Love v/s Arranged

The wedding bells are ringing in my family, with two of my cousins getting set to be married this year. While we are pulling up our socks,(and shopping for our trinkets and anklets) I took time out yesterday and observed the on-goings from a mere 'third-person' point of view.

Yesterday, marked the onset of the preparations of both the weddings and as I attended each, one after another, I found myself smiling at what I observed.

The similarities: I am from the boys' side for both the weddings. There's hullabaloo for both. The brides-to-be are being welcomed warmly, and shown-off even more!

The differences: To start with, the first and the one more meaningful for me, is scheduled for April. The other,  is slated to happen in December.For those who notice: Yes, I am going to need two different sets of clothes to wear for both the weddings owing to the extreme weather differences. However, my observation skills are not so shallow!
While the one in April is an arranged marriage, the other is arranged-via-love!

As both my sisters-in-law were introduced to our family at large yesterday, I noticed the stark differences in questions asked by people, and the reactions sought and received. The bride who's been arranged to be a member of the family was asked: "So when did you last speak to him?", to which she shyly replied saying, "Just this morning." She was assessed , adjudged and (if I may say so) scanned by those who belong to the oldest school of thought. However, the results and conclusions of these were not discussed. The other questions which followed included her likes and dislikes and conversation was kept light so as to keep her calm, especially since her him is currently out of town. A certain fear, caused by  a sense of newness, filled her eyes and as much as we tried, it was tough to make her feel at home.

Cut, to the house where cupid struck: Not so long ago, the bride in question was sitting in my house in an Angry Birds t-shirt with my cousin brother, who introduced her as a 'friend'. Even then, I had pointed out to my mother that she was BBMing to her 'friend' across the room! However, not much was looked into it. Soon thereafter, my cousin decided to make it official and now they are ready to the knot now. From a red cartoon t-shirt, she switched to a red saree and although she looked pretty in her entire ensemble, a similar fear filled her eyes! However, the questions were different. It usually started with "So how did you'll meet?" and went as far as "What did you see in him, to like him?" Here, fortunately or unfortunately, there was less effort to make her feel warm and welcome. Everyone seemed to be teasing her, and pulling their leg. Hushed conversations included comparisons of their looks and each one voiced their opinion on whether or not she would fit in. On the other hand, the arranged bahu was apparently, going to mingle perfectly well and would 'look after' the family responsibly too!

Answers there, became questions here. Reassurances there, became teasers here. Discussion there, became jokes here. Certainty there, became apprehensions here!

Joys at Work

I am well into my third week of being a Zoman, and the happiness is boundless. The sense of contentment and the joy of a full-time occupation that it brings to me in unfathomable and it won't be an exaggeration to say that eventually I am beginning to get emotionally attached at work.
Even though, some of my closest friends would advice me against it, I bring work back home. I take work everywhere I go because this city of joy has no dearth of eateries! In plain and simple words, my work is fun.

Therefore, my pensive self surfaced as I was walking down a busy street in this city, where a flyover decided to kiss its lower counter-part yesterday. Just by the way, the world stops for none: A day after a busy flyover caved-in, cars still raced their way down. At some point, I was below a flyover and remembered the Almighty to bless me with a long life, and then in just the next second, another thought overtook this one: How brave were those who took the flyover which was towering above my head, just then! Bravo for their bravery!

Anyway, thoughts were racing, as if in a Formula 1 race, which had scheduled itself on my mind, without prior notice or permission. It has been a little over a fortnight since I joined work, and I can easily list five instances, at work, which make me smile almost everyday:

1. When we all walk in, and either the previous day is discussed in a new light, or the day ahead planned in a fleeting manner.
2. When my 'boss'(who by the way, hates to be called so) reiterates lines which I call, her signature sayings. These usually pertain to various work situations and giving out all of those with their context would be letting out 'internal information'! *wink**wink* Here's the best one: "If you snooze, you lose."
3. When 'randomness' prevails in the room, and has us rolling over in peals of laughter.
4. When the Hunger Lord makes our office, his home and abides in each one's heart, er, stomach. The first person to voice his/ her need for food is usually the one to make the mini-meal for all.
5. When one person asks for directions to a certain place and minutes later, he/she regrets being vocal about it because everyone present in the room has a different suggestion, a different route and a different opinion about the estimated time of travelling. No, we do not claim to be the creators of Google Maps, its just the 'Happy to Help' instinct!

My love for my work brings me to smile everyday. When you have joys aplenty, you share them like this: 

What an Idea, Sirjee!

After long, I sat before the television observing and analyzing the television commercials. It was not even a tad bit difficult to choose my favorite and not before long, I zeroed in on the new Idea advertisement.

Right from its inception, Idea has released intriguing ads and appealed to the viewers' interest in general. Whether these ads actually converted into sales is another story and one I would not want to get into. Not for now, at least! This new one is no let down, either.

It begins with a couple bickering while in the midst of their early morning rush around the house. They're getting their things in order and each one claims that the other doesn't understand them or is insensitive and has no clue how hectic their own days are.
Focus shifts to their young adolescent boy, with a look on his face which says oh-God-save-me-from-their-lame-fights. An 'idea' springs to his head and he switches  their phones. Through out the day,  the husband gets calls which are addressed to his wife: calls from his mother for her daughter-in-law, from the house-maid and even calls reminding her that her article deadline was approaching. The wife experiences the other half of  a day in the life of her better-half. They both head back home with calmness in their heart and a smile on their  lips and a better sense of understanding on their mind!

The 'idea' of their bright son had brought them close again and the happily-after ending is sure to leave you smiling.

The only con: The boy is sitting on the dining table while the sun rises and sets for his parents' day.

Besides that one little flaw, it is overall a brilliantly conceptualized idea for Idea!

Self Criticism

Sometimes some days just give you an insight into yourself. When that insight becomes too deep, you tend to get confused. My confusion for the day revolved around self-criticism. Whether it is good, bad or ugly. Smart people would say it is good in moderate measures. Well, my question to you is: How moderate is moderate? How exactly one measures such things I have no idea, but what  I do realize is that these ideas leave me terribly confused and sometimes even, leave me with a feeling of self- loss.

Before I get something, I am scared if I'll achieve it, if I'm capable of it, if I deserve it and so on.
After I get it, I rewind, review and recall and still criticize myself about things not done, undone or partly done.

So here's a note to myself:

Do not beat yourself about things wrongly done. Mistakes are human and everyone's allowed their share. Learn from your errors and move on. Do not beat yourself blue over it. The more you criticize yourself, the worse you get. Keep room for improvement but do not take everyone's each word to heart and allow self-doubt to creep in!


The reason why I made this note public is because such thoughts were abound in my head even at the end of today: Today, I secured my first job. Today, I became a content-writer at Zomato. Today, I got my first offer letter even before I graduated. Today, I became a Zoman. Today, I nailed it!

Yet, today, I allowed this negativity to dwell in me.

Be proud of yourself and what you do. Allow mistakes to happen, because along with mistakes happy things also happen!

Love what you do

Busy days have dawned again and this time it is an internship which takes all my time, making me wish for over 24 hours in the day!
I recently got recruited as an Intern at Zomato, and thereafter I've found out what is truly meant by loving one's work. A popular barometer used by most people to measure the pleasure of working is, the feeling they get when they wake up to a weekday morning. If you go by that scale, my happiness and joy is at its peak if I know it's a Zomato-day! This I realized today, when I woke up and figured that it was a holiday.

The place is cheerful and the Kolkata office which offers livelihood to about a dozen people is always lively. We help ourselves to Maggie and Chocos, when our mouth waters after having screened home delivery calls for restaurants, and listening to the repeated utterance of delicacies from various cuisines. At Zomato, there is an hierarchy but it does not super-impose itself on people's individual personalities. People remain people, and their names are more commonly used without the suffixes of 'Sir' and 'Madam'. All Zomans take their work seriously, but when that serious work is interspersed with a little leg-pulling, witty remarks and silly jokes, achieving targets doesn't seem so much of an uphill task.

So much joy, without being a permanent employee!
Proud to be a Zoman!  :D

Wishes are horses

For me, 2012 ended in an exciting way, partying with lots of friends I rang in the New Year bells and welcomed 2013. After all the mishappenings of the previous year: those that caused harm to me, and those that affected the human race in general, after all that grimness; I paused a minute and said to myself these lines:

This is it. It is my life and I live it the way I wish to. No one at all has the ability to run over my emotions and take me for a ride. That doesn't happen because I won't allow it. It is my life and I am the center of my Universe. I will wish it, and the blessings will come my way.

Whether or not you believe in The Secret theory, this worked for me.If I delve into the details of what I wished for I would have to share thoughts which are extremely personal. If I list out all the the Universe has blessed me with in the very first week of the year, I'd be giving out information that I'm not sure will be approved by those involved. Hence, I think it suffices to say that I am gradually getting what I want: from a new phone to an internship, new set of clothes to lots of time to read story books.
I sleep a happier person, I wake up with hope and I wish all day with all my heart.

If you're in the middle of a situation where the only colours you can see are shades of black and grey, it is my earnest advice to you to take a deep breath and say the above lines to yourself with complete belief and undying faith. It doesn't matter whether or not you believe in God or even which God you worship. You've just got to believe in yourself!

I am not sure what quote it is that links horses and wishes and I'm not even Googling it at this point.
Wishes can come true. Period.

Happy New Year 2013

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