This & That

This article is not dedicated to some distinctive person or any exclusive topic and it’s nowhere near any controversy. It simply talks about the nitty-gritty stuff occurring in day-to-day life. People get so habitual of their routine life. An ordinary week drags on for five days. And a weekend passes by in one blink of an eye. Because I hail from the business world, I do realize the seriousness of having a two day weekend. At the crack of the dawn on Friday, my colleagues, friends, family get fully prepared to start off the weekend at 5 PM. Some people tend to leave as early as possiblel. I do too, at times.

Last weekend was like no other for me. While entering the house around six-ish, I found a housefull gala with my extended family as well as immediate. As I sat down and enjoyed the oil plus calorie filled pakora’s cooked by mom, we all gazed at the television. Later on, everyone resisted the oily-ness…ughhh! At night, bro and I decided to watch Jurassic Park III. Re-lived the magic created by that movie in the old days. While dozing off, I decided to catch up on one more episode of Lost. Yes, I’m still marathoning it. I was determined to hit the gym next morning. During wee hours, mother knocked on the door and my dream got crushed in a flash. Its fine, probably some random dream… My mind debated on when should I go to the gym? Morning passed by, afternoon passed by and before I knew I got excessively bored. After much thought, I concluded that I should go for window shopping. Called up my little cousin, picked her up and ended up in Wal-Mart. Probably the most favorable place of all desis. Purchasing was done in no time and the damage was adequate. Kiddo and I decided to walk over to a food plaza and the Thai restaurant became enchanting. I blissfully relished my Drunken Noodles entrée with a virgin strawberry banana colada while my company decided to load up on some Pad-Thai and a non-diet coke. Mouth-watering… Saturday ended!

Sunday – for the first time ever, I tasted Georgetown Cupcakes. Mmm…mmm…good! That was my reaction. I got amused by the number of people on the street. My friend and I also stood in line for about forty minutes. However, it was worth the wait! That’s when I discovered about the DC Cupcakes show on TLC. The prices are very affordable and delicious-ness savored in my mouth like heaven. A while later, the two of us got on with the usual thing girls do on a day out. Shopping! Yup, apparently Georgetown is not too pricey. Very affordable, if you plan to visit the clearance section!!! Lunch was at Clyde’s, food was an average because of their constant modifications in the menu, and I can never summon the names of my favorite entrée’s. Oh well, while strolling towards the waterfront area and enjoying the sexiness of the weather, both of us conversed about our busy life. Two seconds later, I tripped and made a fool out of myself in front of everyone. Nothing worse happened but yeah, our date was ruined in an instant. While resting at home, my awesome sisters came over with some yummy food cooked by one of them. Chole were finger-licking good. Aur bas, weekend khatam, work shuru! Sooo, have a wonderful week, everyone!

Daaarling tere liye…!

Chulbul Pandey – probably the most dashing, amicable, and a complete Dabangg man on-screen and off as well. Yeah, it’s true; Sallu miyan has an endless fan-following. Dabangg created magic on the screen. Khan-dan knew their audience and used all the right masala for their movie. In our B’wood industry, no other actor can pull off this role. The promos had the entire nation hooked to the screens. Each time Munni came on screen; junta went completely bonkers with her. She sure got badnaam but I guess in a good way. Munni – only five minute coverage in the entire movie, however, acted as the tadka [key part] of the film. The lady looked outrageously fabulous in her item number. She sure knows how to nachao the mango people on her finger tips. Infact, munni badnaam sms jokes are already in circulation on everyone’s mobile.

Switching gears onto a fresh face introduced to the nation. Sonakshi Sinha, daughter of the very famous veteran actor, charming looks combined with killer eyes, and a perfect bod [actually this particular attribute doesn’t need a special mention as it’s pretty much the only thing required in our film industry]. I think she did justice to her role by not over-acting or creating much brouhaha during the promotion of her debut release. A special thanks to Manish Malhotra for her backless blouses and the simple yet elegant sari’s. I am passionately moved by her tere mast mast do nain song. While vacationing in India, I got amused by the repetition of this song on every radio station. Literally gave the goosebumps.

The movie is a complete funtertainer and a mast watch. Chulbul Pandey with his cheesy lines, his cry me a river kind-of love for his mother, his absurd first encounter with Sonakshi, his ray-ban sunglasses, amazingly choreographed dance sequence where he fiddles his buckle of the belt in the most provocative way and a special mention for the shirt ripping off scene. I must say, give it away to the Khan Parivaar for this, a very hatke scene. If only I knew how to maaro a seeti… Solid impact hai, bhai! By the way, delighted to see Dimple on the screen. Hope she’s here to stay. Sonu Sood gave a khulla competition to Sallu with his almost 6-pack. However, he lacked in ripping off his kurta with the help of his will power. It takes a whole lot of gut to base the entire movie’s load on one man’s shoulder – Salman Khan. It is proven that at times junta cares less about the script and only cares about their superhero. Chulbul was spotted in every scene in his own chulbul-ness. The director probably did another peeni hai party after glancing at the box-office report. The gamble paid off, that too with a hefty amount. For once, badnaam munni benefited all…!

Bonjour

Sitting in Paris, sipping Café Latte and enjoying the crispy-ness of a buttery croissant. Gosh, time flew by so damn quickly. It feels like yesterday when I was rushing through work, emails, and my boss; only because I was flying to my desh. Yup, certainly a life changing experience on this trip and a smile on a face added with a pinch of ticklish feeling. Two week vacation flew by rapidly. I still have a crystal clear memory of the day I was leaving. Left work around noon followed by a nail salon stop [which by the way was highly required since I have the tiniest nails]. As I was driving to my home, I ardently wanted to get over with my packing and get on that plane. Even though the destination was still too far away, resting in that uncomfortable chair of economy class was getting me one step closer to everyone back home. Reality check: it’s not too much fun travelling from one continent to another when you can only afford the common man class. Ugh, I envy those people travelling via business class, enjoying the comfy seat with a huge space where you can practically lie down flat and relish the coziness. Its okay, one day I will too. Expect less; dream more – simple funda of my life!!!

Running out of battery and cannot find the junction which is needed for my laptop. Paris Airport and no power junction. Wah, kya baat hai!!!

***After two hour break***

Alrite guys, so this is what happened in the past two hours. Like I mentioned above, my battery was dying. So, I went on a hunt to find a power junction which would charge my laptop. Mission failed! Remarkably, I found out that UK also uses the same power cord we use in India. In order to start up my laptop, I was told by a passenger that I’ll have to buy a converter. To that my reaction was, “dude, being a pakka desi, I highly oppose wasting money on something I’ll never use again.” While sipping another latte and chewing a tomato mozzarella sandwich, I came across a decent American. Striking up a conversation with him was not too complicated. Thanks to my ‘talkative personality.’ Hehe, I’m proud of it! Since we are on Paris airport, I’ll describe it a bit. Firstly, this place is huge, and I mean Humongous. A passenger needs to travel via bus or subway in order to get to their terminal for the connecting flights. Infrastructure is a treat to your eyes. And let’s not even get on with the cleanliness. However, regardless of how long is the halt, every passenger is only allowed to stay in their respective terminals. Which kind of sucked since one cannot fancy the entire airport! Everyone is speaking in French, infact everyone is conversing with me in French as well. After a split second they realize, I’m a visitor because my face expression goes inane. Till date, this is the first airport where I was able to get a glimpse of every type of plane. Boeing 747, Airbus 380, Airbus 330, tiny jets, that double-decker plane, pretty much everything.

I had absolutely no intentions of writing my next article on Paris airport. Howbeit, since life is not planned; this wasn’t either. When I was vacationing, I had numerous topics in my head which are worthy of my article writing. That will happen once I land in US of A. For now, these are my random thoughts in Paris on my eight hour halt before I board my connecting flight. Oh, by the way, it was quite motivating to hear comments on my articles from my readers in India. Got me so charged up! Anyhow, for now, I’ll take leave. Will publish this article once I get back home. Hoping not to get jetlagged at all. Got a lot more to write, so stay tuned.

Farewell dost…

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.