart woman -

84
00:03:51,223 --> 00:03:55,425
she knows that by invoking
my grandmother that she'll get to me.

85
00:03:57,605 --> 00:04:01,605
Born in America, raised in India
by my grandmother,

86
00:04:01,705 --> 00:04:05,031
my upbringing was not that
of the average American.

87
00:04:06,881 --> 00:04:10,503
Raised by my grandmother for the first
five formative years of my life,

88
00:04:11,033 --> 00:04:13,807
my grandmother was my mother,
my father, my everything.

89
00:04:14,677 --> 00:04:19,031
She taught me to speak Urdu,
our cultural language.

90
00:04:19,085 --> 00:04:21,857
She taught me to honor
our religion, and our customs,

91
00:04:21,857 --> 00:04:23,513
and to have love for humanity,

92
00:04:23,513 --> 00:04:25,884
and I loved and adored my grandmother.

93
00:04:25,884 --> 00:04:28,508
And she wanted me to get married,

94
00:04:28,508 --> 00:04:31,425
and she even joked that she
wanted to be a grand-grandmother.

95
00:04:34,735 --> 00:04:37,920
After months of denial and deliberation,

96
00:04:39,270 --> 00:04:41,748
I give in to another arranged meeting,

97
00:04:42,308 --> 00:04:45,145
and this is all my mother needed.

98
00:04:45,995 --> 00:04:48,896
My mother is a persistent woman.

99
00:04:49,956 --> 00:04:51,347
What did she do this time?

100
00:04:52,737 --> 00:04:54,830
She gets a matchmaker.

101
00:04:54,830 --> 00:04:57,190
She finds a family -

102
00:04:57,190 --> 00:05:01,052
a distant family member
who does matchmaking as a hobby,

103
00:05:01,132 --> 00:05:02,132
(Laughter)

104
00:05:02,212 --> 00:05:05,892
and Mrs. Fatima was a fun, 
lighthearted, bubbly woman,

105
00:05:05,892 --> 00:05:07,378
and she tells me,

106
00:05:07,958 --> 00:05:11,662
"Matches are made in heaven;
I just bring the right people together.

107
00:05:11,662 --> 00:05:14,661
(Laughter)

108
00:05:14,661 --> 00:05:17,221
(Applause)

109
00:05:19,201 --> 00:05:20,866
That sounded OK to me.

110
00:05:20,866 --> 00:05:23,746
(Laughter)

111
00:05:24,256 --> 00:05:27,396
So now, I'm set for the first process,

112
00:05:27,556 --> 00:05:30,340
which is to create a biodata.

113
00:05:31,930 --> 00:05:33,740
A marriage biodata.

114
00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:35,742
What is that, you ask?

115
00:05:35,742 --> 00:05:38,675
Well, basically like what a CV
is for an employment base,

116
00:05:38,675 --> 00:05:41,190
this is what you call a "marriage resume."

117
00:05:41,220 --> 00:05:42,220
(Laughter)

118
00:05:42,250 --> 00:05:46,257
So you enter your age, your education,

119
00:05:46,257 --> 00:05:48,979
your employment, your family background,

120
00:05:48,979 --> 00:05:51,679
your ambitions, desires,
what you look for in a woman,

121
00:05:51,679 --> 00:05:53,015
and you include pictures.

122
00:05:53,185 --> 00:05:54,520
Easy enough, right?

123
00:05:55,210 --> 00:05:57,874
The matchmaker gives me a format
and says, "Follow this,"

124
00:05:57,874 --> 00:05:59,542
which is very bullet-pointed.

125
00:05:59,542 --> 00:06:01,206
I'm like, "No, no, no" ...

126
00:06:01,206 --> 00:06:02,595
OK, I'm going to be creative.

127
00:06:02,595 --> 00:06:03,791
If this is going to work,

128
00:06:03,791 --> 00:06:06,666
I'm going to write the story
as from the heart.

129
00:06:06,866 --> 00:06:08,922
And what I do, I intel all those things,

130
00:06:08,922 --> 00:06:11,302
I make it funny, and just
let my personality shine,

131
00:06:11,302 --> 00:06:12,851
and after a week long,

132
00:06:12,851 --> 00:06:15,986
I sent it to Mrs. Fatima, the matchmaker,

133
00:06:17,574 --> 00:06:21,810
and my biodata becomes a hit.

134
00:06:22,710 --> 00:06:26,073
Girls from all across the country
are calling my matchmaker;

135
00:06:26,073 --> 00:06:28,541
I even got proposals
from England and Canada.

136
00:06:28,541 --> 00:06:29,541
(Laughter)

137
00:06:29,541 --> 00:06:31,792
My matchmaker's an agent
calling me, telling me,

138
00:06:31,792 --> 00:06:32,887
"What about this girl?"

139
00:06:32,887 --> 00:06:33,892
"I don't know.

140
00:06:33,892 --> 00:06:34,941
She'll move to Miami?"

141
00:06:34,941 --> 00:06:35,937
"No she"s not."

142
00:06:35,937 --> 00:06:37,002
"OK, no."

143
00:06:37,002 --> 00:06:39,998
(Laughter)

144
00:06:41,698 --> 00:06:43,608
After months of this process,

145
00:06:44,618 --> 00:06:46,428
I still am a skeptic,

146
00:06:46,428 --> 00:06:47,788
I don't find the one,

147
00:06:47,788 --> 00:06:51,441
and I don't think arranged
marriages do actually work.

148
00:06:52,701 --> 00:06:57,041
But, like my grandmother had taught me,

149
00:06:57,041 --> 00:06:58,361
I kept faith in God,

150
00:06:58,361 --> 00:07:01,215
and I just was just optimistic
that somewhere out there,

151
00:07:01,215 --> 00:07:03,055
my true love was out there.

152
00:07:04,405 --> 00:07:06,960
June 21st, 2015.

153
00:07:07,530 --> 00:07:10,497
The summer solstice,
the longest day of the year,

154
00:07:10,678 --> 00:07:13,010
and the third day of Ramadan,
just last year,

155
00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:15,150
my mother calls me and says,

156
00:07:15,150 --> 00:07:17,143
"We got the perfect proposal."

157
00:07:17,530 --> 00:07:18,890
There is a "we" again.

158
00:07:18,890 --> 00:07:20,390
(Laughter)

159
00:07:20,390 --> 00:07:21,620
Quickly check,

160
00:07:22,170 --> 00:07:24,198
and I find out that her name's Areeba,

161
00:07:24,898 --> 00:07:26,175
and she's beautiful.

162
00:07:27,495 --> 00:07:29,630
As nervous as I was that first time,

163
00:07:29,630 --> 00:07:30,752
I call her.

164
00:07:32,952 --> 00:07:34,852
And there was natural chemistry.

165
00:07:35,132 --> 00:07:36,132
OK!

166
00:07:36,132 --> 00:07:38,772
We talk and talk and text for 30 days.

167
00:07:38,772 --> 00:07:40,724
We go on and ...

168
00:07:40,724 --> 00:07:43,033
everything seems to be going really well.

169
00:07:43,503 --> 00:07:45,853
We decide to meet 30 days later,

170
00:07:45,853 --> 00:07:50,315
but prior to that, I find out, I learned 
that she's a pediatric neurologist,

171
00:07:50,745 --> 00:07:53,825
and she loved kids, just as much as I did,

172
00:07:53,825 --> 00:07:56,665
and she loved that,
along with my career in finance,

173
00:07:56,665 --> 00:08:00,096
that I ran a chess academy 
for kids on the weekends.

174
00:08:03,866 --> 00:08:04,895
So ...

175
00:08:05,968 --> 00:08:07,058
we were set to meet.

176
00:08:07,058 --> 00:08:09,948
Everything up until this point
was going very smooth,

177
00:08:09,948 --> 00:08:12,936
up until the day of travel.

178
00:08:15,666 --> 00:08:18,121
Starting off with my first morning flight.

179
00:08:18,121 --> 00:08:20,627
I get to the counter,

180
00:08:21,756 --> 00:08:22,979
everything is set,

181
00:08:22,979 --> 00:08:26,026
and I'm there - 60 seconds -

182
00:08:26,026 --> 00:08:28,701
I'm late, I missed that flight.

183
00:08:28,701 --> 00:08:29,751
OK!

184
00:08:29,751 --> 00:08:30,943
I have to get to Chicago.

185
00:08:30,943 --> 00:08:32,173
I look, second flight.

186
00:08:32,173 --> 00:08:33,970
I get, I find out this airline,

187
00:08:33,970 --> 00:08:36,286
I get through the line,
everything, I get there,

188
00:08:36,906 --> 00:08:37,906
I'm set to pay.

189
00:08:37,906 --> 00:08:41,260
The gentleman's like,
"All right that'll be 1,175 dollars."

190
00:08:41,260 --> 00:08:42,455
(Laughter)

191
00:08:42,455 --> 00:08:43,460
"Oh my God, OK!"

192
00:08:43,460 --> 00:08:45,702
I know she's worth it,
of course she's worth it.

193
00:08:45,702 --> 00:08:46,702
OK, I'll do it,

194
00:08:46,702 --> 00:08:47,893
I have to get to Chicago.

195
00:08:47,893 --> 00:08:49,373
I take my license, credit card,

196
00:08:49,373 --> 00:08:52,296
I'm set to pay, and immediately
I think, "Southwest,"

197
00:08:52,296 --> 00:08:54,576
and I run, grab my everything and run,

198
00:08:54,576 --> 00:08:55,576
(Laughter)

199
00:08:55,576 --> 00:08:57,146
run to terminal three.

200
00:08:57,146 --> 00:08:58,146
(Breathes hard)

201
00:08:58,146 --> 00:09:00,043
I get there, I see a line,

202
00:09:00,043 --> 00:09:01,963
and I get through it,

203
00:09:01,963 --> 00:09:02,959
I'm set to pay,

204
00:09:02,959 --> 00:09:04,886
"I need a flight to Chicago ASAP."

205
00:09:04,886 --> 00:09:08,624
Lady says, "All right,
that will be 375 dollars."

206
00:09:08,624 --> 00:09:10,194
"Yes, I'll take it."

207
00:09:10,194 --> 00:09:11,724
Give the credit card.

208
00:09:11,724 --> 00:09:13,274
"OK sir, your license?"

209
00:09:13,734 --> 00:09:15,711
Yes, my license ...

210
00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:17,994
Um, um ...

211
00:09:18,494 --> 00:09:19,949
Where's my license? Oh my God.

212
00:09:19,949 --> 00:09:22,330
I know I have my license,
I should have my license.

213
00:09:22,330 --> 00:09:23,642
and immediately I think,

214
00:09:23,642 --> 00:09:25,010
"Oh, terminal two!"

215
00:09:25,010 --> 00:09:27,814
So quickly, I grab my bags,
and I run, I run,

216
00:09:27,814 --> 00:09:30,098
get back, the gentleman 
leaves this license out,

217
00:09:30,098 --> 00:09:31,948
I grab the license, run back.

218
00:09:31,948 --> 00:09:33,408
Now the line is a mile long -

219
00:09:33,408 --> 00:09:34,751
I'm thinking there's no way

220
00:09:34,751 --> 00:09:36,564
I make the line to make this flight,

221
00:09:36,564 --> 00:09:38,594
and I have to get to Chicago today.

222
00:09:38,594 --> 00:09:42,654
So as I'm searching and looking,
at the corner of my eye,

223
00:09:42,914 --> 00:09:45,473
I see a woman clocking in,
getting in to work.

224
00:09:45,473 --> 00:09:46,474
I run to her ...

225
00:09:46,474 --> 00:09:48,985
(Breathing hard)

226
00:09:48,985 --> 00:09:51,961
"I need to get to Chicago
on your next flight.

227
00:09:51,961 --> 00:09:54,923
Tonight I'm meeting the woman 
I may marry tonight.

228
00:09:54,923 --> 00:09:55,923
(Laughter)

229
00:09:55,923 --> 00:09:58,200
Please help me, in the name of love."

230
00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:01,200
(Laughter)

231
00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:04,820
The lady says, "I don't hear
that one very often,"

232
00:10:04,820 --> 00:10:06,140
(Laughter)

233
00:10:06,140 --> 00:10:09,090
and quickly my bad luck
turns to good luck.

234
00:10:09,090 --> 00:10:12,450
She prints the ticket, gets it to me,
I skip the mile-long line,

235
00:10:12,450 --> 00:10:13,460
and I'm set,

236
00:10:13,460 --> 00:10:18,000
and I'm thinking everything is set
on this last flight to Chicago.

237
00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:23,123
Now even that, Mother Nature 
plays its hand and "thunderstorm."

238
00:10:23,123 --> 00:10:24,520
Another delay.

239
00:10:25,410 --> 00:10:29,160
And quickly, I text her, let her know
I'm on my way, everything is fine.

240
00:10:29,260 --> 00:10:31,250
I get there seven hours later.

241
00:10:31,250 --> 00:10:33,091
Seven hours later, I'm in Chicago,

242
00:10:33,091 --> 00:10:35,801
and I'm thinking there's no way 
she's going to say yes.

243
00:10:35,801 --> 00:10:38,446
I'm late. This is not going to work.

244
00:10:39,491 --> 00:10:41,482
But love was in the air,

245
00:10:41,702 --> 00:10:44,011
she was just happy that I made it,

246
00:10:44,191 --> 00:10:47,903
and she just wanted to see me,
just as much as I wanted to see her.

247
00:10:51,463 --> 00:10:54,074
As soon as I walk
in that door and I see her,

248
00:10:54,074 --> 00:10:55,712
my first glimpse of her,

249
00:10:56,762 --> 00:10:59,781
and I felt a deep affection,

250
00:11:00,148 --> 00:11:02,108
a feeling of gratitude,

251
00:11:02,308 --> 00:11:04,372
and, if you look in the dictionary,

252
00:11:04,372 --> 00:11:06,432
I felt the definition of love.

253
00:11:06,642 --> 00:11:10,301
I felt it, she felt it,
and my hopes soared.

254
00:11:10,551 --> 00:11:14,049
Later that evening, we talked more,
we get to know each other.

255
00:11:14,049 --> 00:11:17,310
My sister was there, my mother was there,
her mother was there -

256
00:11:17,310 --> 00:11:18,835
we sat all together.

257
00:11:18,835 --> 00:11:21,844
(Laughter)

258
00:11:23,454 --> 00:11:27,214
Later, Areeba and I do take a walk,
and we talk by ourselves,

259
00:11:27,214 --> 00:11:28,516
and so ...

260
00:11:28,516 --> 00:11:31,515
(Laughter)

261
00:11:32,117 --> 00:11:33,775
Towards the end of that night,

262
00:11:33,775 --> 00:11:36,343
I'm instructed to sit here,
Areeba sits across from me,

263
00:11:36,343 --> 00:11:38,904
my mother and then
Areeba's mother sit across.

264
00:11:38,904 --> 00:11:44,408
My mother begins and asks Areeba,
"Do you like Omar enough to marry him?"

265
00:11:44,408 --> 00:11:45,986
(Laughter)

266
00:11:45,986 --> 00:11:47,281
She says, "Yes."

267
00:11:47,781 --> 00:11:49,981
Then she asks Areeba's mother,

268
00:11:49,981 --> 00:11:53,998
"Do you like Omar enough to be your son?"

269
00:11:54,338 --> 00:11:55,688
She says, "Yes."

270
00:11:55,688 --> 00:12:00,689
Now Areeba's mother does the same,
and Areeba's mother asks my mother,

271
00:12:00,837 --> 00:12:03,475
"Do you like Areeba 
enough to be your daughter?"

272
00:12:03,475 --> 00:12:05,084
My mom says, "Yes, I do."

273
00:12:05,084 --> 00:12:06,953
Before she can say, "Omar do you like "

274
00:12:06,953 --> 00:12:07,953
"Yes!"

275
00:12:07,953 --> 00:12:09,975
(Laughter)

276
00:12:09,975 --> 00:12:12,866
and then both mothers
ask us together in unison,

277
00:12:12,866 --> 00:12:14,106
"Omar, Areeba do you ... "

278
00:12:14,106 --> 00:12:15,146
"Yes!"

279
00:12:15,186 --> 00:12:16,474
Both of us nod.

280
00:12:17,824 --> 00:12:22,934
That Saturday night, I went home,
and I knew that she was the one for me.

281
00:12:23,974 --> 00:12:27,508
That Sunday morning, I wake up,
take my mother and sister,

282
00:12:27,508 --> 00:12:29,335
go out, buy the ring.

283
00:12:30,115 --> 00:12:33,456
Sunday evening, I'm set to meet her.

284
00:12:33,456 --> 00:12:34,981
Sunday evening, I see her,

285
00:12:34,981 --> 00:12:39,705
and I propose that next 
day after meeting her.

286
00:12:41,150 --> 00:12:44,260
We were set to get married
a year after that,

287
00:12:44,780 --> 00:12:46,560
which we did in July,

288
00:12:46,770 --> 00:12:48,319
just a few months ago.

289
00:12:49,178 --> 00:12:52,178
(Audience) Aah!

290
00:12:52,823 --> 00:12:53,823
(Audience) Woo!

291
00:12:54,208 --> 00:12:57,210
(Applause)

292
00:13:04,020 --> 00:13:08,948
After our wedding, we went for an 11-day
honeymoon to Andalusia, Spain,

293
00:13:08,948 --> 00:13:10,965
where we just had a romantic getaway,

294
00:13:10,965 --> 00:13:12,385
and we came back.

295
00:13:12,385 --> 00:13:16,785
And so, I used arranged marriages,

296
00:13:16,785 --> 00:13:20,151
and I found the love, 
the woman of my dreams.

297
00:13:21,191 --> 00:13:25,855
I listened to the wisdom 
of my mother and my grandmother.

298
00:13:26,335 --> 00:13:29,200
Arranged marriages
have been practiced for centuries

299
00:13:29,664 --> 00:13:34,396
from civilizations, from dynasties
in Europe, Asia, and Africa.

300
00:13:34,824 --> 00:13:37,806
In my research, I found an article
in the Chicago Tribune:

301
00:13:38,606 --> 00:13:42,596
"A surprising new look shows
arranged marriages in the United States

302
00:13:42,596 --> 00:13:47,800
lead to love, satisfaction,
and commitment."

303
00:13:48,779 --> 00:13:51,443
Arranged marriages
are not forced marriages.

304
00:13:51,803 --> 00:13:57,420
Arranged marriages, rather,
are a chance to meet someone,

305
00:13:58,130 --> 00:13:59,480
an arranged meeting.

306
00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:03,117
I found love behind arranged marriages,

307
00:14:03,807 --> 00:14:05,183
and so can you.

308
00:14:05,343 --> 00:14:06,425
Thank you.

309
00:14:06,425 --> 00:14:08,421
(Applause)