Life's Good!

Bought a new LG CTV and a Philips DVD Player on Sunday!
My bday gift from Prasan :D
(Yeah right - I bought 'him' a Washing Machine on his bday and he gets 'me' a TV and DVD on mine... ;) ajab bday gift ki ghazab kahani...)

Welcome!!!

Appa and Amma - welcome :) to unlimited access to internet and therefore to blogs (he he, mine and deepa's, ofc :)).
Clap clap clap - to the net savvy family!!!
Courtesy: Seeru-Deepa and their old PC :)

p.s my European sojourn shall soon find a place in this blog world :)
time constraints for the time being! (Meenu SLOGS from 9.30 am to 8.15 pm everyday in office !!! :'( sob sob sob )

Rathiri... navarathiri...

Navrathri 2009 - One of the most memorable Navrathris :) and in the Maximum City :)
Until this year, my 'navarathiri' centred around Amma, dolls, dhavani-pavadai/pattu sari, paatu problem! But for the last one, the others were fun!

You see, just like TamBram boys have to wear a பூணல், all TamBram gals have to know ஸ ரி க ம ப த நி!!! நம்ம தான் musically impaired ஆச்சே :D... ask Raji! 'எந்தன் நெஞ்சில் நீங்காத தென்றல்' ன்னு பாடினா, அது 'சின்ன சின்ன ஆசை' மாதிரி இருக்கும்!!! Not that I bothered – The maximum repercussion would be had in my valuation in the marriage market... Undervalued and target price cut ;)

Recapitulating, Navrathri 09 was a world apart from my earlier 'Navarathiri's! Mumbai had more to do with colours, sticks, naach-gaana (for a change, not the மருகேளர ஒ ராகவா gaana gharana)... Nights here were noisier and a riot of gaiety and colours – of red and yellow bandhinis and chaniya cholis, clinky metal and shell jewels, dancing garba and dandiya!!! Shaking a leg to Filmi music… in other words, it was disco night (one disco where stags are preferred over couples ;)) with God’s approval (kadavul than enaku nalla budhiya tharanum :D)

So this time, Meenu danced to the tunes of Garba - once in a bright blue lehenga choli and once again in a bright red gujju saadi :)... thank you paati :)

Boy, did I love it! ;)

Sore points - missed Amma and Prasan immensely and never let it show! :(

Meri marzi...

Ever since G's marriage topic came up, ppl have been asking C (yes yes, C - no typo... u see, G and C are best buddies and close family friends... more like twins :) ) - some nudged her subtly - "ponne, ini nee than baaki"; "nee G oda friend thane? unaku eppo?"; bolder ones adviced "intha vayasula pannikama 30 vayasulaya pannika pore?"; the nosey ones - aka 'nalam virumbis' - went a step further "enna ma, yaarayavathu love panraiya??"

C's crime? - she is 26 (ofc she cant help aging every year), successful (read as well educated and employed, good looking, abundantly talented, very idealisticon, on her road to fame...), single (happily so :))! Now you know!

Me thinks, she – in her heart of hearts, has a notion that she would lose her independence after marriage… or may be she hasnt felt any need for a man in her life!

If you ask me (Thats the problem - nobody asks ME! :P ), whats wrong if she wants to stay single and independent…she might think marriage is a curtailment, of sorts and married women might think she is missing out on something big in life… The grass is always greener the other side ('this side', in this case)… As long as she is happy, what more can one possibly ask…

This question has always ravaged my 'not-so-informed' mind – why does the conscious decision of staying single (hey dont let imagination run wild - C hasn’t decided on anything; she is the Que sera sera gal :) these are just my deep-ramblings) prompt so many arguments and judgments??? Coming to think of it - does marriage matter much these days? Only in close knit societies like ours, which attach a pedestal-high importance to marriages and family, would a personal choice of this stature find many naysayers and critics.

But why oh why, should people - women, in particular - not stay single? They hardly have to make major compromises, in terms of career, actions, thought processes, sartorial statements, lifestyle, parents and siblings, finances; you can live life by your own terms… All the world’s your family… You can adopt lovable, adorable kids (though one might not be radical enough to become a biological parent, out of wedlock)!

And, on the contrary, what do these single people choose to compromise? The soothing company of a loving, non-judgmental, impartial, logical and feel-good confidante, play mate and companion (am not accounting for those unlucky married ones, who do not find even a single such characteristic in their life partner)… darling biological kids (lets discount the few who are not so blessed with this God’s own gift!!!)… an extended set of family, that’s ready to do anything for you (we shall again discount in laws who set the daughters-in-law aflame)... more importantly, solid company during their second childhood!!!

I cant unequivocally say family and matrimony are NOT hindrances to non-domestic success. They, of course, come with a lot more responsibility – a woman, for instance, has to take care of two families (her parents’ and her in laws, in addition to her immediate family!) And juggling a task as demanding as this, with careers/other creative pursuits, that are equally if not more demanding, is certainly a tight rope walk!!! Am sure there are scores of women who have done it – Ranjana Kumar, Margaret Alva, Sushma Swaraj, Indra Nooyi, Chanda Kocchar, P.T.Usha, Sharmila Tagore (Sudha Murthy gave up, by her own choice, what could have easily been a flourishing career, for the sake of family; so did Jaya Bachhan)… and there are quite a few who have done it the other way too – JJ, Padma Subramaniam, Rekha, Sushmita Sen (so far)…

Am I being shortsighted, when, from the bottom of my heart, I say, people can be happy – with or without their spouse (I cant and I don’t want to be… thats a different perspective)… after all, you cant miss what you haven’t had/known!!! Dint sanyasis and sadhus find peace and salvation without even a mere thought of matrimonial and domestic bliss?

I dont think am mature or enlightened enough to analyse and bisect the meaning, purpose, goal or objective of marriage... but what i do believe in is happiness! என் சிற்றறிவுக்கு எட்டிய வரை, all that matters at the end of the day, is what appeals to ones own heart – and shall most likely remain to appeal forever!!!

After all, doesnt happiness lies within oneself!!! If you knew of the Bushman tribe, you wouldn’t dispute it!!!

Nalam nalam ariya aaval...

One of the most noteworthy incidents in my life was (wait, am not gonna touch upon poignant, life altering, touching, or even shocking incidents such as my wedding or the glow of pride on my parents' faces at the Delhi Awards Ceremony or my first sight of my niece or the death of a young class teacher or the emotionally packed night repartees wid Deeps) when I, well, snubbed a lady of my neighborhood!!! :) wow... what a cheap thrill... wat a sense of victory adn accomplishment - trust me, even the Gold Medal or the All India First dint feel so good :)...

Thank the intruding and annoying habits of the previous generation (not the madisaar clad madi maamis, but sari draped, cell phone wielding aunties)...
Their dogma in life is that the first wedding anniversary should always be celebrated by the couple with a two-month old kid(my math is impeccable!) - preferably a son... ! Their antenna (read as math) gets worked up all the more if they live in an agrahaaram like mine and get to see such a 'chamathu (maatu)ponnu' like me...
(yuck, i hate the label, but i guess i have earned it unwittingly and now, unwillingly :( )

My fault? I defied traditional 'wisdom' and convention - celebrated my second wedding anniversary alone (not even wid my better half, let alone an infant ;))
Now this lady - we will call her Madam Nalam virumbi - a self appointed moral policewoman, whom i have hardly spoken to once before (well, she has spoken to me on a number of occasions - "emma skirt podara??? decent a chudithar poda koodathu?"... "en ma ipdi kovilla fast a suthare? ponnu madiri medhuva nada" !@#$%!@#...) runs into me at the temple... (with her, i rein in my ready-to-burst-at-its-seams smile)
Namma Nalam virumbi asks me, indignantly - "enna, pullai killai pethukara ennam illaya"!!!

Horror of horrors - something my own mother wouldnt dare ask me - my own athais and maamis wouldnt reproach me... this woman has the GUTS, the self-importance and noseyness to confront me!

Meenu, mustering all her wit (limited stock), rudeness, indifference, arrogance adn local tamil, retorted - "oh, pombalai thaniya pulla pethuka mudiyuma...purushan oor la illama"! கப்பு சிப்பு... அந்த பக்கம் sound e காணோம்...
On second thoughts, i guess I did sound crude ,vulgar and may be even promiscous, but the expression on Nalam virumbi's face - price less :) !!!