Henal Sutaria

Jonathan Mundell
ENC 2135
09 February 2016
Word Count: 1297
Genre Comparison: Life as a Modern Indian

The life of a modern Indian changes as soon as we hit our late 20s: we realize it is
marriage time. Meet the Patels, a documentary recording the hunt for the perfect Indian girl, is
an ideal representation of this arranged marriage tradition. ABC News Myrna Toledo writes an
article about the same custom in her report, First Comes Marriage, Then Comes Love but gives a
more positive outlook on arranged marriage. Both pieces overlay the theme of modern Indian
arranged marriage done with the old Indian traditions through means of a comical, yet accurate
documentary and an informational/narrative piece, respectively.
Meet the Patels is a whimsical documentation of a modern Indian man on the hunt with
his family for his perfect bride through the tradition and technique of olden India. The purpose of
this documentary is to empathize other modern Indians as they go through their marriage
arrangements with their very unmodern, hyper traditional Indian parents and to share the story of
love vs. tradition. Meet the Patels focuses on one Indian man, Ravi Patel, who is on the search
with his family for his life partner using the traditional Indian technique of matrimonial ads in
the newspaper and suggestions from relatives as his hunting grounds. The audience for this
documentary is people in their late 20s, primarily Indian men and women, who are going through
the same matrimonial arrangement phase in their lives. Geeta V. Patel, the protagonists sister,

follows Ravi Patel and family with her video camera to document the process of his bride
selection using visual cinematography as the mode and media. The design of live action comic
scenes alongside filmed scenes were used to deliver the effect of the purpose complementing the
easygoing feel of the documentary. The film is further enhanced by the background narration
between filmed scenes from the brother and sister as they give their separate opinions about the
process of finding love made by their parents. The narration of the filmed scenes includes (as far
as the eye can tell) unscripted lines that give a peek into the life of the family and its morals and
values regarding marriage. The parents voice their opinion about their kids getting married and
fulfilling their duty to them. Ravi and Geeta voice their opinion on how they believe arranged
marriage could not possibly work in the modern world we live in now. Both perspectives give a
subjective opinion, to each their own, that helps to inform the audience. This style gives many
around-the-table perspectives as well as keeping the topic light when needed and giving the topic
its serious tone when needed. The film gives a great balance between the humorous approach and
the informative, sometimes serious sometimes funny tone. Patel brings the two opposing
perspectives to really give the film some depth on the matter of modern arranged marriage.
The film touches on the use of two of the three major rhetorical appeals: logos and
pathos. Logos was used by the parents as they describe the specifications for marriage: an Indian,
a Patel, a Gujarati (specific type of Indian), and on and on and on. Ravis father informs him of
the statistics. Why do our [Indian] marriages survive at a higher rate than the American
marriages? He continues to examine by saying that the American dating system allows for the
people to know each other for a year or two, but still 50% of the marriages fail. Why? The
reason is compatibility [on the basis of belief], says Ravis father. He continues to support his
argument with factual evidence using his own marriage saying Ravis father and mother only

talked for ten minutes and look at them now. His mother concurs saying, You want to focus on a
girl who has [the] same values in life and has been raised the same way as you and [especially]
keeping in mind, religion. It can be deduced by this scene that the parents are VERY proarranged marriage and they use their own marriage as their logical evidence. The pathos is used
when Ravi and Geeta narrate the story. Ravi reflects on how happy he was with his first and only
girlfriend of two years, Audrey, but how he felt like something was missing. Growing up in an
Indian household in America, he felt that he lived a double life. (This is a feeling many Indians
feel.) He was not able to tell his parents about Audrey because he knew they would highly
disagree. What do you want from a white girl? I will not come to your house then, says Ravis
aunt as they drive to someones house to see a girl. The pathos is applied to the fact that Ravi
loves a girl who his parents would not agree to, and his parents want him to raise a child the way
they did the traditional way. A lot comes into play when there is an Indian marriage. This is
because it is not a wedding between two people, but a marriage between to families.
Myrna Toledos article, First Comes Marriage, Then Comes Love, focuses on the same
theme of modern Indian arranged marriage, but with a more positive outlook on the custom.
Toledo follows the life of Preeti Gulati, a 29-year old traditional Indian woman, and Aashish
Paruthi, a 30-year old Indian man living in America. Paruthi tried his hand at American dating
but came out unsuccessful. He found himself in India with his family looking at Gulatis
matrimonial ad with interest. After a meeting or two, they sealed the deal now living in America
as newlyweds.
The purpose of this article is to inform people of the misconceptions attached to arranged
marriage and how not all people grimace at the word arranged. Gulati actually says, Its very
normal here, as her father puts an ad in the newspaper reading the words Groom wanted for

beautiful young girl. The article is an informative piece clearing up the arranged marriage
misconception to all audiences. The media is informed through text, and the mode is an
informative article piece. The design of the article is chronological relating events from when the
couple decided to try arranged marriage, to their meeting, and finally to their marriage and after.
The style of Toledos writing gives a more optimistic approach to arranged marriage than does
Patels documentary. The tone is quite serious, giving facts and evidence behind successful
arranged marriage.
Toledo uses logos to further support her argument by saying that 90 percent of all
marriages in India and 60 percent of marriages in the world are actually arranged. When the
numbers are given to us, it is shocking how much more prevalent arranged marriages are than we
thought.
In conclusion, Meet the Patels is a poetic documentary, being subjective and expressing
the artists thoughts. It pushes boundaries of its genre by also including elements of a
performative documentary where ideas have different meanings for different people. First
Comes Marriage, Then Comes Love is an informative article with an argumentative approach to
counteract the presumptions against arranged marriage. This piece forms directly with its genre
with evidence supporting her argument and giving information that may not be known to her
audience. Both pieces embrace the common theme of arranged marriage and address the topic
thoroughly through their specific elements of the genre.
I really enjoyed the essay. I thought you did a great job and gave a lot of info about the two
composition. It was really well written and I dont think id really change anything

Works Cited

Patel, Neil. "The 8 Types of Articles That Will Attract Intelligent Readers." Inc. Inc, 22 Jan.
2015. Web. 09 Feb. 2016.
Patel, Ravi V., and Geeta V. Patel. "Meet the Patels." Meet the Patels. Netflix, n.d. Web. 01 Feb.
2016.
Williams, Daniel. "Styles of Documentary." Styles of Documentary. Slideshare, 16 Jan. 2013.
Web. 09 Feb. 2016.