Little adventure

 **From my drafts

I’ve been looking forward for my Mum’s arrival to Pune, this is the first time she will be coming here. With all the enthusiasm I totally forgot that we have just enough mattresses for the current members only. My friend picked me up from office yesterday evening and we set out to buy a new mattress. One of the other flat mates of mine was on planned-sick leave yesterday, so we called her as well.

It was twilight and we were strolling thru various shops, arguing/bargaining. Finally we found a great one that other shops did not have and fixed the deal. (Usually all the shops have similar stuff you can pick from anyone, but girls you know ) Happily I paid the amount, gave him the address of my place. There emerges a typical Indian business man, 200 Rs for transport.
I: It’s so near hardly 5 Kms, 200 is too much.
Seller: Nothing less than 200.
I was like what no free shipping on orders above 500? 200 bucks only for transport is too much for a girl like me, who would happily spend 375 on Kajal-liner, wait this is not the costliest one in the market… oh forget about that now.

Here we came up with brilliant idea of money saving, set out to our little adventure. (I know I know Guys do it all the times, but for us it was first time). Now let me tell you the dimension of our mattress, 3’x3’x1’ (Originally 3’x6’, but mighty seller folded it half and set it on my lap), weight 15 Kgs of cotton.  Imagine my hands stretched in Titanic pose, fill in with mattress. God, was it heavy. Bike starts *zeenhehe* and we are good to go.

It was almost dark when headed to our home. Everything was fine till we had to take a U turn; the rider could not see anything in her rear view mirrors but the mattress. Later she told me that she was shouting to check for vehicle while taking that daring turn. But at that moment all I could hear was that she is speaking something, I shouted back “I can’t hear anything”. So far so good, the rider’s worries were over, and then onwards we had a plain straight road.

I on the back side I was holding it with all the strength I had. The wind was pushing our mattress back along with me; literally I was on the edge. It’s not all, everyone else on the road was watching us with… let’s call it admiration; see those brave girls  As soon as we made home, and dropped the consignment, we burst out laughing on our little adventure.  Yes, we made home safe.

PS: Mum postponed her trip for she would go to visit Nani (GrandMum)

White owl and rains

White Owl… blood… Owl’s neck was wrecked, then how it is still smiling? Why it is dark in the morning, or am I going to office in midnight? How Moon is shining like sun? Bus stop is on my terrace?

“What the hell??!!?!?”

“Thank God! It was a nightmare” I sighed

Yes yes, I know my dreams are crazy, but do nightmares have to be sane? Never mind, this day is going to be best. I look out of window, the morning is amazingly beautiful. It must have been drizzling all night. Tiny water drops floating in the air, caressing the damp road. Droplets reach my heart and drench its land, the seeds of happiness sprouts and a fruity smile spreads on my face.

Everything about rain is so easy to love. Green trees making crown for roads, ready to welcome. The whispers of cold wind, trying to tell secrets.  Gulmohar (Flame tree) blossoming in full bloom. The aroma of earth... Rain makes earth my Eden garden.

If anyone of you is thinking of cribbing about rains, my rally of cry would be “So what?” (From CnH). Rain makes roads muddy, slippery; so what? My clothes don’t get dried, and stinks; so what? Blah blah…; so what? The water becomes too cold to bathe; so what? All you guys who don’t like rain, I’ve this travel machine and I would be happy to ship you to Sahara. But if you’re going to stay here, don’t you say anything about rains.

PS: I’ve been very emotional since morning, so pliss to ignore any mistakes.

Indian Wedding

Recently I’d been to my cousin’s wedding. Here I’m trying to paint a picture of typical Indian wedding, though one can find it more relevant to a specific class (amongst too many in India), but I bet there would be  many generic things.

Don’t be afraid, I’m not trying to tell how the aunties’ prick you with words as if being single is a crime, and the reasons they throw for not being married already.

In old days (my childhood days) weddings were a series of rituals that would last atleast a week, nowadays some of the ceremonies are totally cutoff or merged with a few to get over in one day. Present days wedding schedule Haldi->Mehndi+Sangeet->Wedding->Wedding Reception, max 3-4 days. The reasons can be; people getting so self-obsessed, lack of time, increasing cost of everything…

Anyways let’s enter into the house:-

Ah as soon as you enter the wedding-house the exotic aroma will bind your senses, mix of marigold scent with the turmeric scent and all the oils they add to turmeric. Add to it the scent of Mehndi. But these all scents will make it almost difficult to guess what’s on the menu. 

Secondly you’ll notice that whole of the house is already covered with genda phool (Marigold flower), and then we have this ritual of presenting a garland and a box of sweets to bride/groom on our first visit. All those garlands will hang themselves on every visible nail they can find on walls, and then on doors, or wherever they please. Sometimes they even make it to toilet flush too. Also no matter how many sweet teeth bride/groom had before, they would only be able swallow a pinch out of the 1 kg box of sweets you’ve got; some even makes the face like we are presenting the poison to them. Too much show-off by bride/groom I say; anyways every dog has its day

Day one of Haldi function – Every aunty will apply hand full of turmeric to bride/groom; they would not care if it goes in eyes or nose; just like the way your friends throw the cake on your face on birthdays. ‘For God’s sake leave my eyes atleast, how I’m gonna see my bride or the worst would girl still wants to be the bride when she discovers I’ve gone blind’. Thinks poor groom. Brides’ on the other hand manage to play safe, they always have their beautician on their side; ‘Oh no, don’t apply turmeric on nose/cheek/ear/eye-lid her makeup will get spoiled’ says pretty lady and saves the bride from torture. God can only save poor grooms from aunties!

Mehndi and Sangeet – I know I know, grooms side can totally miss this Mehndi mess, but noh wait, I’ve seen a few grooms smeared their hand with Mehndi, I say why not wear a lehnga as well?

One warning to all attending this function, watch it before you park yourself anywhere, you never know there may be a tube of mehndi lying under the covers ready to stain the wrong surface.

And guys it takes a lot of courage and patience to have hands and feet stained with mehndi, and sit at one place for too long time. I always wonder how the brides manage the nature’s calls during this day. You must appreciate the effort and must not show any irritation when she asks to find your names on her hand.

When girls are done with smearing their hands then the best thing comes, dhol (Drum). Yes, we still call the drummer who beats the beat outta drum . Everyone wants to try their legs at dance but no one would stand first (too much attitude show off), we need to go and request please come and dance. Every sangeet I attend I request the drummer to play ‘Pallo latke re mahro pallo latke…’ they are my favorite beats. Don’t think the sangeet is going to be something like they show in movies where everyone is so perfect in their dance like they’ve just come out of Dance India Dance, we are simple people and we dance like… well err… leave it. For dear aunties, for them it is the golden chance to show their talent, you must see how elegantly they shake their bellies. Once started no one would stop till the elders’ in house start complaining that they are not able to sleep.

What are your experiences and observation, please feel free to share in comments.

Extra Notes-

Haldi ceremony – The official start of wedding ceremonies, Haldi (Turmeric) is known as the natural source of beauty, the haldi is applied to bride/groom, preparing them for the D-day to look more beautiful and shiny on their wedding

Mehndi – The ceremony of applying Mehndi to bride

Sangeet – The most loved of all the rituals, dance function