Harried To Be Married: Pushpendra Sharma’s debut novel is a culmination of his longstanding curiosity about arranged marriages

After dabbling in entrepreneurship, Singapore-based businessman Pushpendra Sharma has debuted as an author with the release of his book Harried To Be Married in the city-state on September 19.

Pushpendra, or Push, as he is popularly known among his friends, was born in New Delhi and now lives in Singapore with his wife, Priyadarshini, and their two kids, Siddh and Shriya. He has 24+ years of experience in private equity and entrepreneurship. However, the subject of his book doesn’t revolve around his area of expertise. If the title isn’t a giveaway already, the subject of Push’s debut novel is arranged marriages in India.

Set in the mid 1990s, the story follows Nikhil Jha — a Wall Street investment banker — and the emotional blackmail he faces from his mother, who wants nothing more in the world than to see her son get married.

Ahead of the Singapore release of Harried To Be Married, Push spoke exclusively to Connected to India’s Sudipto Maity about his debut novel.

Asked why he chose arranged marriages as a subject and 90s as a time period, Push says, “I was eager to write a story set in the 90s because that’s when I was in India, and I felt it was an era my readers from my generation would be able to relate to.” While he’s settled in Singapore now, Push has lived in USA, Hong Kong, and Mainland China before his arrival to the Lion City.

“The 90s seem particularly fitting since it was before the era of iPhones, Instagram, Facebook, and Zoom. It’s a period that the Gen Z might find intriguing, especially in the context of marriages. What we take for granted now — like FaceTime and Video calls — wasn’t an option back then for communication. Simple things that have become part of our daily routine today were not available in the 90s, and I wanted to capture that contrast,” he adds.

Push says his “longstanding curiosity about arranged marriages” ignited his writing journey. “There’s an entire ecosystem dedicated to weddings — caterers, wedding planners, priests, ad agencies, destination venues, and more — that has existed for decades. Even today, many families in India adhere to the tradition of arranged marriages. Don’t get me started about the ‘Big Fat Indian Wedding’ phenomenon, where some celebrities (Hollywood and Bollywood) sell filming rights for millions and millions of dollars,” he says.

Asked if he faced blackmail from his family regarding his marriage, the author laughs, saying, “For many people growing up in an Indian household, emotional blackmail is a part of life. That said, thankfully I wasn’t harried, nor did I go through the conventional process of finding a bride through matrimonial ads.

“Looking back, I ended up saving my family (and me) a lot of time and money on those ads by finding my life partner on my own, which surely was an exciting journey. Perhaps someday, I will write about it. I’m happy to say that my wife Priyadarshini and I we’ll be celebrating 24 wonderful years of our marriage in January 2025,” he says.

Push says he started writing the draft of the book in 2005, but had forgotten about it. “During the COVID pandemic in June 2021, I stumbled upon the forgotten draft while restoring my old laptop. This reignited my quest to bring it to life. Although it took a considerable amount of time to finish, I’m thrilled to have finally achieved a dream I’ve harboured for years: becoming a published author.”

With the book out of his way now, Push, when asked if he has further plans involving his debut novel, says it would be a “dream come true” to make it into a web series or a movie.

“To be honest, I haven’t approached anyone about this yet. The feedback I’ve received from readers has been encouraging, with many recommending this path, and I hope to follow through on their suggestions when the time is right,” he adds.

Also read: Pushpendra Sharma: Putting the healing powers of turmeric to good use with Haldy