Transitioning from Ms. to Mrs.

So, finally the journey began for one of my closest sister/friend/guide/mentor. Each time we Indians have a wedding in the family, it’s a week worth of functions. These gora’s can never understand the intensity of our festivities. My Gosh, the stress, the tensions, frustrations, the constant calls of at least hundred vendors. I encountered this very closely. Wedding prep can be quite aggravating and nerve-racking! No wonder these gora’s get wedding planners and in India, people involve fifty family members to share the stress.

The prep started about three months prior to the wedding. The longest prep was of our dance performances. Ahhh, the fugly videos of our practice sessions on my desktop crack me up!!! The second big item on to-do list was ‘the venue’. I think banquet hall owners believe that even the mango people earn like Ambani’s & Mittal’s. Reality check, ‘No we don’t! Name the price affordable to us. Else, tata! And to shock you a little more the hall comes with nothing other than table and chair. A separate bill comes for table cloth, center pieces, cutlery, stage and hall decoration. Every decoration requires fresh and exquisite flowers. That’s when you start flaming over the extra-ordinary price tags of center pieces, hall decoration, mandap decoration and so on… No wonder Hillary C. dropped half a million on flower decoration for her D-day. These bloody rich people should live on some other planet.

I believe catering involves all the fun part and free food. Trying out several different restaurants; eating shahi paneer with a naan and afterwards who can say no to some gajrela? It’s another technique restaurant owners use to bribe customers for their selection. I think my sister tried three to four different Indian restaurants and later on cribbed about eating too much… ughh! We girls can never get satisfied! Khe khe…

While writing this article, it daunted me that the preparation went on for three months but the actual function only lasted for a split second. It’s over already and here I am writing an article on it. Time flies and this year it’s flying too fast. In this absolute hosh-posh, peace of mind is no where to be found. However, when the D-day finally arrives and you are physically there to encounter it; that feeling is priceless. Pretty much your khoon pasine ki mehnat and kamai… [if I may].

Our Indian weddings are the best celebration in this whole universe. No one can beat the fun, excitement, and full-on dance masti of our shaadiyan. Dulhan woh le gaye…

Mocking or Shocking – Peepli Live?

While I was having Monday blues, I still managed to execute a plan with my girls for Peepli Live. A movie, I was waiting to watch from the first glimpse of the trailer. The very first glance was so strong that it caught my attention in a split second. I personally, liked the movie. Reason being, I myself belong from a small town and hail from a farming family. People are having mixed feeling about the movie and the whole gimmick created on farmer suicide issue.

Infact, I had a pretty healthy debate with someone on the movie. So, let’s look at the movie from two perspectives. First, hats off to Aamir Khan for publicizing the concept of farmer suicide which is actually one of the very sensitive issues in our country. The whole mockery was constituted to lure the attention of public. Which, in return was very successful because the movie received 4.5 ratings. However, the mockery didn’t go waste. From an audience perspective, I believe, I left the theatre thinking about Prakash [one of the characters of the movie]. His dialogues moved the viewers. Even though the script delivery was given in a very calm manner and did not bring tears to the eyes; it still left a durable connection with the viewer. A satire of farmer’s destruction was nicely and neatly explained. The movie showed the farmer’s tragedy sarcastically. It was depressing to see how a farmer gets entangled between bank’s loan which turns into a debt and then pressure from family and to make matters worse, the Thekedaar!

Second, some people are not taking this movie positively at all. Infact, they think it created hoopla only because Aamir Khan promoted the movie. Also, that the movie was presented with wrong intentions. It was left in people’s mind as a publicity gimmick and not a serious issue. Farmer’s didn’t commit suicide because they were greedy but because they were frustrated, agitated of loosing their only land inherited from their forefathers. By manipulating and mimicking this concept, the director was not able to show the actual reality. For a farmer, his land is the only property which makes him proud and provides him roti, kapda and makaan.

How is it that our Rajneeti never concocted any policy for such delicate issue? The media played their role effectively. Aam junta is already aware of deceit played by the news channel on every sensitive issue. That was not new to the audience. Indians are very smart people plus very well aware of the tricks played by our very own media. I openly ask my readers, what’s their say in this? Which perspective do you agree upon? Is it okay to produce a gimmick out of an issue or did this film really change people’s point of view towards the farmer’s of our country?

Clown of the town

Rahul Mahajan; a complete loser, ridiculously immature and a downright jerk. I believe, this is still an incomplete introduction for a person like R Mahajan. I fail to understand…actually, I don’t even want to understand, why the hell should I waste my energy on a fool like him? The reason I even gave a thought of allocating my precious time on writing this article is the very current ruckus created by Dimpy Mahajan. So-called-wife of Rahul M and an absolute shame for the women of our country. Both of them pre-planned the entire drama. Since the termination of ‘Rahul ka swayamvar’, both got minimal publicity. And decided to construct a well-proof plot on an extremely delicate issue in India.

It was very nice of them to start off their plan at midnight as it will be perfect to appear in headlines next morning. What news with a cup of chai? So, in the middle of the night, Rahul starts to beat up Dimpy [his solemnized wife via a reality show] because she refused to disclose her password on the phone [as per Dimpy’s statement to news channels]. Next thing you know, Dimpy starts to run away and in that hurry she sure didn’t forget her phone. Instead of contacting her family member, the first thing she does is calls the tabloid reporter. And as we all know, media desperately awaits the mirch masala. They all arrive at Dimpy’s specified location. By the next morning, their so-called-tamasha took a higher toll on women who face this obstacle on a daily basis. It doesn’t end here, from no where, Rahul’s ex-girlfriend Payal Rohatgi comes into the scene. As it appears, Rahul started to desire his past. Bet that was pre-planned too. The next step of the plan is even more surprising, Dimpy goes back to her ‘parmeshwar’ [if I may]. Ohh, and not to mention the newfound [inappropriate] pictures of Dimpy with some dude on the World Wide Web. Can you imagine the timings of this? I would like to make a point here, who ever put in their effort in composing this entire melodrama is worthy of at least one clap. I bet if that person tries s/he has higher probability of becoming a script writer for Ekta Kapoor serials.

It’s sad that this issue has become a subject of mockery, a publicity gimmick, pushing aside the most sensitive matter which actually matters the most. There are so many wives who get beaten up in the confines of their cozy homes, by their respective husband, whom they like to call life-partners. One should definitely not forget that there are many jug head’s in our country who take their wife for granted.

Reality is not that funny afterall…!

Vivah

The word itself is purely sacred, divine, and solemn. Vivah; a commitment between two souls for the next seven lives. What kindled me into writing this article is my receptionist at work. She simplified the meaning of marriage in only a few lines. The whole perspective diverged in my mind after that two minute conversation. She has been married for the past twenty nine years. She told me, “we two grew together all these years; it’s like a job, like you come to work everyday; it’s pretty much like that but different. Now, my husband doesn’t feel the need to explain me things, I can just figure out what he’s thinking. It’s a beautiful thing. We have become friends at this age.” She also told me to enjoy bachelor days to the fullest as life will never be the same once you’re hitched!

Now-a-days, it’s so common to hear unsuccessful stories. A fear emerges inside after listening to such stories. A common man would tend to lean towards negativity only because it’s innate. There are very few people in this world who would allege two beautiful lines about their journey of marriage. Up until this incident, even I was uncertain about this journey. However, because of ‘her’ chastity and modesty, it felt good, it felt right. Isn’t it strange, how a stranger becomes your life-line? Life takes a complete 360 and one doesn’t know what future holds in its Pandora box? Every marriage is different. Each couple stems their marriage in their own solitary. It’s not necessary that one specific factor is common amongst all couples. Some people live far apart and still maintain a commendable relationship whereas some cannot distant even for a week. At the end it all varies at how you cultivate a healthy relationship.

In the initial stages of this analogy, every partner determines to adjust accordingly, which in return is quite profitable. The very famous quote, ‘if there’s a will there’s a way’ plays a very substantial role in a relationship. There are many people who bequeath tremendous amount of time to their affinity. It’s a myth that after ten years love disappears. I’ve come across many couples who stay happily even after ten years. Infact, one of the examples would be my receptionist. She maintained the happiness up till now and she will be glorifying her thirtieth anniversary next year.

Marriage is all about companionship, stability, support, love and affection towards that one person for the rest of your life. Who wouldn’t want to indulge in such relationship where the other person is available 24x7? There are countless couples who adore being married. Assuredly, there are pros and cons in such relationships as well. However, isn’t this alliance all about overcoming every hassle, every altercation together, as one?

Life is too short. Take your wife/husband out on a date. Enjoy this very moment with the one you truly love. This journey is too magnificent to miss out on.

Facebook & Full Nautanki…!

Few facts: Facebook has 500 million active users. 30 billion pieces of content shared each month. 70 and more translations available for site. WOW…what a network! Infact, from my personal experience, I’d tell you, even I’m a FB fan. FB is nothing more than a stalking site. It has its own pros and cons but no one really gives a damn about the ‘cons’. There are numerous people who lost their identity on this site. Few days back I heard the most deviant story on the radio. A couple decided to get divorced because the wife wouldn’t get off the FB. What??? That was my reaction while driving to work. Didn’t get the idea of loosing your husband [a human being] over a networking site… Strange! Once, I updated my status and mentioned about the perks of working with FB. In less than five minutes, a girl messaged me with her resume. Height of desperation or height of getting famous?

‘It’s not a mandate to have a FB account but because Rachel, Susan, Shipra own one, I should have it too’. This is how people feel these days. I vaguely remember when FB was newly introduced to college students. I bethink the day I created my FB profile. The site completely reformed from that day to now. In the past year, everyone has been bewitched by the FB spell. Every 14th person in the world holds a FB account. Wonder who’s in the category of remaining 13?

Many companies banned FB access. My company was one of them. One fine morning, I was startled to see an email announcing full authority of FB access at work. I was so jolted by this news that I decided to broadcast it on my status to the entire world. I’d like to call it a complete time-pass. Some call it a plague. Lately, I’ve come across all the ridiculous games, fortunes, horoscopes, crazy taxi, and the list goes on. Each time, I’d get a notification to accept request on any of these antics, I’d sincerely ignore it. Some thoroughly enjoy such nuisances but some [like me] keep it clean on other’s mini-feed.

Yesterday I encountered an erratic converse among my cousins. I told my younger cousins to respectfully address a new member of our family and the reply to that was, ‘I address him respectfully on Facebook.’ To this my reaction was, ‘so reality doesn’t matter anymore? Is this what kids are learning these days? Is the Facebook so real that the ‘actuality’ [per se] doesn’t subsist?’

Bridal Shower – Dulhan Phuwara – Wotti Phuwara

Okay guys, so I’m back on my blog!!! Bet, you all missed me tons, I missed writing too. Anyhow, so the past weekend was quite entertaining. Two of my cousins and I threw a bridal shower to our eldest cousin – soon-to-be married! Infact, in less than two weeks. Definitely a turning point for her and the family.

So, the bridal shower turned out to be partly surprising for the bride-to-be. If only, she could bear some patience in herself it would have been a complete surprise. Anyhow, all izz well… We, Indians, are not so familiar with the concept of throwing a bridal shower. We sure have heard about baby shower but not bridal one. Thanks to our parents for migrating us to the states ten years back. And thanks to the US culture for introducing us to a completely new idea. Indians residing in India are still desolated from this concept.

For the people who are still alienated from this abstraction. Here’s a synopsis: A bridal shower is pretty much like any other party. Except it only demands girl-friends to be on the invite list. So, the bride-to-be attains countless gifts which she can adore after the wedding. There are games involved as well which makes it more saucy and sexy. I won’t disclose much; let your brain run berserk.

Ours turned out to be an eight hour long affair. This is how it all began… Firstly, picking a date suitable to all the ladies followed by comprehending the details of the shower. Once, the day was finalized, I was all geared up to initiate the decoration/food/games/guestlist/gifts with my ladies. After the shopping spree, we were all set to decorate the basement. With much artifice, I managed to gather guys of our familia to help out with the decoration. Not to mention the hardship of these guys blowing air from their lungs into the balloons. All three of them deserve a huge applause!!! Afterwards, my cousin/hostmate and I started showcasing our culinary skills in our respective kitchens [which by the way was quite appreciated by all the ladies]. For me, the D-day started at 7AM sharp followed by cleaning, vacuuming and constantly keeping in-touch with my girls on the phone. The basement gets filled with the girls and as we are watching the clock ticking, we anxiously await the bride’s arrival. Something daunts me and I check up on her by calling, next thing we know she’s not ready and have no clue about the arrival time. In the meantime, we loaded up on some appetizers and finally she arrived. So she began fancying up on her crown and the attention. Of course, who wouldn’t, eh? My hostmate did a splendid job with the games. Hats off to her! After three hours of non-stop fun, everyone’s stomach was growling. So we begin the food process. Cooking – heating – decorating – setting – and finally serving. Coincidentally everything came out to be delicious and savory. Afterwards, it was time to bid farewell to the friends. And again, the basement was left with us four or fantastic four [if I may…]. It will not be the same after she diverges from being Ms. to Mrs.

As my hostmate said, ‘foursome won’t be the same, in a good way’…