Poppadoms and premis

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Itne papad bele hain janeman tere pyaar mein, ke mere hi papad ke thele hain sare bazaar mein.

Arthaat, “Darling, so many thin-thin poppadoms I have rolled to make you mine, that only my poppadoms in the thelas in the market you will find” (courtesy, Babbar Sher).

Love mein sankat aate hain — caste, kundali, religion, sex, but har chunauti ko confront karna premiyon ka farz hai, and Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya (Channel V) ka dhanda.
Couples in distress write to the show and if they meet the criteria — high drama, rona-dhona, thappads — they get chosen.
A recent episode set in Mumbai was about Aryan, 25, and Anamika, 24. They were once engaged and in love. But then Aryan took to the bottle, and Anamika’s parents canceled their rishta and got Anamika engaged to another.
Aryan, beside himself at losing Anamika, went to rehab and quit drinking. Anamika, moved by his devotion, fell back in love and now both were itching to get married.
Step in Pyaar Kiya Toh… They instigated “chance” meetings between Aryan and Anamika’s parents, including getting Aryan to mess with mummyji’s car so that it stalls and hero can arrive to fix it. After much natak it was time to call Anamika’s parents for "confrontation" and tell them pyaar zindagi hai. Anamika’s mataji was okay, but her pitaji started doing disco while screaming “Ya-Allah ya-Allah, uu ya-Allah.” Uff!
Up next was Delhi ka amar prem starring Bijoy, a sweet Bengali boy who doesn’t fancy girls, and Dev, the eldest son in a conservative family. Small-time model Dev and makeup-artist Bijoy have been dating for two years and now want to live together with the blessings of their families.
Both are scared of their fathers, so Dev decides to tell his mom, and Bijoy decides to tell his bua, a young fashion designer in Assam. Bijoy goes sari shopping with Dev’s mother, but his tiny shorts, shapely eyebrows and painted nails make her queasy.
Next it is Dev’s turn. He has to impress Bijoy’s bua so that she can convince the rest of the family. But first she has to be brought to Delhi and neither Bjoy nor Dev have any money to send bua an air ticket to fly down to Delhi. So Dev, without a minute’s hesitation, decides to sell his bike, a birthday gift from his father. He takes it to a dealer, haggles, gets Rs 16,000, and sends bua tickets. Aapne The Gift of the Magi padha hoga, maine dekh hai.