Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Mom, I've grown up naa...

Hi i got engaged today.

The SMS made me stop in my tracks. What? G got engaged? She is a college friend, and just the other day we were roaming the streets of Calcutta; aimlessly wandering in the Presidency College compound during their fest; getting worried about college examinations; getting nervous and excited as Valentine's Day was about to arrive, and now all of a sudden.. "I got engaged today"?

I immediately called her up and conveyed my heartiest congratulations (sheesh!! That sounds so cliched). When did it all happen? Well, in a matter of 2 days flat. Wow! Talk about Indians on the move. How did it happen?

His parents met me yesterday. My parents met him today morning. I met him in the evening. We all agreed. I got engaged. Ring ceremony in a few days, marriage in a months' time.

Zap! If only our politicians could agree in a similar manner to modernise the ancient airports of our country which are in shambles. Consider what the situation would then be like.

Aviation minister: We met the interested investors yesterday. They filed their proposals today morning. We went through them in the afternoon. We announced the results in the evening. We all agreed. So-and-so company starts works in a few days; airport modernised in a few years' time.

However, one realisation has just hit home.

We're quickly getting older. We're supposed to be mature individuals (I consider it as fit to consider myself mature as I consider Atal Behari Vajpeyee to win India a Gold in 100m in the next Olympics). We're no longer kids who could turn towards their parents and ask for help, monetary or otherwise. Apne pairon pe khade hone ka waqt aa gaya hai. We're adults now. (NOT in that sense, stupid! Of course I knew that the moment I turned 18, I had reason to be conscious of the fact. Every year tonnes of us wait to actually become 'eligible' to watch adult movies.) But now, we're expected to take care of ourselves. WOW!!

I don't give a damn.. Now that I've grown up, I'm immediately calling up Mom n Dad to tell them to give me more pocket money for my expenses here. "Mummyyyyyyyyyyyy....."

11 comments:

Fotosia said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Fotosia said...

Hey, arranged marriage thing in India is dodgy for us Europeans, you know?

My friend from Bangladesh had a girlfriend in Switzerland whom he could not marry, cause his grandma would not agree. It was all happening at a time when he was already an adult guy, an immigrant living his free, adult life in Europe, thousands kilometers from the place where his grandma and the rest of the family lived.

And he still obeyed them!

Funny to know that there are so many ways and customs in this world. For most of my friends this is something really hard to understand...


Anyway. I'm back blogging. Sorry for being silent for so long.

Shekhar said...

Hi Gosia, have really missed you. Welcome back to blogworld, should I say? :)

Yes, you're right about this. In fact, I was myself caught wondering "How on earth could two individuals make up their mind about spending the rest of their lives with someone in such a short period of time?". I went ahead and did the bold thing, I asked her.

"You know, Shekhar", she replied, "at times in our life we must take chances, and I'm taking mine now."

I obviously had no reply and just hope and pray earnestly to dear God that her gamble pays off.

Fotosia said...

But did she actually have a choice? :-/ If yes, that's not SO bad...

I've been hanging out with the Bangladeshi folk in Belgium for quite a while and I've seen that once the guys "import" a wife from Bangladesh, she usually comes from a small village. Well off families won't just give their girl away to a stranger, who wants to take her to another part of the globe.

So I guess it's the poorest that have the least chance of actually choosing for themselves... Did I get it right...? :-/

Shekhar said...

Well, most of it, yes. They do have a choice in terms of whom to give their daughter to. However, the role of the daughter almost gets lost, which is what I believe is not on. I mean, how about the individual's own choice? Or should she blindly accept whatever her parents say?

R said...

hmm....i know!!!!! yeh galati un logon ki hai joh shaadi kar lete hai!!!
imagine even i have school frnds who are now happily married!!!!!!!!!!!!
uff!!!
apni mommy ko fone lagane ka idea=ossum!!!!:D

May the spirit of planet Mars guide you.

Anonymous said...

hmmm... ya it apperared quite scary to me too.. arrange amrriage concept.. though majority of the ppl in my society came together trhough this "arranged system"..
everyone happy.. a great marriage which is a festival.. 2 families coming together...
with the 2 individuals ,who barely met only 3-4 times n that too 6 months before.., being the focal point..

i mean what if u realise after few months that oyye,, woh sharmila pan to natak tha... oyyee woh sidha-sada ladka ko daarubaj hai,
so wht next.. someone explained me its all about compromise n carrying forward the relationship together,,

n i was sure how i felt... crap its scary..

Shekhar said...

moonwalker: Mummyy, moonwalker ne mujhe itna "Mars" jaane ke liye bola hai ki...

"Main nikla, o gaddi leke...o solar system pe, ek planet Mars aaya, main utthe dil chod aayaaa..!"

Sorry, bad rhyming. But, this method of editing hindi film songs to suit them to my condition has been a long-time successful strategy to 'pareshan karo' my Mom and ultimately get some money out of her. *devilish grin*

anonymous: If only Geoffrey Boycott were here to do this, but I shall have to do as a poor substitute...

It's bluuddy scary !!

Anonymous said...

ya continuing my earlier post..
so u c i am not an ardent supporter of arrange marriages n people have to convince me about the merits..
but then neither am I with the other grp of love marriage ones.. especially those love-at-first-sight mad about u .. n second meet u are damn sure that he/she is the one..
hmm.. sorry folks hard conept to accept too

so..?? well so i thing arranged-love.. or love-arranged could be worked out..

Fotosia said...

love at first sight is bollocks...

what about people dating, to check whether they are a good match or not, and choosing to marry or split after one or two years of relationship...

that's what i call "normal" in my society

Shekhar said...

Mmm...I agree. It is like ending up with a bad decision, one way or the other. In the first scenario, you don't know the person because of your parents' decision and liking, and in the other, because of your own stupidity.

Arre bhai, why not spend some quality time with him/her and find out whether the two of you are 'actually' compatible or not?