Bride insists on home without satellite TV

Sanaa: The petite bride did not have many demands, but to the bridegroom one of them was a tough one to accept.

He is 25 and works in a store selling satellite television dishes and mobile phones and accessories. He loves watching television.

The young bride would not marry anyone who has a satellite television connection.

"Yes, I agreed to marry him, but only on the condition that we live together in a house without satellite television channels," the young woman said.

The bridegroom, who requested anonymity, said: "My father in-law told us that his daughter agrees to marry me but she does not want me to buy a satellite dish or even think of buying one in future."

"I was astonished by this condition and because I could not imagine myself without satellite television I sought an explanation," the Al Thawra daily quoted the bridegroom as saying.

"The reply was that the satellite television channels have become a threat to a stable marital life. My fiancée said she would not accept comparisons with women appearing on TVs," said the groom.

No compromise

The young man, who had already bought a satellite dish antenna along with new furniture to his house, attempted to strike a compromise deal by agreeing with his bride on what channels to watch.

But the bride would have none of it. She insisted on a satellite TV channel-free home.

"Eventually I accepted the condition and sold the satellite dish I had. Now I have bought a video recorder to watch the programmes that we both will like. My friends will record the programmes for us," he said

"I had no option but to accept her condition and I think she was right because the satellite channels are showing very shameful things nowadays, the bridegroom concluded.

The writer is a journalist based in Sanaa