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Interview with Farahad Zama author of "The Many Conditions of Love"

Last Updated on Tuesday, 04 May 2010 23:37

This interview with author Farahad Zama was conducted by Amina Yaqin on Friday, 23rd October 2009 in SOAS, London; it also features the author reading from his novel The Many Conditions of Love.

About the Novel

Can true love triumph in the face of fierce family opposition? Mr Ali's marriage bureau is flourishing but trouble isn't far away once son Rehman begins secretly to woo TV journalist Usha in the small cafes and on the beautiful beaches of South Indian Vizag in an ill-advised romance.

Meanwhile the lovely Aruna has a problem or two all her own. She enjoys being Mr Ali's right-hand woman at the marriage bureau, having a wonderful husband Ram, and living in a mansion a far cry from her parents' cramped one-room house; but how long can Aruna remain happy once her spiteful sister-in-law Mani comes home to stay? When Usha's father finds out about Rehman, a Muslim, the fat is in the fire. And what will Mr and Mrs Ali have to say when they discover too their son has been dating a non-Muslim?

About the author


Farahad Zama was born in Vizag on the Eastern coast of India in 1966. After obtaining a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of  Engineering at Kharagpur, near Kolkata, he moved to Mumbai to work for an investment bank. An arranged marriage to a Vizag girl soon followed. His career took him to New York, Zurich and Luxembourg and finally brought him to London for six months. Sixteen years later, Farahad is still in South London with his Vizag girl and two Croydon-born boys.

Farahad works in the City and writes on his commute and at weekends. The Marriage Bureau for Rich People is his first novel. He is delighted with its success – it was a Richard & Judy and Daily Mail book of the month, short listed for Best New Writer of the Year at the British Book Awards, Best Published Fiction at the Muslim Writers Awards and Melissa Nathan Awards for Comedy and Romance. The book is being translated into eight languages.

Further info: http://www.farahadzama.com/pages/index_uk.html

Click here to listen to an MP3 of the interview and reading