challo challe mittwa

Going to Pune to witness a batch of Indian soldiers pass out of the National Defence Academy. One of them is my borther-in-law. It will be such an honour. I think it will be a life time opportunity to go inside the campus. We are given dress codes for all the 4 days that we would be at the NDA and what better excuse than this to go shopping! S told me it is not a fashion parade and I don't have to be so excited about dressing up. How can a man know about women and dresses? I don't mind. I don't mind.

I have bought a light coloured saree as Pune is really hot these days. Ma-in-law wanted me to wear our traditional dress too. I am not only a Bharatya Naari but a Manipuri Naari who have taken upon her thin shoulders the responsibility of showcasing her rich culture and heritage. Don't you see it is always the women? And S tells me not to take it as a fashion parade. How is that possible? :-)

Our tradional dress consists of a wrap around (which is thick), a blouse and a half saree which can be worn as a saree or as a shawl. I have given the blouse for stitching and I paid three times the amount that I paid one and a half years back. Talk of inflation! I mean I did not go to some Manish Malhotra but our own galli ka darzi and the price rise is too much. Now I know why actresses these days are not wearing blouses and are making do with strings. Even they are affected by inflation. Oh dear poor sisters! See now I understand why Tanisha was going bra bra dekho in Neel and Nikki. She doesn't get many movies and she is also a victim of inflation. Bad me, bad me for mocking her in a public forum!

Coming back to blouses, I hate being measured by a male tailor. I am sure most women feel the same.

Anyway, I am planning to catch up with two of my childhood friends. There is R, the lady warden. She has left that job long time back but I keep referring to her as the lady warden. She will be relocating to Mumbai very soon. She got a job in a very good college under Mumbai University. Hope Mr. Raj Thackeray will not have any problems to this. She is a gold medalist from Pune University and Mumbai only stand to lose. Leen had finished her M.B.B.S long time back but suddenly decided to go for the P.G and I am glad she has chosen Pune to do it. These are friends with whom I went to school in my small hometown in the far corner of the country. I am still thankful to that school we attended. Amidst the strikes, bandhs, bomblasts, extortion and a lot more disturbances to a normal student life, that school kept our dreams alive. Even to a student like me, who is not the topper but slightly above average, it gave me the confidence that someday I would be able to find something worthwhile to do beyond MBBS and Engineering. Something that I love, something that I am good at.

So, it would be sort of a re-union. We would miss the rest of the gang, Ri, Ju and Li. Ju and Li are at NYC and Virginia, and kicking ass. They hang out together and share their snaps. We are planning to do the same. Hee hee hee. S wanted to meet his friends too. Thinking out loud (and hoping he is reading this), maybe he could drop me and get introduced to my buddies and I could pick him up later and get introduced to his buddies since we don't have that much time in hand.

Yashodhara

Pema: Yashodhara. Do you know that name? Prince Sidhartha, Gautama, Sakyamani, Buddha, everybody knows those names… but..Yasodhara! Yashodhara was married to Sidhartha. She loved him dearly. One night Sidhartha left her and her son, Rahul.. while they were sleeping... to seek enlightenment... to become Buddha. He did not even say a word to her when he left. Yashodhara had shown compassion for the sick and ailing long before Sidhartha even did.. long before Sidhartha was even aware of suffering! Who can say if he owes his enlightenment to her?

Tashi: Pema!

Pema: Perhaps, Yashodhara wanted to leave Siddhartha and Rahul. How can we ever know if Yashodhara fell victim to anger ..to loneliness or bitterness..after Sidhartha left her? Who ever thought about her?

What must she have said when Rahul, her son asked that eternal question: "Where is my father?" What must she have told him? How could a mother leave her own child in the middle of the night? It is only possible for a man to do. Tashi, only for a man. After that Yashodhara had no choice. She had to live a life of renunciation. She cut off her hair and lived like an ascetic. Oh Tashi, if your thoughts of Dharma were of the same intensity as the love and passion you have shown me, you would become Buddha in this very body, in this very life.

Finally, I have got my own copy of the movie, Samsara. The above is my favourite part.
Tashi, a budhist monk after meditation for three years, returns to the monastery and is being revered for his discipleship. Suddenly, he experiences a profound attraction for a woman called Pema and leaves the monastry for the secular world. He finds that life in Samsara(world) is even more complex and the above happens when he decides to go back to the monastry leaving his wife and son. The question goes:"What is more important:satisfying one thousand desires or conquering just one?"

while I am sleepy

I am feeling damn sleepy and what better way than to blog about a face wash? Let us talk products. No, I have not been paid to endorse any of them in my blog but I can be kind sometimes. I like the Garnier’s Skin Naturals Face Wash (because I wash my face with it. Darn! wake up and concentrate) but I don’t like Esha Deol who is the brand ambassador. I thought she has maintained herself with kick boxing, dance, diet and exercises but came to know that she went through Liposuction and then started maintaining. Now, another actress I heard (read) who is going through this procedure is Ayesha Takia as her baby fat just doesn’t seem to go. I liked her in the much forgotten movie, err! what is the name, that movie with the Oberoi boy? Gyan guru? Yup, Home delivery. I liked her demeanor and her voice. She seemed to be the only person in touch with tranquility in the chaos that was the movie. I didn’t see her in many movies after that but I did see her in TOI a couple of times. About 3 or 4 times, TOI covered that Ayesha is not going to kiss on screen. Who is asking her to kiss yaar?
Talking about Ayesha, I can’t help thinking about Kad’s sister, Tanisha. Ayesha and Tanisha rhymes so, the thought naturally! I feel very sorry for her. She has been dancing and singing “bra bra dekho, hazaar bra dekho” from Neal and Nikki to the recently released One Two Three incessantly but success just seems to elude her. If it continues like this, she has declared that she would become a bra-burning actress.
TOI serves as a good fodder for my blog. I am glad.

I woke up to a brand new road a few days ago. Yes, the road was tarred at night while we were asleep. It was just a few days before the elections. If the powers that be really want it, they can make Bangalore develop the way it should. Whichever party tarred the road that day, I hope that party loses for doing it only now.

"Marriage is when two people decide to become one, the problem starts when they try to decide which one."

Now that I am married, some people have said that they are going to miss the tom, dick, harry posts from me. Yes, I must agree. They were the center of my universe those days. They were just not somebody but TOM, dick (I will not capitalise for reasons best known to all) and HARRY and how could they be not written about? How much I cried when that heart break happened? :-) Well, I can still be the tom-dick-harry consultant. so worry not people.
I have infact earned this reputation among friends. One of my friends broke up and she was talking about it to another friend. The other friend advised her to get in touch with me and take matters forward. We discussed, we made plans, the man-hunt happened and now, she is engaged and will be married on the 3rd of Dec.

I thought I am quite a narcissist but I was so glad to see another female blogger reducing my narcissism to the size of an ant. She has put up her own pictures in all shapes, sizes and angles possible- with boobs, without boobs, with cleavage, without cleavage etc. I saw a lot of people flocking there too. 128 comments! i wondered then I realised almost eighty to ninety of them were hers.

I am in the attend-interview mode again. One of my friends referred me to her organization. I cleared all the technical rounds but failed in the HR Manager round. Someday, I shall blog about which company serves the best coffee.

The elders, both his and mine expect us to start breeding as soon as possible. The reason is that 30 is knocking at the door, it is in the air and it is better before 30 and they are getting old etc. S knows I love kids and he is shit scared that I'd rape him to fatherhood.

The tale of a person who wanted to be an Indian soldier

One of my cousins is in the army and a Major. Another cousin wanted to join the defence and this is his story. Statistics say that youths nowadays are opting for other streams and are not willing to join active service but ask those who have not been selected and you'll know how hard it is to join the army or anything in the defence.

My cousin grew up dreaming that he would be a soldier someday. Aunty used to tell me that she would often find him standing in front of the mirror checking if his knees are joined together, if his foot is properly shaped etc. because he had heard that the knees should be like this and the feet should be like that to pass the physicals.

Right after his secondary boards, he gave the written test for the National Defence Academy. He got through it and our happiness knew no bounds. Everybody said that he had the right physique to be in the army etc. Come personal rounds and he was not selected.

He went for an Engineering degree in EEE from Tamil Nadu and completed it with very good marks. His friends were talking about campus recruitments and a job in the IT industry, but he wrote the Combined Defence Services exam. This time too he got through the written test but failed in the rounds after that. Then we heard that he was going for some interview here and some interview there and all turned out to be something related to Active Service. The SSB and what not? In all the cases, he always got through the written test and the first couple of rounds, but would be rejected in the later rounds.

At home we have a laminated picture of my cousin and some other 24 boys standing, their names and numbers written on their chest. I heard this was for something in the navy. He was among the last 5 prospectives who had to stay behind but unfortunately, not the one who got selected. (I heard just one of them made it). This is a snap that reminds us how close my little brother was to his dreams.

He has finished his MTech and is teaching in an Engineering college in Tamil Nadu while doing his Phd.

This is the story of my cousin but he did share the story of another boy he met in one such interviews. The boy said, "My dad, brother, brother-in-law are all in the army and I haven't made it for the third time. You guys have no expectations and pressure. At home, I feel as if I am not a man. I don't know what else to do in life and I don't know how I am going back."