Guessing Game

      Before any movie releases, I generally guess as to what the story might be about. Sometimes I don't even have a clue about the movie. A finds it really funny. So, now that Student of the Year released, I thought I might as well make a guess about the story. I have seen the promos and I am surely going to watch it. I told A, " One guy will get the award and the other will get the girl. The guy who gets the award will realise that it came at the cost of love." But A can never agree with me. So he came up with his version. " There can be only one hero in Indian cinema. So, one guy will get both the award and the girl. The other will lose the girl in his race for the award and eventually he will lose the award too." Quite possible! But I didn't admit to A right away. Fingers crossed. I am not reading any reviews until tomorrow. We are going to the movie tomorrow.
      Here I will have to add a little about my story guessing skills. When "Bol Bachchan" released, I just knew that it had Abhishek Bachchan and Ajay Devgn. I didnt have any clue about what it was about and neither did I watch the promos. So I said to A, " I think Abhishek Bachchan's name in the movie will be his real name. He will be dumb and won't be able to speak anything. Unaware of his situation Ajay Devgn will keep saying Bol Bachchan to him." Well, the movie turned out to be quite different, altogether something else. Back then I didn't even know that the phrase 'Bol Bachchan' meant something.
    But this time, I am sure I am right. 'Disco Deewane' will be like 'Koi Mil gaya' of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and one of the guys will realise he is in love with the girl. And 'Ishq wala love' will be like the title track of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Let's wait and see. Will review the movie after watching it!!

Ishq wala love

Ever since this song has been aired, I have been humming “Ishq wala love”. I am totally in love with this song. Eagerly awaiting the release of the movie too. Last weekend, we were on our way to the railway station. A was coming to drop me off. I was listening to this song in the car. I turned towards A and said, “You know all these days, I was searching for words to tell you how much I love you. I love you more than the words ‘I love you” can express. Now, I found the right thing. I ishq wala love you.”

After this romantic confession, I expected A to say “I ishq wala love you too” or at least, “so sweet of you.” As an anticlimax to my efforts, he said “You have completely lost it.”

Well, not something new. Whenever I come up with something incredibly cheesy he feels that I have lost my mind. On some occasion, he said, “Do you want to go to Noor Manzil right away or after a few days?” In all innocence, I replied, “We will go next week. Are we going on a holiday?” To which, A had replied, “No, I will drop you and come back.” Then he started laughing uncontrollably. Only then did I realize that he was up to something.  After prodding further, I came to know that Noor Manzil was a mental asylum. I had assumed it to be some monument like the Taj Mahal.

Price of Love

Courtesy: Google Images

When you love someone a lot, someone else pays the price for it. Confused? An example will help clarify my point. There was a father, who loved and respected his father. So, when a son was born to him, he named him after his father. It would have still been okay if the name was a common one. However, the name in question was, Kurapati Veera Venkata Suryanarayana Murthy. In the era when names like, Rohan, Raj and Sam are common, this little fellow had the burden of a long name. Needless to say, throughout school and college, his friends mercilessly teased him. When he complained to his dad that he wanted to change his name, his dad was furious. How could he even dare to dislike his father’s name? The kid has to pay the price for his father’s love.

                Similarly, suppose you fall in love with a guy. You get married to him against your parent’s wishes. Or, you get married to him after a struggle, with their half hearted acceptance. He has a language, culture, customs, food, etc different from you. You are open to make all the adjustments because you are deeply in love with him. But your parents have to adjust too. They are a generation old and have been accustomed to a few things. Suddenly they are shaken out of their cozy cocoon and their comfort levels are put to a test. The parents have to pay a price for your love.

                There are two girls who have been best friends since childhood, say ‘A’ and ‘B’. Both of them fall in love with the same guy. The guy likes one of the girls,’ A’. She comes to know of her friend’s feelings towards the guy. So, she asks ‘B’ to marry him. She keeps her feelings a secret from ‘B’. Citing her love for her friend, she convinces the guy too. So, the hapless guy has to pay the price of ‘A’s love for her friend.

                These are not major things. It is not as bad as killing someone. This is just to show that love comes with a price. And the price has to be paid by someone else. So, try not to impose your love on someone else. This doesn’t happen consciously, but it is always best to keep your feelings in check and to know where to draw a line.

The weight-loss bug bites me!!

Courtesy: Google Images

I have been putting on too much weight lately. Though I noticed, I didn’t really take any action. I read somewhere that an expanding waistline is an indication of a happy marriage. Happy couples are not under any pressure to look attractive for their partner. Taking refuge under the theory, I was happy that we were a happy couple and let my waistline expand.  Even A’s waistline was expanding. It was expanding more than mine was. Therefore, it meant he is happier with the marriage. Last week, when my body refused to fit into my favourite pair of jeans I pressed the panic button. It was the green jeans, which is in trend now. It wasn’t even skinny.  It was like an alarm call to take action.

                I hate it!! I don’t want to go on a diet. I don’t want to exercise. I don’t want to look fat either.  I had to do something. I decided to cut out all fast food. There will be no restriction on home food though. A and I decided to go jogging on all days when I am in Bangalore. Because of the holiday season, I am spending around 12-15 days in Bangalore.  We stay close to IIM campus and it is a blessing. We are using their playground for reducing our flab. On Sunday, we woke up at 6 and went for jogging. At the end of half round, I was panting and felt breathless. It was another alarm call reminding me of my low fitness levels.  If the jogging for 15 days a month doesn’t work, I will have to continue that in Hyderabad also. Damn! Why can’t I get a transfer to Bangalore soon? There can be nothing worse than exercising alone!

                Anyways, like all people, I work better with deadlines. So, the deadline is a cousin’s wedding in December. I should reduce my waist by three inches and my hip by four inches. Wish me luck. Maybe peer bloggers pressure will keep me going. Your suggestions are welcome, as long as they don’t relate to more exercise and a more controlled diet. Till then, happy weight loss to me.

Stringing and singing along

Courtesy: Google Images

      There is a guitar lying around in our house. It was there with A for months before the wedding too. A friend of  his left it with him, never to collect it back. I was getting bored. Most days when I am in Bangalore, Ayush is either in office or in college pursuing that never-ending MBA. I generally go to Crossword and read.I was feeling particularly lazy and didn't even want to walk up to the bookstore. So, I was going around the house listlessly. My eyes fell on the guitar.I can learn how to play the guitar!! These days with the internet replacing the teacher, it would be very easy. Why didn't I think of it before? I would have been an expert by now.Ok, maybe not an expert but I could have played a romantic song for A. He would have looked at me in awe and praise me. He definitely would have praised me. He generally appreciates all the little things I do. Even after eight months of marriage, every time I make him a cup of tea, he says 'Mast chai bani hai'. So sweet!! (Kala tika!! I don't want to jinx it).
       So, I picked up the guitar. Cleaned it.Sat in front of the laptop and googled. I found one video, particularly useful. I held the guitar accordingly and tried to imitate what the instructor was doing. The sound that I produced didn't sound the same. But, I was never really great at identifying sounds. The chords were difficult. I had to place three or four fingers on the strings at the same time. Then the realisation hit me that my fingers didn't stretch so much. Not losing heart, I found a song that had only two chords and started strumming it. I could do one chord at a time, but couldn't do them successively. So, it sounded like a bit of music,followed by a long pause. The song was 'Neele Neele ambar par'. Leave alone others, even I couldn't make out that that was the song that I was strumming.
     I got exhausted and started playing randomly. I was just moving my fingers on whatever strings I felt like and whatever position I felt like. The music seemed really good. It was a lot better than my earlier futile attempts. To increase the rockstar effect, I started singing along. To my ears, it felt as if the music was synchronous to the singing. (both are very bad,but they synced well).It was literally music to my ears. I spent the next one hour stringing and singing along all the songs that came to my mind.
    Loving the guitar and am currently spending a lot of time with it. A however doesn't seem to appreciate the fact that the music and singing is in sync. But I insist,it sounds perfect. Not everyone has an ear for good music. 

Everyone must marry!!

Courtesy: Google Images

Yet another friend of mine got hitched. The divide now is almost fifty-fifty. Nearly half of my college friends are married, and the other half is slowly coming onto our side. The conversations haven't changed much. I talk about the same things to both the married and the unmarried girls. There is a difference of just one question though. I end up asking the unmarried ones, "So, when is your turn? You might be the next one in line." And to the married ones I politely ask, "How is the husband doing?" This has become a routine of sorts.

         I was having one of the usual conversation with a very dear friend S. After the gossip was exchanged, I asked ,"Why don't you get married?" "And do what?"Not really the reply that I had expected. I mean, she could have said "Let's see" or" I will keep you updated if there is something." To say the least, I was taken aback. When I further inquired, she replied, "i don't want to give up everything I have and move to a new place with a new person." What she said made sense. Two of my friends resigned their perfect jobs to follow husbands who were chasing their own dreams. One moved a continent apart, while the other moved a state away. Even I felt bitter that girls are expected to sacrifice. I often feel blessed that A doesn't expect stuff like that from me.
         Ok, I am digressing from what I wanted to say. I told S, "You are not aware of the advantages that marriage brings along. You are seeing just one side of the coin. Not everyone has to sacrifice a career."
"Oh okay, so do enlighten me," she said cynically.
I began enumerating the benefits.

• You can go to a late night movie, without your parents asking you what time will you be back.
• You have someone who buys you a sexy dress and says that you look great, even  though your love handles are bulging.
• You can go to exotic foreign places for honeymoon and holidaying  thereafter.
• You don't have to carry your bags wile travelling.
• You can have hour long conversations on the phone and no one throws you dirty looks.
• You have a chauffeur at your beck and call.
• You can have wild sex and not worry about the condom ripping.
• Your parents will themselves encourage to go out more often.

 I was about to give her more reasons. But she stopped me midway. "Yeah, but you have to do all that with the same guy".
"Yeah, that's true" I added wistfully. Maybe, to be single is more fun. Nonetheless marriage life currently is more fun. Notwithstanding S's argument against it.
To have the last word, I said, "You will know when you marry, even if it is just one person."

A New Beginning

Courtesy: Google Images

It's been a couple of weeks since I celebrated my birthday. I decided to start blogging. This is in sync with the new phase of my life. I recently got married and what best than to share the travails of being a newly married wife. Coming back to my birthday, A ( my hubby) was under a ot of pressure to do something special for me. After all it was my first birthday after marriage. Beginning June I was pestering him everyday to come up with something unique. " It's a one time occasion," I said. " It will come again next year" he replied, unaffected. Being stubborn, I persisted. I even asked a well meaning friend to give him a call and ask for his plans. I thought he was keeping it a surprise. I was shocked when he answered " The first birthday should be a low key affair so that it doesn't set any precedent for future  celebration."
       Disappointed. That was an understatement. How could A act so casual?I started a sermon on how it was his duty to be a good husband. I wasn't his girlfriend any more. The cake and flowers wouldn't be enough this year. A was quiet and said he would see about that. Ironically, the week before my birthday, A had a release coming up at office and was extremely busy. Taking my wifely duties seriously, I didn't nag him. A nagging girlfriend is supposedly cute, but when it comes to a nagging wife, it is a strict no-no. I was left with no choice but to wait for a miracle. On the day before the D-day, A came back early from office. He bought a bouquet of flowers and a chocolate cake. Ok, so nothing surprising or special. At ten, we sat down to watch a movie. We were trying to stay awake till midnight, cut the cake and sleep. The cake lay in fridge while I lazed on the couch. I was struggling to stay awake. I usually sleep by ten. Just the cake didn't seem to justify my staying awake, but I didnt want to hurt A. Finally it was ten minutes to twelve. A suddenly got up and instead of going towards the fridge, he asked me to stand up. Feeling drowsy and lazy, I refused to budge from the couch. He dragged me up and led me towards one of the bedrooms.
    Let me digress a little. We had a three bedroom place, but two of the bedrooms remain unused. We even kept them locked, to save ourselves the effort of cleaning them everyday. The place was taken to accommodate both sets of parents, if by negligible chance decide to visit us together.
So A led me to one of the unused bedrooms. He pushed the door open. I was still confused. Why can't we cut the cake in the living room? Surprise!! A said. The room had a newly made bed complete with mattress ,quilt and matching cushions. I had seen that at a furniture store some time ago. We didn't really need a bed so we let it go. It was exactly as I pictured, if it were in our house. The whole room was filled with balloons. On one wall was written " Happy Birthday R." I was pleasantly surprised.More than that. Totally unexpected. So, A did plan a surprise for me. The best part being he managed to keep it a surprise. He set a very high precedent and I can't wait for my next birthday.
   You might wonder what had I done for A's birthday. Well, his birthday was just a week after the wedding. We were on our honeymoon. It was a new place and I didn't even know where to get a cake. So, needless to say, I did nothing.
  Anyways I am loving being a wife and this is the best journey ever.