Bhaiya's Wedding!!!

It took me more than a year to come up with a new piece.Even good novels don't take up so much time for compilation.And unlike those books many of you may find this post "amazingly boring".This piece will have a vivid description of my bros marriage and so will remain closest to my heart.

Now it is in no way related to "2 States:The Story of my Marriage" despite couple being from two different but interlinked states.To start with, it was a perfectly planned "arranged marriage" and so far away from the typical melodrama of a love story.So here i go....(Seems to have given a huge build-up!!!)

It was a typical big fat Indian wedding.Actual marriage was on Dec 2nd in my hometown "Madhupur" but celebration started long before that. People started pouring in a week before. In fact some of my relatives were already there in my hometown when bhaiya reached.And it was not because they wanted to give bhaiya a grand welcome upon his arrival.By the time i reached (5 days before the marriage) , I was like "OMG, is the wedding date today only or what" - So many people!!!! No sooner did i finish off formalities (an ideal son needs to pay homage to all elderly persons present at any point of time), I was surrounded with my sisters/bhabhis/brothers. For once, I felt like the bride-groom(In fact i did not see any attendant at my bhaiya's disposal at that moment). It took me a while to realize that they wanted me to dance on stage during "Geet Sammelan" (It happened a day before "actual" wedding date). My first reaction was "NO Way". Then all those big-big emotional dramas and I had to cave in.


Then started a dancing school with everyone except me being teachers of varied subjects.The excitement level was such that the performance meant for one was being practiced by other fellow.And this was evident even during late nights when all other people used to snore loud in their room.My confidence reached to such a stage where even i started "choreographing".It was so fun-filled that we were willing to give up our good night sleep with no qualms.And finally after 3 days of practice we were confident of giving "Ladkiwallahas" a run for their money.


They say "Think of God before starting up anything new".On that note,we had something called "Kirtan"(Jaagran) a day before "Geet Sammelan". It is a sort of ritual to don "Kurta-Pyajama" on this auspicious day.It all started with people sitting like true devotees and clapping out of tune to ongoing bhajans(Their devotion though was completely in tune). Later on when it started becoming monotonous,we decided to make some movements with our bodies and made others do the same (and no prior rehearsal was required for the same).Even people who were chanting those bhajans got charged up.This went on and on until people got tired and felt sleepy. In fact by the time Kirtan was over, I was on my bed dreaming about my to-be performances(yes,i had two performances on my name).

"Ladkiwallahas" reached Madhupur the next day and being an elder "Devar" I myself received bhabhi and her family.It was like other days until evening with more and more people queuing up for buffet."Geet Sammelan" started with a bang as expected with some good performances from both sides. It all looked hunky-dory until my first performance when pen drive where we had copied songs stopped responding.For once,I felt that this will play spoilsport but then came up with the idea of replacing laptop with that DVD Player.Needless, to say, there were no more technical glitches with each performance outliving the others (Though none of our performances outdid "Ladkiwallahas"). But mine acts were well received by others (May be they were expecting me to perform pathetically and were surprised not to have found so). But the best parts were the songs my dad sung for my mom (One was evergreen "O meri zohra zabeen") which set the stage for a riveting show and the other one was dance performance from my bhabhi where she expressed her deep love for my bhaiya who was shell-shocked seeing her perform. Finally, the day (or rather night) ended with arguably superb poems and shayaris.


Then came the biggest day-wedding day (December 2nd)!! This is the day when bride is being treated like a princess and groom like a prince.Moreover groom's brothers and friends end up being "people at his service anytime and every time". I don't know if it is done intentionally but groom starts making some non-sense demands no sooner he gets up in the morning on his wedding day.But as said he has to be treated like a prince with everything at his disposal.And bride.....she is not even allowed to let her feet touch the ground for reasons like "Yeh paanv zameen par mat rakhiyega...maile ho jayenge"!!!

Coming back to bhaiya's marriage....It all started with "Haldat" where everyone made his/her best effort to make bhaiya look like a "Chirkut". Haldi mixed with curd and God knows what was applied all over his body one by one.Once it ended, people started craving for dance (sort of rehearsal for "shaadi dance"). And who could have better instigated them other than "Munni". The song was played again and again and again and brought out the best(or rather worst) in everybody.

The fun-filled morning functions had set the tone for perfect evening. It is said that younger brothers take delight in their bros marriage more than anyone else. This fact for once was re-established. The evening started with people rushing to their allotted rooms to dress themselves up in the best possible attire and make themselves look best ever despite knowing the fact that no one would care to have a glimpse of them. But people like us (who were supposed to be at bhaiya's service anytime and every time) spent most of the time looking after bhaiya. Once we made him ready for his performance (which was to smile,smile and smile),we realized it was time for us to look good enough so as not to be mistaken for waiters. While I was combing my not-so-thick hairs, yet another function "Korath" was taking place (Let's not go into the details of this) downstairs. And then started "Band-Bajaa-Baraat" - It is one of those rare opportunities, where people from different quarters and corners get the chance to showcase their "never seen" dancing skills. Some of the steps though enthralling, were literally "out of this world". Even those who complained of joint-pain and all made their last-ditch effort so as not to remain mere audiences. By the time we reached the location for reception ,we were sweating profusely.

Next we (i mean bhaiya-bhabhi) had "varanmala" followed by photo-sessions (This was where bhaiya and bhabhi together had to give live performance- remember smile,smile and smile). Then we had literally waste part "Sajjan Ghot"- A bad old tradition of wasting food (Khatirdaari, u say). "Ladkawallahas" are made to sit and then served all items prepared for the reception party right from pickle to big-big pooris. You say "NO" to any one item and get prepared to have more of others. I for once tried and ended up being on the wrong side of "Khatirdaari".




Next,it was "Pheras". But before it started I heard lot of hullabaloo somewhere near to bhaiya's room. On reaching there I found bhaiya's saalis (I mean aadhi gharwaalis) arguing with my younger brothers over bhaiya's "Jutti" - As a ritual, saalis need to somehow get those "Juttis" while bhaiya sits for pheras and other formalities. But that did not happen there, "Juttis" being under the control of my bros. I tried not to involve but was forced to do so when my younger bros found it too difficult to handle those 7-8 saalis. I demanded an apology from them for being not present when bhaiya left for pheras. But on expected grounds, they were not willing to offer any leading to a stalemate. But this did not last long as we were being forced to hand-over those "Juttis" to them. The night ended with competitive "Antakshari" where we matched up to "Ladkiwallahas" in every aspect (It came as huge relief after those dance performances on Geet Sammelan where we stood no where near to them).

Last but not the least, it was "Bidaai".It is the only event where "Ladkawallahas" are not sure how to react when they see bride side weeping (I am not sure if that comes straight from the heart) They can neither weep nor smile and so waits for this 'Bidaai" to get over as early as possible so as to get back to normal. This actually what happened to me and was so relieved when bhabhi was finally bid goodbye.

Marriage surely makes a difference in life.The guy will have to share half of his room and wardrobe with one more person. Less does he know that soon he ll have to share half of his left over wardrobe also. For girl part, she will have to start a new innings of her life among new people in a new place which is never easy. I wish my bhaiya-bhabhi longest and happiest married life.

The Land of Morning Calm

With my first Korea (or rather abroad) trip (and it is just a beginning, they say) coming to an end (hopefully), it would be fitting enough to give this country some space here. Some sacrifices were made (I would rather not discuss them) and some benefits (not only monetary) were accrued, but overall it was an experience worthy to comment.

This trip gave me first chance to expose myself to corporate world. The reason for saying so after having already spent 1.5 years in Samsung is because i got to know what it really takes when the onus is on you. Every minute i spent in that skyscraper (which is christened as R4 Samsung HQ) i found someone (aha...it is actually something?) giving me good company....BINARIES. It was as if i am in "Binary World" where the only way of communication was through 0's and 1's. When you are in Suwon (Samsung HQ in Korea), you are kinda under a training where your so called "Korean managers" tame you like animals. Needless to say even your team members in India treat you as if you are getting paid from their pockets. And your managers...for a change they don't (actually can't) control (or help) you anymore. You work as if 2012 is certainly going to bring an end to the whole world (don't u watch "India TV" ??). Life is so fast here (people keep running here and there) that they have "No time For Love".Well i really doubt if Koreans love anything/anyone else apart from alcohol and work (that might be the reason they are called "Workaholic"). Loving Indians are anyway out of question though exceptions are part of our(and also theirs) everyday life.

Come out of Samsung office physically(because getting Samsung out of your mind and sight is not at all possible as you can see Samsung hoardings at every corner place) and this is where you start loving Korea (and sometimes Koreans). Eye catching skyscrapers, multi-compartment aquariums in many of the stores, cleaner than cleanest Indian roads, fairer than fairest Indian gals, keep you going. The roads are bereft of people most of the time, people don't honk even when you are obstructing their Ferrari's way and more importantly here pedestrians are given some due respect (I have seen most of the Koreans giving way to me). Korean's traffic rules are inspired from USA -people drive/ride on the right side of the road and they have steering on the left side of their vehicle. You will find only three types of vehicles moving across the city - Cars (taxis included), buses and bicycles (yes,bicyclers are in abundance here). In fact there are special pavements for bicyclers. As about people, they will smile at us as if they are in some zoo. Ask them to take pic of yours and they won't leave your camera until they have taken three snaps of yours in different postures. They are generally soft-spoken and reserved sort of people. And guys are mostly shorter than ladies (I don't know whether it requires to be mentioned)

We had been to many places (which are very few though) in Korea -Seoul Tower,Han River, Olympics Stadium, Suwon Fort, Coex Mall....But the trip which will be imprinted for long long time is LOTTE WORLD. It is an amusement park with rides ranging from Gyro, Freefall, Roller Coaster to Balloon Ride, Forah's Fury. It had been more than 10 years since i enjoyed the ride. The very first ride sent chills down my spine (though later i enjoyed more frightening rides). We were shouting on each ride more out of fear than intoxication. For other places their journey (through metro trains) were more enthralling than actual visit. Since these Koreans don't understand Hindi (and most of the times English) you could go about your business (hope you understand) in the metro trains without the fear of being beaten up. Metro trains are the real place where you can appreciate the beauty not only in your minds but in your words.

It is really amusing how things and taste change when you are lonely in a land far-far away. I for one never liked eating Maggi (even i did not like carrying them from India to Korea) ,but all of a sudden i found it to be best option available. Watching movies like "Aladdin" and "Aao Wish Karein" made me realize that how dangerous it can be to be a big fan of Hindi movies. I also realized how necessary it is to skip bath sometimes (It saves both time don't let your body dry up in such a cold weather).

With 2 more week for my return to India (hopefully) and only one month due for my second Korea trip (My manager want me to come again in mid January), I am long yearning to go where i belong. Korea may be good for multiple reasons but it cannot be my comfort zone. Hope my second trip may be not be wors than this one if not better.

Sachin- The Only God on this Earth

Here I am... Back To Blogging World. It has been sometime since I updated my blogs. It was rather a lack of interest than the work which kept me away from this site. There is a very solid reason for updating this blog-'God'.

Coming Sunday will see the completion of 20 years of 'GOD' on cricket field. Batting maestro, Sachin Tendulkar who burst into the scene as a kid of some 16 odd years (when most of us are unaware of nitty-gritty of the world) is about to set a benchmark on 15th November. With more than 17000 runs in ODI and close to 13000 runs in tests, he is way-way ahead of other contemporary players. But what sets him apart from other players is not the number of runs he scored but the hunger which he still has, even after so many years. Humility and respect for elders which were his hallmark are still intact in him. Despite the accolades the world has showered on him, despite the doubts that were expressed by several when his elbow tormented him, he fought off all his demons and detractors with the same affable, self effacing attitude and focused on just what his country asked of him. He never let his fame go to his head and this is where his greatness lies.

Learning is a never ending process and Tendulkar is the best example for that. He is the most analyzed cricketer in the world history but his urge to learn kept him scoring freely for 20 years. He took each game as a fresh challenge and approached the game with the same intensity. The only time he didn't want to play for India was when he lost his father in the midst of 2003 world Cup. But he was forced back by his family to play for only cricket could have helped him get over his grief. And when he scored that century against Kenya the next day, it was a testimony to tha fact that he was very much committed to the game. One could also point out that when Tendulkar felt that captaincy was not his best contribution to India, he relinquished it in favor of Ganguly thereby advancing the cause of India. What else can we ask for???

However,critics never missed a chance finding fault in him. He is always criticzed for not having won so many matches for India as other players did. But what they forget is Sachin has never been a part of the team where others equally perform. Plus the expectations of bollions of people around the country. There were times when India used to be completely outplayed whenever Sachin underperformed. He is just a part of the team. One cannot forget that Chennai Test where he kept on playing despite suffering from severe back pain. No one took the responsibility once he departed. And the recent ODI against Australia where he took the sole responsibility of taking India so close. There were times when he did not perform when India utmost needed him but as i said he is just a part of the team.

He is the most admired cricketer around the world and commands a huge respect both from within and outside his team. His sheer presence instills a sense of confidence in the team. The one statement that will sum up the whole point is: I have never seen God,but I have seen Sachin Tendulkar.

Ready to accept the CHANGE??

I have witnessed lots of changes in the past three weeks. Some of them are on small scale while others are on global front. While some changes are trivial, others are of paramount importance. Some of them have been accepted reluctantly but others are seeing lots of hullaballoo.

To start on a lighter note, Samsung timings have changed. Office now starts as early as 8:00. As expected people were skeptical about the new timing considering the changes it might bring in their life-style. But coming to the office at unearthly 8 leaves us withe ample time in the evening. And this is were the advantages lie. Now we don't need to postpone our work for weekends. It also gives us opportunity to hang-out even during weekdays. There is an old saying that goes as- Early to bed and to rise makes a man healthy,wealthy and wise.

The legalization of homosexuality has received mixed response. The opposition has come from some self-professed moral police and religious groups. They claim that it is not natural and now that it has been legalized we will see more people opting for Gay marriages. What they failed to realize is that being Gay is not the matter of choice, but whether to act on it is. Why would anyone choose to be something that could cause them to be scorned by society, rejected by their families, deny them rights and subject them to possible violent hate crimes? We don’t choose our sexual orientation, but we do choose whether or not to come out of the closet.

Another big change was on the Television screen. Star-Plus has started airing a REALITY show 'Sacch Ka Saamna' with Rajeev Khandelwal (Remember Aamir??) playing the anchor. This show is the first of its kind being aired in India. Sacch Ka Saamna (Translation: Face the truth) is the Indian version of the popular American reality show The Moment of Truth. But unfortunately, the show has run into trouble due to its content. Hours after the furore in the Rajya Sabha over the reality show, the Information and Broadcasting ministry issued a show cause notice to the TV channel. With the new reality TV show unearthing hidden truths of people in full public view, he slammed the programme as unethical and completely against Indian culture. But Indian culture and society has undergone a sea CHANGE and they are no more averse to such naked truths. This is reflected in the TRP the show is enjoying. Moreover, if people do find the show obscene they have the option to switch to other channel and watch those "Saas-Bahus" serials. We have the freedom of speech and are mature enough to choose what is right and wrong. Moreover, contestant are fully aware of the questions they will be shot with their family and friends right under their noses and if they don't have the problem who are we to decide??

Whether these changes will do a world of good to us is not obvious. But the one thing which is obvious is 'Change is the only thing constant in life'. We should be willing to accept every change as it comes in our way because there is just a letter difference between CHANGE and CHANCE.

Swine Flu!!!

Today was an off day in SISO with one employee reportedly affecting from swine flu. He came back from Korea this week only and was in the office yesterday. So, when he was tested positive for swine flu, a panic was created in the company which led to shut down of the office for a day. Reasonable enough!!!!!

The team to which the affected person belongs is same as one of my friends. This led to a double panic among him and his teammates.. And they did not waste a single minute having a check-up. Reasonable again.... In fact i am waiting for my friend's report so that i can decide if i also need the to be diagnosed. Hey wait..Just now i got a message SISO HR claiming that it will be safe to work from Monday onwards because they are sanitizing the SISO premises and buses. Cool!!!

Now coming to the real purpose of writing this blog. One might wonder why there is so much fuss about Swine Flu in India. What about other fatal diseases that are so prevalent in India and have taken the lives of so many people across the regions? The number of people who died due to swine flu are far-far less than other major diseases such as tuberculosis (TB), hydrophobia, hepatitis B, AID. Currently, the total number of worldwide infections stands at 1419 with 30 related deaths. In fact, just because the swine flu, initially discovered in Mexico, is imported from the West, it is getting much media-hyped. We Indians always tend to give too much weightage on anything carrying "foren tag", whether be apparels, food, movies, awards or diseases for that matter. Last year we witnessed the similar scenario when there was a panic following Bird Flu outbreak in countries like China,Indonesia.

That is not to say that we need don't need to give any importance to Swine Flu. In fact Indian government is making sure that this disease is not transported from outside the country with every person being quarantined for swine flu in international airport. But what about domestically-borne diseases? Why do we give step-motherly treatment to them? Don't they need to be eradicated from our country after taking so many lives and still doing so? And what about the biggest disease plaguing the country-Terrorism!!!

WHO has declared swine flu a level 6 pandemic considering the effect it has worldwide. On our part we need to take all preventive measures necessary to combat swine flu. Regularly wash our hands, drink lot of water and avoid keeping contact with the person showing symptoms of swine flu such as cold, cough,high fever, fatigueness. There is no need to press the panic button. We have many other issues at the fore. And on the last note my SISO friend not come out with positive result for swine flu. That's a relief!!!

Murphy Law

MURPHY LAW broadly states "If there is a worse time for something to go wrong, it will happen then." And when i correlate it with my present situation, i find it to be so true. On my very first blog i maintained that even after 9-10 months i was not burdened with much work in SISO. But guess what, i am right now in Office!!! No, it's not because i am entrusted with a huge responsibility which made me come to office on Saturday. I still spend a lot of idle time in my office during weekdays with not much to do and this week was no different. Then what the hell am i doing in office???? Vindicating "MURPHY LAW", huh!!!

I was supposed to go to some "Hogenakkal" fall today with a small group (small in terms of numbers but some of them are small in stature also). It's in Tamil Nadu -150 Km from here. I had (or is it have) not been out of 'Bengaluru' for quite some and saw this a perfect opportunity to have some real fun. But as luck would have it, my manager (In fact my Manager's manager) shot a mail on Friday evening asking all my team mates to waste their weekend in office for some code copying and building....Bull****. Why the heck did he not provide us with the necessary details on Friday itself or any other day for that matter?? For past 6 weeks I had not been coming to office on Saturday but we did not plan to go anywhere. And finally when the plan was materialized i was left in the lurch!!!

Without even thinking twice i may put the whole blame on my manager. After all, he could easily have arranged for the code on Friday. That would have definitely solved my problem!!! Aha, but "MURPHY LAW" says that "Every solution breeds new problems." That implies no matter what, i was destined to spend my weekend in office. So, it's better to left the things to themselves, right?. But that reminds me of yet another "MURPHY LAW" -Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse. So the real culprit seems to be "Murphy Law".

The fact is, however hard we try, this law will always haunt us. In case, we have a competition to decide which person has come up with a law that is most universally acceptable, Edward Aloysius Murphy- the mastermind behind Murphy Law- will give others (such as Albert Einstein or Sir Issac Newton) a run for their money. So, instead of letting the things to themselves we would be better off letting the things to the mercy of "Murphy Law".

Anti-Dhonism!!!

Dejecting, Disgusting, Depressing...these three D's sums up the whole performance of India in the 2nd edition of World Cup T20. Who would have foreseen such a debacle for 'men in Blue'. Blame it on IPL or the arrogance of the players but defending champion is no more.

If asked to single out one person responsible for the ouster of India from T20 WC, the finger will definitely point to DhoniThe first edition of T20 world cup saw the rise of 'Dhoni'....the second edition will see the fall of 'Dhoni'. His juggling with batting order remains a puzzle-sending 'Ravindra Jadeja' ahead of in-form Yuvraj and murderous 'Yusuf' . His persistence with 'Ishant Sharma' -whose reputation exceeds his performance- ahead of Irfan Pathan-who bowled well in the match against west Indies and adds some flexibility to the batting with his power-hitting-has cost India dearly. His under usage of economical bowler-Irfan Pathan in the game against West Indies and R P Singh in them last game-more than often now clearly indicates that he is no more impartial now with some dirty politics creeping in the team.

Dhoni burst into the international scene as an attacking wicket-keeper batsman who can take aprrt any bowler at any day. His big sixes wer talk of the town. Then, came the transition in his stints in the middle, as he changed his natural game to adjust to the needs of the hour so much so that he finds it difficult to loft the ball beyond that '30-yard circle' let alone hitting sixes. His strike rate of 103. which is no better than Bhajji speaks enormously of our captain's "TALENT".

People (especially his DIE-HARD fans) would argue that he has rare batting average in ODIs and topped the chart in ICC ODI ranking for some period. But its not about the number of runs scored that matters but the situation and manner in which you scored those runs. Most of those runs came when India was either in full-control of the match or when India did not seem to win at any cost.

Going to his captaincy, it would be too early to comment on this with so many success attributed to Dhoni. But Most of the mathches which Dhoni have won for India was because of a sheer destiny. In the last SriLankan tour India thrashed SriLanka 4-1 but very noticed that in all the four matches which India won, it was because India batted first with toss playing a big factor. And in the last match when had to bat second with ball darting around in the night they seemed to be lost. The recent series against NewZealand only strengthened this facts with India ending up a loser in both their T20 matches with the spin of coin not going their way.

Agreed that India put up an inspirational show in the recent past under Dhoni's captaincy but "A team is as good as its players". When the players perform the team is bound to perform well. A captain's role is to motivate the players to do their best, bind them together as a cohesive unit, and lead from the front which of late Dhoni has failed miserably, be it on the or off the field. Even the "Sehwag fiasco" was not handled tactfully. Our 'Captain Cool' (cool as a cucumber, or is it???) instead of answering media questions paraded the whole team to the podium before the match conference only to add fuel to the fire. It would have been much better if instead of creating such a drama he had spend some more time on the nets to enhance his batting skills (Or should i say learn some basic skills for technically he is the worst player in this Indian team).

India still have one more game to play — against South Africa — but by all means, the battle on the pitch is over. The narrow three run loss against England will rankle in the heart for a long time. What went wrong? Was the decision to ask England to bat first correct or was it the lack of intensity that cost India the match. All these off the pitch issues need introspection and Mr. Dhoni needs to lead from the front and make sure that politics which has plagued Indian cricket for long does not find its place.

PS:- Please leave your comments even if you are a big fan of Dhoni so that i can gauge how deep you are into "DHONISM".