The Search for Patrons Summary and Analysis

In India at that time, it was common for parents of a young man to find a suitable wife among friends of the family or prominent villagers even if the girl was very young. In Ramanujan's case, his mother found a young wife for him living among friends in a nearby village. The girl's name was Janaki and she was only nine years old. Of course, they would have to wait until she was older before the man and wife could actually consummate their marriage and live together, but picking a wife was the first step in this process. Ramanujan was, by all accounts, not a particularly desirable husband to most eligible young women. He was a little fat and he still bore the scars of his early bout with smallpox. Although he would later...