Are marriages made in heaven???

Well I m going to write about something which I feel I am not ‘experienced’ enough to write about. Still I ‘experienced’ one such event that they say lays the first step to approach towards marriage that’s ‘parents-relatives -boy-meet-girl-parents-relatives’ ceremony you can say. During the holidays after my 3^rd semester I attended one such ‘ceremony’ with my mom. That day I and my mom rushed to Iskcon Temple on my bike. As we reached there, we saw my uncle standing near the gate waving towards us. Three of us rushed on the stairs to the shrine [I always love the serene atmosphere inside it]. I saw my cousin sis sitting on the marble floor with hands folded and her helmet kept down besides her. May be she was praying to let her pass in the soon-going-to-start exam rather interview. All of us were having casual conversation when my mom barred me from going over the main podium [Reason: I didn’t had a shower by that time]. I just stood there only while they were offering prayers rather ‘body gestures’ before Lord Jagannath. Just then I saw a lady coming with a boy dressed in formal and casuals. I guessed they are the ones and I was right. They went to my mom and uncle. They had a brief conversation which I couldn’t hear. While they were descending down the podium, mom said ,“This is my boy” to which the lady from the ‘interviewer-board’ replied, “This is our boy” clutching the arm of her niece who had came to interview my cousin sis. Then and there I thought that this ‘trend’ may follow on and someday I would be on the other side.

             Thoughts apart, I saw that everyone were being too formal and counted the no. of times the boy had ‘informally’ glanced my sis in the meantime. As usual my mom was acting like a good host, she advised to go and sit over the Lakshmi Temple podium and start the process. All of us followed. We sat down like they do in round-table conference. I was besides my mom [this podium allowed me in besides the fact that I didn’t had a shower..well all ‘GODs’ don’t have ‘same’ status at the ‘same’ place :P]  and my sis was besides ‘his’ aunt. Ice breaker was my uncle [ironically from the interviewee board] who queried the boy regarding his office, work and job-period. Then mom started with queries from family background, native place, family members, parents etc. I guess, the candidates for the interview have interviewed the board instead. Well it’s a bad joke but I thought about this for a long while. After that, the lady asked the same questions to my sis to which she replied very clearly and promptly. I had a Iskcon booklet in my hand and I was going through the life-history of the founder of the organization. Sometimes I was going deep inside it and at other times I was using it as a medium to isolate myself from the process. Within 10 minutes, formal questions from both parties were over and everyone was thinking of the next question to throw upon each other. Till then it was just a question-answer round and I was getting real bored. Next round was then initiated by mom who hit upon the idea of ordering ‘bhoga’ for everyone from the Iskcon outlet. To this the opposite party resisted citing various formal and so-to-say-and-maintain-dignity reasons. After lot of persuasion we won. But it came as a boomerang to my thoughts. Mom and uncle left me with the opposite party and went to the store. Mom asked me loudly to start talking to ‘maybe-my-would be-jijaji’. So I changed my position and sat besides him. For 5mins or more there was utter silence when the boy asked me [‘coz mom forced it] “do you know about XYZ?”. I said, “no”. Later I came to know that XYZ was his friend who was a mediator between the parties and was yet to arrive there. This one was the only interaction between me and him. But then the important thing happened. He asked a question to my sis about the college she did MBA from and this led to other questions regarding my sis’s job. His aunt volunteered in this process. The overall process was one-sided and my sis was at the end-point. But it was ok that both of them had something to tell each other. I was getting severely boring by then and to my relief mom and uncle arrived with packets and paper dishes in their hands. We came down from the podium [its ban to relish inside the temple] and I helped mom and uncle to distribute the dishes. In the end the left-out was served to me but it contained 2 times more stuffs than each one of them have had. I am a gung-ho foodie. So I accepted it with grace and gobbled up everything before everyone did. The boy on the other hand came out to be totally choosy upon the Prasad like it can hamper his daily ‘diet-routine’. Since he took a single mithai, I devoured the rest. While eating I was scanning the no. of brand names that he displayed. Well it was a single count. ‘Killer Jeans’. It made me comfortable that he hadn’t adorned so many freaky brands since I have a discomfort zone near fellas displaying branded clothing in public, well it’s a bit personal, but never mind.

             The process was coming to an end and I was getting excited that the boring session will close. But that was never gonna-be. The “XYZ” about whom I was talking of arrived. Seeing his pal, the boy started being himself and stopped acting. They got well with each other soon. XYZ asked in a humorous tone, “Is everything over? Or something left for me to witness?”. Everyone broke into a laugh except me. [Reason: I was the youngest among them all and my only job was to listen] Then the boy and her aunt exchanged greetings with my mom and uncle and asked my uncle to come over to their native place in the near future to get things and relations further strengthened so that the ‘heaven-thing’ really remains heavenly.

             After that they left. Ohh gosh I breathed in relief and to my amazement my sis too. She told me “Its so difficult to act like a still-image. I think I have to rehearse for the next time so that it gets well with myself. Very boring” while she laughed. I supported her ‘feelings’ and added , “I was urging mom not to take me with her. It is gonna-be a boring session with no real outputs.” To this she said in a commanding voice “Then be prepared for your one”. I thought .. “well..well.. if that’s near..i will demand another chance so that I would grow up once again.” This is where ‘being young’ rocks.

             If marriages are made in ‘heaven’ then why the ‘hell’ we repeat it on ‘earth’??? Think about it!!

A public display of "love" and "affection"

                 Some days back I was standing at the counter of a reputed drug store at Rajmahal Square inquiring about a rarely sold tablet that was prescribed to me by the Capital Hospital Orthopedic doc. I had become a patient then, 3 months after the real incident had occurred. ‘Fact’ is that I had slipped from my Honda (I mean Hero Honda Splendor) that was programmed to reach my cousin’s house at sailashreevihar but the virus attacked the ECU (Electronic Control Unit) near Damana Chowk. My elbow got the first bruise against the highway and everything else followed. I rushed to Care Hospital’s EU (Emergency Unit) that was barely 100mtrs away from the spot. I was taken good care of inside an AC room. After 1hr I was on my own. I drove back to home immediately. Sorry, it was my cousin who drove. I was the damn pillion (something I shall always hate to be) because of my damn elbow. That damn elbow had again started giving its clarion call and so I was there where I ought to be, the med. Store. The rarely sold tab is DEJOX (sounds like it would degenerate something inside me). I had put the computer database to work. The manager was carefully searching for the string “DEJOX”. And the helper was standing on a ladder, his upper half submerged inside the roof storage unit. His fingers were moving from one pile to another.

                 So I had enough time to look around and judge the various categories of diseases were to be quarantined. Besides me, was standing a decent looking gentleman almost in his early 30’s. All decentness receded when his face shifted to ‘dumbo-ness’. I could guess that he had also came for a rarely available medicine.

                Just then a young lady came in the scene breaking my thoughts. She was perhaps 28 or something ++. Good height, decent looks, the saree and the jewellery were proportionately glittering. But I could not ‘scan’ her face (which I usually do when I come across someone of the opposite sex). Her head was completely bend down and she was deeply ailing and whispering something like… “Oh my head, my head… its paining severely…so heavy..I can’t tolerate.” In the meantime she came behind that man, kept her balance and held his arm. Again she repeated those words to him. I concluded that, she is his’ wife whom the doc had ‘just’ diagnosed. Then something happened that put me to think whether I made the right conclusion.

                While she was clutching to him in pain to keep her balance, he didn’t responded, didn’t looked behind and to my utter dismay, didn’t helped her. It then struck me, “Oh I was wrong. This poor lady had mistaken him for her husband..well she could barely open her eyes to locate her husband.”

                But my thoughts vanished soon when some elderly people around me who were watching this asked the man- “Is she with you? Please make her sit somewhere.” To this he replied- “Yes. Okay.” I was relieved for sometime but soon I got disappointed that his words didn’t really show up. He was still the same dumbo, irresponsive and uncaring. He didn’t even glanced at his wife who was about to fall down. Just then, when my anger was at peak, somebody from the elderly folks came and offered a chair to ‘madam’ and made her sit down. Suddenly I thought, she should have married this man instead irrespective of the fact that he must have been 10-15yrs older than she was. My anger fell back. I was at least relaxed that the lady was seated and gaining herself.

                Till then, I was looking at her and I didn’t notice that the manager had called me twice in a row. I recollected myself and he said, “Sorry, the tablet isn’t available with us.” I said, “okay” and was about to leave. Then I looked at the man who hadn’t changed his posture since then and seemed as if he was unaware of anything that had just happened around him in a few minutes.

                I was walking away from the store and occasionally looking back. I saw that the lady was in a more relaxed state than she was just before 5 minutes. Just then the footage of a popular Oriya show on OTV flashed me where couples in ‘love’- teenagers, young couples and the just married ones were mocked at for showcasing love and affection at parks and public places onscreen. But what I had just been through was also a public display of “love” and “affection” that did escaped from being telecasted on that show.

               Now, you guys decide what kind of love and affection should be shown in public??? Would you ever like to treat your wife in this manner? I shall say shame on that man and shame on all those who have been doing this or involved in this kind.

Gimme some sunshine..gimme some rain..

              Now I am damn sure that the next time I get tensed, “Aal izz well” will come to my rescue.

              After I came out of Keshari talkies at 9pm I just thanked almighty that the pain He caused to my legs from 6am to 10am in the morning while standing in the queue for booking my tickets proved its worth, every bit of it. My friend Avinash aka Pit also posed for a shot with his tickets in hand and the film hoarding in the background like it was a late victory for him. Ok jokes apart, the 2hrs and 50min of rolling kept my senses glued to it.

             After reaching home, I started roaming from one room to another aimlessly. Something was striking me, “What is the core message hidden in the film and whether it will influence me?” Just then, my dad called me and gave me a scrap sheet with something written on it in red ink. Yup, it was a question and it was almost analogous to that ‘something-striking-me’. Below is the exact content of the scrap sheet.

Q:- What did you learn from the film “3 idiots” & what is your opinion (be frank) for the society as a whole?

A:- What I learnt from the movie

     Simply, try to be ‘capable’ instead of running after success. When I feel like running after success, I prefer taking short-cuts and any possible means, e.g. ‘mugging up my semester course just few days prior to exam.’ From now on I shall try to prove my capability by giving my best, not just get the chapters by heart and keep up good points in my academic profile.

     Opinion for the society

    Always try to take the path which can create innovativeness (something unique, something different) within you. In the long run, I assure you that you will be really satisfied when you see the work to which you are up-to is really influencing others in some or the other way.

            Well I answered to that question immediately without pondering much and gave it back to my dad. Then I saw that my lil bro was also scribbling something on a scrap. To my amazement, he was also given the same job that I had just finished.

            After my dad read my “job-sheet” I sensed that he was happy and satisfied that he had got his answers. Well next day I was shown my bro’s sheet and I found the answer of a 15 year old very pursuing than that of mine. Sorry guys, his sheet is copyrighted and can’t be published here.

            Aah, this was my bit of story that immediately followed the evening show of 3idiots. I can really bet that all of you who are reading this must have had an immediate experience in their real lives after the reel story ended. And all of you must have been really motivated and a deep urge must be rising inside you to start doing your bit towards “Excellence”.

             I witnessed the same thing. That night I was talking with my bro while on my bed. My bro is in 9^th std and he has got 3 more years that will put him on the track. For the first time, I enquired about his performance in academics. At that time I came to know that he prefers mugging-up those stuffs that are out of his perceived boundaries. Before that “chamatkar” would have metamorphosed to “balatkaar”,    I strictly told him to discuss those stuffs with me the next day. As said, I helped him with chemistry stuffs in the morning. I tried to ensure that he doesn’t remember the structure and shapes of symbols in the formulas and location of units and multipliers. Rather he should accept that every formula is just a relation between physical quantities and they are inter-connected. So that when he faces a problem he just tries to remember the concept (simply definition) and use it. I was sure that if he does this, then boring stuffs can actually become interesting.

            That night I had another experience and that really owes to the slogan, “Aal izz well”. I had a bad quarrel with a nice friend and due to unavoidable events I told my friend to avoid me for the best so that I would never show up in future. After that I was very tensed, feeling bad and guilty till that night. Then I decided to apologize to my friend and I did that while chanting “aal izz well… sab thik thak”. And it really worked..!!

            I think I have started doing my bit and I hope you guys also must have started doing the same. To those who have not yet started thinking over it, I would like you to ‘get another chance so u can grow up once again’.

           Now you must be thinking, “Why this idiot described so much to deliver so less?”

           Then to that I can escape with an excuse “koi bhi baat ko simple karke samjhao toh who baat badi ho jaati hai.”