Five Point Someone

It’s so difficult to put down this kind of book which u can so much relate to! And Five Point Someone is one such book.

The author Chetan Bhagat tells us story of 3 frens with different background coming together at the most coveted engg college of India after clearing one of the toughest entrance exam of its kind. But soon they get frustrated with pressures of assignments & unfair grading system which they think only promotes mugging rather than original thinking. But still these guys with their 5.0+ GPA sail together as frens with ups & downs of college life.

So why did this book appealed so much to me?
No , no I am not an IITian !
Nor I have been traumatized by our professors in a series of unending quizzes and assignments! :)
But then dissimilarity ends here!
Like the three heroes of the novel Ryan, Hari & Alok , I found my best friends in those 4 years of hostel life!
Like true mechanical engineers, we always have to rely on outside sources (read other deptt, campus) to look for a GF like the main protagonist Hari. The only cliché was that Hari went for his HOD’s daughter as her GF.....ha ha a thing which we could have never thought of even in our dreams.

There were so many other things which I fondly remember after reading the novel, whether it was ragging as freshers , or bunking our classes, or eating at roadside dhaba after hard days work or discussing about the nitty gritty of female mind :) :). The pictures of all these came vividly in mind as I flipped through the pages of novel.

Its 270 pages are not only a nostalgic journey of the time we spent at our alma mater but the way Chetan has written it, its just pure fun to go through! Chetan knows the art of story telling & it’s no surprise at all that it has become nation's bestseller.

Price (India): Hardcover Rs 295, Paperback Rs 95

Pages: 270
Publisher: Rupa & Co.
About the Cover:

The three gears represent Hari, Alok and Ryan, while the flower represents Neha. These engineering and human elements are shown to co-exist in harmony. Also, gears need to mesh together to work, representing Hari, Alok and Ryan's friendship.
The white colour of the cover represents simplicity, as seen in the writing style of the book. The definition of friendship spread all over reinforces the theme of the book.

Sa Re Ga Ma Challange 2005 !

I don't see TV that much but when it comes to musical shows its different. And SA RE GA MA is my personal favourite. The talent on display is just superb. Though some of the better contestants are put on threshold by the public votes.

If u r a real music lover don't miss it!
And tell me who is ur favourite till now!

My favourite among the girls right now is
Himani Kapoor
with Twinkle & Nihira at close second
and among the boys
I like Hemchandra & Vineetwith Debojit closely following them.

So right now I am eliminating Ujjaini & Rajeev! Except these two I think all of them really Rock in terms of singing and performances.

What's ur take on these guys & gals :)


Also do tell me which is your favourite war cry! :)
a) Yalgaar Ho
b) Hum mein hai Dum Jam Ke Rakhna Kadam
c) Jay Ho Mangalmay Ho
d) let's rock the world

Update 15.12.05 - As predicted Rajeev is out with Ujjaini & Twinkle barely scrapping thru! Still it was a big achievement from a chowmin shop owner to reach this far .

Update 22.12.05 - Today Twinkle is out! Though she was not the best singer still she deserved to be in the fray ahead of Paresh & Ujjaini. I am a bit sad for her infact I voted for her last week but.... Hard luck Twinkle hope u will make ur mark in future...

Update 23.12.05 - Oh gosh! Star of the day was again Himani, the way she sung Jiya Dhadak Dhadak from movie Kalyug just left me speachless. Great show Himani even Rahat Fateh Ali Khan would have envied ur performance.:)

Update 29.12.05 - Today I am more or less satisfied with the result. Ujjaini crashed out & Himani stood at the top place as she richly deserved that after her soulful performance last week. Though Ujjaini sang well last week still she was a bit lucky to be there at first place. Today I liked the performance of Paresh the young lad from UK. He has definitely improved in last two weeks. May be becoz of presence of her pretty wife :). And last but not the least todays guest of honour was my favourite lyricist Prasoon Joshi who sang my fav song Khul Ke Muskura Le Tu on stage. It made my day..

Update 6.1.06 - Its pretty difficult to single out the next person who will have to leave the show. In girls Himani is the best no doubt about it. But it is in the boys category choice is becoming increasingly difficult . Hemchandra is good. But so is Vineet & even Debu has come with great performance in last few weeks. With slight error in singing Debu may be in danger next week. Let's see what happens next week. Till Then I have to keep my fingers crossed :)

Bihar gets a new lease of life!

I am so happy for my state today. At last there is a wind of change! With NDA winning the election under the leadership of Nitish Kumar, i feel things will improve for the better especially the law & order situation.

Bihar Elections

At last we have a leader who has a clean image & a man who can rise above casteism to take Bihar on path of development. With the state of infrastructure & administration as it is today it will be an uphill task.

Wish u all the best Nitish ji ! I hope that u will give ur best shot to the job at hand :)

The Da Vinci Code

History has always remained my favourite subject, though religion is not. Also paintings never attracted me in a big way compare to other art forms. But when I went thru this book related to Da Vinci’s work in the light of pre chirstian religious history , I was amazed to see the kind of research author has done to write this suspense novel. Infact the book’s speciality is that apart from keeping your interest alive right thru... it enlightens ur mind too.
Some of the observations of author were really quite interesting. Here I share some of them with u!

First Monalisa will not be same for me again :), I will always visualize her as Amon + Isis(Lisa), the combination of male & female fertility god of Egypt.

And have u heard of a magic no PHI? Mathematically PHI is equal to 1.618. So what’s so special about it? Human body is literally made of building blocks whose proportional ratios always equal to PHI. Not convinced :)! Take out the inch tape & calculate following ratios:
Tip of ur head to the floor/ belly button to the floor
Shoulder to fingertips/ elbow to fingertips
Hip to floor / knee to floor!
According to author all these ratios will be equal to PHI

Vinci’s famous work The Last Supper consists of 13 men including Jesus Christ right
no wrong
It consists of 12 men + 1 women ! Who was she?

There r other controversial observations which can be questioned! But it gives an interesting viewpoint abut Jesus , Christianity & Pre Christian religion of nature worshippers known as Pagans.

But religious history is just the backdrop of the novel, the real suspense is involved in solving some smart crypto graphical riddles ! So puzzle lovers will just love it. All in all a good novel to read..

Of Kolkata & Puja Pandals

Last week was a wonderful week for me! I was in Kolkata

This time I stayed in southern part of the city near Jadavpur. It was raining cats & dogs so we could not move out in the evening. But around 9PM we ventured out with an umbrella in hand. Not many people were on the road that time. As we moved around we found out that the entire locality was filled with no. of small clubs which are known as place for addabazi for young & old alike.
The entire locality & club members were glued to their TV set but not for day & night cricket game, nor there was any sas bahu serial on the air :)

Guess what ! Yes u guessed right it was the Europian soccer live action which was generating lots of halla-gulla in support of both teams involved.

There were beautiful faces all around during two days of my stay. So it was nice wondering around the street. Durga Puja was over but I came across pics of some superb pandals for the puja which I like to share with u !

My New Blogmates

Two important things happened last week
Finally I got a broadband connection






and a digital camera






I was waiting for them for qt some time so I am really very happy!

Taking a Break................

Festive season is approaching!
Lots of holidays to enjoy and at the same time lots of project deadline to meet plus a Viva to given in Kolkata!
I will not be able devote much time to this blog so updates will be slow here....

Animal Revenge.........

We the humans rule the world now!
What will happen when animals will take over?
See for urself :)

Are We Really Entertained on Television Part -II ?

Continued from previous post...

Channel owners knew that apart from serials they have to go for more interactive shows to keep the audience glued to their channel . So another breed of TV programming came to the forefront consisting of game shows, musical hunt contests & reality shows. The concept of most of these shows were taken from western countries.

Indianised version of KBC has great Bachchan as its anchor who is nothing but a picture of grace & humility even after scaling such heights of stardom. But the same can’t be said about other hosts & judges chairing various game & talent hunt shows running on the TV.

It started with Neena Gupta’s show on SONY where specialty of the show was the rude behaviour & terse remarks made by the host. As expected Indian public rejected the show & it was a huge flop.

Then came musical hunt cum reality shows on various channels! Just to add a bit of zing in their programming every negative emotion of hate, jealousy, frustration, desperation of the participants was on air. Add to that was terse comments about the performances of participants by the judges. And all this in the name of borrowed concept of reality shows from the western world!

But what kind of reality is this?

All I want to say to these people that Please don’t sell human emotion in the name of reality. We love to hear these new young talented people perform. So just to sensationalize & add masala to their programming , recording every thing they do unrelated to music is a cheap type of entertainment, which they should desist from.

Similarly pointing the mistakes is a right of judges but once on air they should not be so harsh that their language becomes abusive. Take the example of Indian Idol. There was this participant from Punjab who was a signboard painter by profession. Somehow he tried his luck & got through the initial round. When he qualified in the final 10 the difference between him & rest of the participants was huge. But forgetting his background the judges including Farah Khan, Sonu Nigam & Anu Malik passed humiliating comments about his dress sense, lack of performing abilities & sur. Most of the thing said by judges were correct but the tone of the criticism was not accepted by Indian Public. The more the judges criticized him the more number of votes he got in each successive rounds.

Are we really entertained on Television? Part-I

When it comes to television programming related to entertainment I feel that we r steadily going downhill. Before saying something about present situation let’s have a look when it all started.

Unit the early eighties it was Radio in form of Vividh Bharti which ruled the roost for any sort of entertainment. At that point of time all we have in the name of entertainment on TV was a regular dose of Hindi Movies & our fav biweekly Chitrahaar.

In 1982 when Asiad happened for the first time we saw programming in colour. Few years later the era of television soaps started with the success of Hum Log a serial, which shared the joys & sorrow of Indian middle class. It was followed by another hugely successful serial Buniyaad based on the story woven around partition era. Then came serials based on epics like Ramayna & Mahabharta which captivated Indian audience for few years.
The success of these serial started an era of soaps which is continuing till date. In the late nineties our national broadcaster DD was joined by new cable channels like DD Metro Star Plus, Sony & Zee.

So what these channels have really offered us in past few years?
A host of serials enacting the same saas bahu saga, family intrigues in so called joint business family with full of 3rd, 4th & 5th angles !. Such was the regular dose of these multi vitamin capsules in the lives of section of our population consisting mostly of housewives that they became addicted to it. Indians always love melodrama so there was enough twists & turns put in by the likes of Ekta Kapoor’s to keep them interested weeks after weeks soaring the TRP ratings of their umpteenth K….. products.

But my question to these money monger production houses is straight & simple.
What is their creativity quotient?
Why all the serials have same plot, same type of characters & a same feel!
It ‘s a shame on the successful soap directors that even with so much success they failed to do something new, something more challenging. I agree that creativity is not always accompanied by the success but then there was no effort at all from their side. Their brethren from other section of media have fared much better!

Look at the advertising industry!
Our advertisements are just world class! Not only they have come up with innovative ideas every now & then but at the same time they have thoroughly entertained us. Bollywood is still formula prone but still there is new breed of directors who have avoided the clichés & given us something fresh to ponder upon…

But why I have been forced to write my post on this subject. Not because of these serials! I hardly see any of them. My main anger is directed on another breed of television programming which is the IN THING today.
More about it in my next part !!

To be continued…

A Snap Shot from Bengal...

Two official tours within a week!
And this time I was in Bengal in the city of Durgapur! Of all the states there is something unique about its people & culture. There r so many facets of it & one of them touched me when I was going to my Hotel.

It was 7.30 PM in the night when we boarded the taxi . But soon we were in the midst of two small political demonstrations coming from opposite sides which we call here as Juloos.
Now Juloos is a common phenemona all over India but then ....untill now I have presumed it to be a day time activity! but Bengal proved me wrong.:) So we waited patiently to let them pass & then moved on.

The next day just when our car was going to the plant for some site visit we got stuck in the midst of another meeting this time called by CITU to support country wide workers strike proposed in last week of September.

It was 4.30PM & there were red flags all over the place.

Workers have just started to trickle in. Warming up exercise was on. There was this gentleman in front of mike with three to four person around him for generating chorus & what I could gather from my little knowledge of this wonderful language bangla it was someting like

29th Septambere Chokka Jaam....Chokka jaam Chokka Jam
Haat bazaar hobe naa hobe naa..... hobe naa hobe naa
Gadi ghoda cholbe na cholbe na.....cholbe na cholbe na and so on.......

Such was the symphony of the chorus that I thought that I was hearing some Hindi poetry of Veer Ras. These poltical workers are so good at their art of mobilising a crowd. Soon the entire campus was filled with people. I soon found out that most of them were not much interested in speeches of their leaders. They have heard so many of them before & for them coming to the meeting was a good excuse to leave their work early . The leaders also knew this fact & ended their meeting quickly with in half an hour so that their listeners can go to their home in time.

The Marxist culture is so omnipresent everywhere in Bengal. Though the marxist ideology is mellowed down considerably but still u feel its remnants as soon u enter this state....

And the WINNER is.......

Congrrats PUNEET ! U won comfortably :) Once u took the lead there was no looking back . Great showing dear!

It was wonderful to have all of u with me for last three weeks ! I hope all of u enjoyed this quiz & now u have a fair idea about me ! My special thanks to Avik, Chutki, Divya, Don, Joyas, KL, PR, Puneet & Pari & others too for sparing ur valuable time here.

Answers !

Section –I : Movies & Music
Here are the answers for the Ist round as all of u have already participated in this round.
Answers are along with name of participants who guessed it correctly !

1. D (None)
The first movie which I saw with my friends in a cinema hall when I was 18 years old.
Quite odd naa that’s why none of u got it right :)
Chutki : Class mein gana gane ka matlab ye to nahin ki picture bhi ja ke dekh lee ho :)
Neel : Ur logic was grt but it proves that I was more dumb than u at that age. :(

2. B (Don , Divya & PR)
The only movie I have seen twice in a theatre Yes it was 1942 A love story & it has lot to do with Manisha Koirala’s fresh cute unpolluted looks…

Neel : hey , as a matter of fact the songs of all these movies are my fav. Like Pehla Nasha from JJWS & Kyun naye lag rahe hain ye dharti gagan from 1942..

3. C ( Don, KL)
For me Shahrukh is good actor but other three r really great!
Chutki : Apni mum se poochna Sanjeev Kumar ki acting ke bare mein !
Divya : Tum bhi option A. Ab ye mat kehna ki ye actor bhi thakela tha :)
PR : U do not like Aamir ?:)
And surprisingly many of u opted for Bachchan including Puneet !

4. B (None)
This was a real big surprise for me. It seems all of u r die hard fans of Madhuri Dikshit?
I disliked her choice of roles in major part of her career.

5 C ( Every body except ZA,KL & Joyas lagta hai tum sab ne ye gaana suna nahin :( )
Hmmm most of u got the song Jaddu teri nazar …. Tu haan kar ya na kar tu hai meri Kiran!Well Done :)


6 A (almost everyone)
Neel : U wrote option A makes u cry & in my question I also told u that’s a qt emotional song for me so why ‘B”?

7. C (Pari, Puneet, ZA, KL, Neel)
Yes Jagjit Singh became my fav in college days. Incidently I was not selected by class teacher to sing that song.
DON : How can u miss the clue?

8. A (most of u)
For those who selected option D : tell me can option A & C go together ?

9. A (most of u )
I enjoy singing in any situation but then it is my only solace when I am sad & lonely.
Chutki : Ur confidence is appreciated :)

10. C (most of u)
Avik : I like Ash u must have missed one of my post on this blog

Section –II : My Early Childhood

This round proved to be quite tough for all of U! The reason being that most of u chose ur answers based on my present traits & hobbies !

11. C (DON, Divya, Joyas, PR & Puneet)
When I was in class I–a fellow student whose seat was adjacent to me lost 50 paise coin. She thought that I have taken it so she told me to say Vidya Kasam Though I have not taken the money I still refused to take that oath becoz I was angry with her that she has no faith in me

DON : Correct Observation :)
Divya : Nice to know that u have done the same!
Avik & Dewdy : so u thought I am fun loving liar hee hee:)

12 B (None)
Single out the fact, which is incorrect about my childhood school I-II days : I always figured in top 10 during examination
Most of u opted for option A (me being a front bencher) & option C (me bullied by boys). Both were correct. All of u has this studious kind of image of me that’s why I kept that option B & you all fell in the trap. In primary classes I never figured in top 10 :)

DON : Not scared just shy!
Chutki : Contrary to ur assumption just opposite was the fact but that perception changed over the years.

13 C (DON , Divya , KL & Puneet)
I was in awe of my class topper who was a short stature, dark girl with beautiful eyes. Being shy I have very few interaction with her but her performance inspired me to do better in my studies.

14 A (Divya)

Divya – Bole to kya tukka mara!
Thx KL & Joyas at least both of u thought that I could score 6 goals.
As for others don’t underrate me so much grrr :(

15 D ( Avik & Chutki)
Apart from Maths another subject which was my favourite in school was History.
I knew with my Hindi blog around most of u will opt for that but my love for the subject grew only after entering college.
Well done Chutki & Avik for figuring out this correctly!

16 C (Avik, PR & Dewdy)
I was greatly influenced by Cricket Commentators like Sushil Doshi & Narrotam Puri in my school days.

17 D (Avik, DD,Puneet, Pari)
U all played it safe but that was right thing to do!:)

18 B (None)
Apart from stamp collection & listening BBC World (Radio) my favourite past time during those days was Pen Friendship. I loved to write snail mails & believe me I am good at it :)
Except Avik all went for music, which came a bit later in my life.

19 C (Avik, Puneet & PR)
Yes my classmates were too excited to see glamorous Brook Shield and I almost agreed to joined them but changed my decision at the last moment.

Great guess from the trio who lead this section !

20 C (PR)
Boys of my class wanted to go in annual fete organized by Notre dame (girls) school.as usual the question was put to me by my CT . Yup I told her that no purpose will be served by going to a girls school apart from wasting money. :)
I still remember I got so much gali from classmates ! Ant mein yahi kehte gay ki Yaar ise akl kab aayegi :) :)

PR : U got my psychology right this time :)
DON : U forgot, I told u this incident :(

Section-III : College Days

21. D (None)
Wrote my first poem during Ist yr Engg reflecting something about my past .

22. A (Most of u except Divya, Avik & Joyas)
In my first year in engineering the most dreaded subject for me was Engg. Drawing.

23. B (Most of u except Kl, Chutki, Avik & Joyas )
My first crush in real sense happened when I was in Class XII
Kl & Chutki : Hmmm so you both thought that I am incapable of having crushes :(

24. B (Don, Puneet & KL)
I did my BE from BIT Mesra. It brought certain drastic changes in my nature & thinking. Other options were correct but flirting was not my cup of tea :).
Chutki : with my perceived image ye answer to sahi karna tha Which one of the following is incorrect

25. D (Puneet, KL, Pari, Chutki)
Though I was introduced to various form of music in my college. The one, which influenced me, the most was Ghazals. Infact it was mentioned against my name in my college batch book that Manish & Ghazals r inseparable.

DON : It was ur biggest blunder :( !

26. B (Divya, Avik)
One fine morning our computer teacher was changed without any prior knowledge. In place of a Khoosat prof a young maam came to teach us ! Her first class finished with pin drop silence as every one was too surprised to react! In the next class waise log bhi naha dho kar aaye j hafton na nahate hon aur der se aane ka to sawal hi nahin kyunki har koi first row mein baiyhna chahta tha :)

27 D (Most of u except Puneet, Pari, PR & Joyas ).
Whenever there was no electricity and that was often the case we used to play playing cards with candles or emergency light.

28. A (Most of u except Divya, PR & Joyas)
How many girls I really flirted with during my Engineering – Nil :) this answer automatically comes from Q 24

29. B (Most of u except KL, Avik & Joyas)
One of the thing which I tried desperately to increase in those 4 years without any success was my wt. I weighed only 42 kg in my final year!
KL : U opted for option C hmmmm wo to socha karte the try nahin karte the :)
Avik : On that front I was more consistent

30. D (Most of u except DON, PR, Avik & Joyas)
I really hate smoking !
Don : Oye ye paan wala idea kahan se aaya tere dimaag mein!
PR : U just forgot…
Joyas : u got me totally wrong specially in this section :)

Section-IV : Travel, Books etc etc...

31.C (Don. Chutki, Puneet & Pari)
I love to travel. Out of all these places I have visited, the one which I have enjoyed the most is Andmaans. Goa was my fav till last year when I visited Andmaans. Though Goa’s beaches are still the best in totality I found the islands more attractive.

Divya : Tumhein to Goa kehna hi tha! Wahan ki meethi yadein jo judi hain tumhare man mein :)
PR : So u have been to Pokhra ! Infact when we went there we could not see those beautiful peaks of Himalayas due to cloud cover.

32 A (Pari)
There is this city which is situated along side river Ganges. The bridge not only covers the river but also crosses through part of a city. I always love to observe this whenever I happen to be on that route. Yup I was talking about Allahabad!

Pari : Great answer! How u figured this one out?

33 D (Puneet & Don)
I love all these shades of Blue !

34 C (Everyone except Joyas)
My fav transport is Railway ! Obvious isn’t it.
Joyas : U have also got it if u knew a bit of Hindi !

35 C ( KL & Joyas)
I never studied in Delhi. I did my PG/ ME from Univ. of Roorkee now known as IIT, Roorkee.
Joyas : see this tie ur guess was more accurate than others!
Puneet : U never heard name of Roorkee! Yaar now its an IIT. Its situated near Haridwar.


36 A (Most of u except KL, Joyas & Chutki)
Yes I couldn’t stand science fiction!
Chutki – Of all choices option B, tell me how u arrived at this conclusion?

37 B (Don & Chutki)
Ohh I like all of them to some extent or the other but if one option is asked I will go for the Ashapoorna ji ! Most of u may have never read her but she was one of the most popular Bengali novelist who wrote extensively about gradual awakening of women in joint families of Bengali society.

Kl & Avik : Have u read any book of her?

38 D (Most of u except KL, Joyas & PR)

39 A (Chutki & Divya)
I am out & out left hander all the other statements were true.

Puneet : I thought u will crack this one but u doubted on my six hiting capabilities but then hostel cricket ground was not that big :)

40 B (Puneet, Divya & Chutki)
The most important quality I seek in my friends is Honesty & Humility.
I like intelligent people but only if they r humble.
Puneet , Divya & Chutki : Extremely pleased to see that 3 of u got me correctly

Section - V :Which is True ? Which is False?

41. My favourite colour during childhood was light green.
True ( Divya , KL)

42. I have never seen test match cricket.
False (Most of u except Avik, DON & Pari)
As a kid I saw India –Australia test match at Green Park, Kanpur. India won that test match.

43. Out of eight semesters of my engineering I topped in two of them.
False (KL, Avik)
KL u got it right expecting too much of me hee hee. I only toped once in 7th semester.

44. I am quite particular about my appearance & dress sense.-
False ( Divya , KL, Avik, Chutki)
No I am not that particular, the reason is my laziness.

45. I have undergone two major operations in my life.
True (Most of u except Puneet, DON & Pari, Divya)
Hmmm for my right hand !

46. One thing which I am unable to control many times is my anger
True (Everyone except PR & KL)

47. I always prefer north Indian food to the south indian one.
False (Everyone except PR & Avik)
Masala Dosa, Uttapam, Bada sambhar, Idli, Upma I love them all.

48. India’s current wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni lives in our colony
True (Avik, Joyas, Puneet & Divya)
U four readily beieved me :) though I have yet to meet him.

49. Out of all the metros I love Mumbai the most
False (Everyone except PR, Chutki, Divya & KL)
My favourite is Delhi may be becoz I am more familiar to it
KL – O re baba Kolkata! Too much pollution with horrible humidity.

50. My average sleeping time is 6 hours.
True (Most of u except Avik, Divya & Joyas)

Section V - The Grand Finale !

This part of Quiz was not planned as such!

Thx to Puneet & Divya I have to only say some true & false facts about me to finish this tooo... long Quiz :) :)

So all the guys & gals get ready for taking the last shot at me.
All u have to do is to find out five true & five false facts about me!
Choose the answers with care becoz this is the last chance to improve ur rankings :)

41. My favourite colour during childhood was light green.

42. I have never seen test match cricket.

43. Out of eight semesters of my engineering I topped in two of them.

44. I am quite particular about my appearance & dress sense.

45. I have undergone two major operations in my life.

46. One thing which I am unable to control many times is my anger.

47. I always prefer north Indian food to the south indian one.

48. India’s current wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni lives in our colony.

49. Out of all the metros I love Mumbai the most.

50. My average sleeping time is 6 hours.

And I further tag Neel, KL & Chutki

Give ur suggestion What u want in prizes if u won this Quiz !

Best of luck to all of u! Hurry the quiz closes this weekend :)

Section-IV Travel, Books etc etc...

31.I love to travel. Out of all these places I have visited, the one which I have enjoyed the most is
A Darjeeling
B Goa
C Andmaans
D Pokhra (Nepal)

32 There is this city which is situated along side river Ganges. The bridge not only covers the river but also crosses through part of a city. I always love to observe this whenever I happen to be on that route.
There is this funny incident which I want to share with u. It so happened that one of my co passenger blew a kiss from the moving train to the young housewife who was preparing rotis. So the result ! Hee Hee :)

In an instant reaction she raised her belan like a Hanuman's Gada! Coming back to the question can u tell me which city I am talking about ?
A Allahabad
B Varanasi (Kashi)
C Haridwar
D Kanpur

33 My favourite colour is blue ! Tell me which shade of blue is my favourite
A Shade-I
B Shade-II
C Shade-III
D All the above

34 My favourite mode of transport is
A Personal Car
B Bus
C Railway
D Air

35 Which place is not associated with my student life
A Patna
B Roorkee
C Delhi
D Ranchi

36 I love to read novels. Tell me which type I hate most
A Science Fiction
B Human Relationships
C Suspense thrillers
D Historical

37 My favorite female novelist is
A Arundhati Roy
B Ashapoorna Devi
C Mannu Bhandari
D Shivani

38 I loved all these books except
A City Of Joy
B God of Small Things
C Other Side of the Midnight
D Gone with the Wind

39 Cricket is my favourite sport. Tell me which statement is false
A I am left arm off spinner & right hand batsman
B. My highest score in official cricket tournament is 29.
C I hit three sixes in an over in my PG hostel cricket ground.
D My favorite scoring area is leg side.

40 The most important quality I seek in my friends is
A Intelligence & Honesty
B Honesty & Humility
C Intelligence & Humility
D All of the above

This was the last multiple option round !

Since I have been tagged by my blogfrens Puneet & Divya(Thx both of u!) the last round will be collection of some truth & lies about me :) . You have to identify which one is true & which one is false!

Contest is getting hotter with every round :)

Can Puneet maintain his lead? Lets wait & see !

Well Done Kaif & Sania!

Hurrah ! great day for indian sports :)
Sania brushed aside her opponent 7-6, 6-4 even with 50 unforced errors to reach pre quaters of US Open! Oh gosh!

Well done Sania u r proving beyond doubt that u r not just hype but a real talent!
I hope u will be more consistent with ur service & try to reduce the no of avoidable loose shots u made today. Becoz with these type of errors u will be in difficult position against Maria Sharopova! All the Best for next round!

And at last our coveted batting order came to some kind of form against depleted Kiwi attack!
today I saw one of the best innings from Kaif. Yes he was the star of the day!
Waisey humare Dhoni ne bhi achche hath dikhaye ant mein :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHUTKI ! 31st August 2005

Wishing u a wonderful B’Day dear :)!

Though Chutki joined our favourite forum a year ago! It was only in last six months I came to know her personally.
So Chutki I want to take u back to the days when u joined Bahas!
After reading ur initial sharings I could gather that u have similar taste of poetry as ours..
And within few days u became such a fan of DON that one day DON asked me

Manish tell me Kahin aisa to nahin ki ye Gumnaam koi ladka ho !
Hee hee haa haa:)!

I told her that I don’t think so because the type & content of her poems suggests something else! ;)

At your age I could never dreamt of organizing my thoughts in such a nice way! I hope that u will always give some time to ur hobby to hone it further as u grow up!

What else I like about u ?
Hmmmmm u know that isn’t it ?

But I always choose B’days to express what I sincerely feel abt my frens..so to the extent of repeating myself let me list them out again
Ur sincerity towards studies,
The faith u show in ur frens &
Grt sense of humor u have !

Keep these virtues and u will never be short of frens !

Wish u all the best !

Section III – College Days!

No body can forget about her Alma Mater In fact most of the questions in this section are related to my engg. days. I came out from my college as a diff person.
I hope all of u will score much more in this section than previous one

I plan to give answers of all the 50 questions after u have gone through them.
So one can post reply to any section anytime even if he/she has joined later on. So here I start again


21. I have written poems only twice in my life the first one was when I was in
A.) Class III
B.) Class Xth
C.) Class XII
D.) After doing my Engg

22. In my first year in engineering the most dreaded subject for me was
A.) Engg. Drawing
B.) Engineering Mechanics
C.) Engg. Chemistry
D.) Physics

23. My first crush in real sense happened when I was in
A.) Class Xth
B.) Class XII
C.) Engg Ist Year
D.) It never happened :)

24.I did my BE from BIT Mesra. It brought certain drastic changes in my nature & thinking. Which one of the following is incorrect about me

A.) I became much more talkative & funny.
B.) I became a big flirt
C.) I realized that girls are not so simple & straight as I earlier perceived them too.
D.) I realized that extra curricular activities are as important in life apart from studies.

25. Though I was introduced to various form of music in my college. The one, which influenced me, the most was
A.) Western Pop
B.) Indian classical
C.) Hindi film music
D.) Ghazals

26. One fine morning our computer teacher was changed without any prior knowledge. In place of a Khoosat prof a young maam came to teach us ! Her first class finished with pin drop silence as every one was too surprised to react! Her class was weekly so find the incorrect statement which happened during next week

A.) Everybody studied current chapter & some more before her next class so that any chance to impress her should not be missed.
B.) It was decided that everybody will reach 15 minutes late & then see what is going to be her reaction ?
C.) Just prior to her class i.e just after lunch all the bathrooms of the hostel were packed to capacity.
D.) None of the Above

27.Which game I played the most in my Hostel life
A.) Cricket
B.) Badminton
C.) TT
D.) Playing Cards

28.How many girls I really flirted with during my Engineering days
A.) Nil
B.) One
C.) Two
D.) Lost count

29.One of the thing which I tried desperately to increase in those 4 years without any success was
A.) Memory Power
B.) Weight
C.) No. of GF’s
D.) GPA (Grading percentage)

30. During my college days I got addicted to
A.) Chewing Paan
B.) Smoking
C.) Drinking
D.) None of the above

Quiz Sec. -II -Childhood & My Early School Days

11. When I was in class I–a fellow student whose seat was adjacent to me lost 50 paise coin. She thought that I have taken it so she told me to say Vidya Kasam (taking oath by the name of lordesss Sarswati ! figure out what I have done then?

A.) I refused becoz I have taken it.
B.) I lied & gladly took that oath . Then during tiffin time straight way went to pheriwala (street hawker) to buy some Churan (spicy mixture) from that money. :)

C.) Though I have not taken the money I still refused to take that oath becoz I was angry with her that she has no faith in me.
D.) I have not taken the money but still to avoid fight gave her from my own pocket money.

12 Single out the fact, which is incorrect about my childhood school I-IIdays
A.) I was a front bencher
B.) I always figured in top 10 during examination.
C.) Boys of the class bullied me so I was protected by bunch of girls who also included me in their games.
D.) None of the above

13 From class III to V I studied in a different school which was coed. Identify the correct statement out of these
A.) I was extremely naughty child of the class.
B.) I regularly exchanged homework copies with fellow classmates of opposite half
C.) I was in awe of my class topper who was a short stature, dark girl with beautiful eyes.
D.) All of the above

14 In our sports class only game we played was soccer. I being a lazy athlete always stood near opposite goalpost in the offside position. Imagine how many goals have I scored during my school days in 5 years ?
A.) One
B.) Nil
C.) Six
D.) Two

15 Apart from Maths another subject which was my favourite in school was..?
A.) Science
B.) Hindi
C.) Civics
D.) History

16 In my school days I wanted to become……one day
A.) Scientist
B.) Teacher
C.) Cricket Commentator
D.) Musician

17 Till High School
A.) I was an introvert child having few friends
B.) I had a habit of playing alone and talking to myself.
C.) I used to fight with my both elder sis with kicks and what not!
D.) All the above


18 Apart from stamp collection & listening BBC World (Radio) my favourite past time during those days was
A) Listening to Music
B) Pen friendship
C) Swimming
D) Cycling in the whole colony

19 It was in class IX th that my classmates decided to bunk classes to see an adult movie. I also joined them & came out of school. All my friends boarded the bus but I changed my mind at last moment remembering mom’s advice. Guess which movie was that?
A. Ram Teri Ganga Maili
B. Insaaf ka tarazu
C. Blue Lagoon
D. Blame it on RIO

20 From class VII to X I became topper of my class. Though I was not class monitor , my class teacher still used to take my opinion on any matter related to class. Boys of my class wanted to go in annual fete organized by Notre dame (girls) school. As usual the question was put to me
A I told her it’s a very good idea
B. I was unable to make up my mind so advised her for to go for a vote & abide by majority decision of the class.
C. I told her that no purpose will be served by going to a girls school apart from wasting money.
D. None of the above

Quiz Section I - Music & Movies

So here I am with my first section that is music & movies!
Some tips :)
Don’t overstress ur mind. Because even if u know me a bit most of the time u have to make a wild guess to answer these questions! Let’see who’s guesses are on target?

1. The first movie which I saw with my friends in a cinema hall when I was…years old
A. 12
B. 14
C. 16
D. 18

2. The only movie I have seen twice in a theatre
A. Qayamat se Qayamat Tak
B. 1942 A Love Story
C. Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikandar
D. Kal Ho Na Ho


3. Among these who is not my favourite male actor
A. Sanjeev Kumar
B. Amitabh Bachhchan
C. Shahrukh Khan
D. Aamir Khan

4. Though I admire all these actresses one of them has never been my favourite. Who is she?
A. Sri Devi
B. Madhuri Dikshit
C. Waheeda Rehmaan
D. Manisha Koirala

5. The only time my purse was pick pocketed in my life so far was when I went to see this movie. I was left with a chawanni (25 paise) in my pocket. But the movie was enjoyable and I came back home on foot humming Udit Narayan’s jadui (magical) song. Can u guess which movie was that!
A. Koi Mil Gaya
B. Qayamat se Qayamat tak
C. Darr
D. Gadar –Ek Prem Katha

6 The one song which I quote as my all time favourite & I get so emotional on singing it
A. Wo Sham Kuch Azeeb Thi from Khamoshi
B. Katra Katra Milti Hai from Izazat
C. Rimjhim Gire Sawan from Manzil
D. Dil Mein Kisi Ke Pyar Ka Jalta Hua Diya

7. The first time I sang a song in a classroom I was in class VI th. I never knew that I will become such a fan of that singer who’s song I chose. Can u tell which song it was..
A. Hum ko man ki shakti dena man vijay karein
B. Mere Mehboob Qayamat Hogi
C. Hothon se choo lo tum mera geet amar kar do
D. Chala Jata hoon kisi ki dhun mein dhadakte dil se tarane liye

8. I like a movie when
A. It makes me think or laugh
B. It can be seen with whole family
C. It gives u the impression that brain is not necessary part of our body :).
D. All the above

9. Singing gives me lots of pleasure especially when
A. I am sad & lonely
B. I am in a playful mood
C. When my compete family gets together
D. All of the above

10. I will not love to go on date with
A. Dia Mirza
B. Ashwarya Roy
C. Kareena Kapoor
D. Konkana Sen Sharma

Want to know about me then lets get Quizzical

So nothing extraordinary happening in life
Work work & more work….:(
How to keep this blog alive?
So I thought to get Quizzical .

I invite all my blog frens participate in this new quiz, it will help u to know me better. And in this question and answer mode it will be more entertaining for me & u too!
The quiz will be in different section.. All u have to do is to reply with question no & the corresponding option. Every correct answer will fetch u two marks. Results will be shown on my TAG BOX after completion of each section .

And overall topper will be suitably rewarded *
I am putting all the questions on the blog instead of a web site to avoid cheating :) hee hee

* Conditions apply ! courtsy DD

Lets Get a bit Mathematical

Do you think Mathematics can solve ur day to day problem!
U don't think so!
Go through this proof.....
he he :)
and chances are that if u r from male species u will identify the root cause of the problem :)

Down with Viral

Hi Frens!
Down with Viral
Blame it on season…
Or the widely circulating capacity of the virus…
Finally it has got me !
Still struggling to find my bearings
Hope to recover fully by weekend :)

Dumb Charade

U must have played Dumb Charade some time or other in ur life!

Imagine the game is about identifying a city and the word given to u is

Capital of Thailand i.e. Bangkok!

So how do u go about it :)

No clues ! Then click below :)


http://flickr.com/photos/48936384@N00/28525961/

STATUTARY WARNING : Open this pic at ur own risk! :)

The Funniest Matrimonial Adz

Hmmm so back here after long time!
but there was not hing special to write abt!
9-6.45 office
some time to family
& finally internet.. & my countdown show going on my Hindi blog
So when I saw this joke floating in my mailbox I thought to share with u all!


Here are some of the funniest matramonial advertisements which are posted by funniest persons. Interested candidates who are seeking more funniest members as life partner can Contact them.

Fisherman
Wife wanted, must be able to dig, clean, cook worms and clean fish. Must have own boat with motor. Please send photograph of motor boat.

Salesman
Once in a lifetime offer, to get yourself the original, genuine article. One of the most handsome and smartestbachelor's around is now looking for a wife. And you could be the lucky one he chooses! Has own house, car and successful career!

Economist
I am in demand of a wife. Supply is great though my requirements are high. However the Elasticity of my demands should notbear too heavy a burden upon the national interest.

Mathematician
Wife required to complete the formula of my life. Must be numerate and understand complex algebraic logarithms. Needed tohelp further my family unit.

IT Consultant
Well there is definite room for improvement in my life. The speed of my current flows of information and processes is slowing down and the injection of a wife into my life is bound to improve efficiency. Compatibility could be an issue.

Business Man
Wife wanted for company.

Politician
I feel there is a need in this world, to improve the ways we live, to harmonize the processes of life and to build upon pastdifferences and short comings. I believe that we the people need someone to share our lives. To feel the joys of parent hood, and bear the social responsibilities, as we should in a civilized society................. (etc etc and never getting to the point)

Car Dealer
Wanted a sturdy, reliable, low depreciating wife. Should be in excellent working condition.
Farmer
Wanted a wife from good stock. Required for breading.

Lawyer
I hereby propose to solicit myself as an eligible candidate for the post of wife after marriage. The person whom I'mlooking for should be strictly -a girl. The girl should be strictly a girl, with evidence to support this view that she is a girl. Thegirl should be willing to surrender to the service and jurisdiction of My Lord i.e. Myself. Any objections would be overruled and will not be sustained. Apply in limited confidence as all liabilities are null and void in the event of failure on our part of any kind whatsoever

Pilot
Wife required to complete my life. Please only level headed applicants. She must not have her heads in the clouds, but have her feet firmly on the ground. Her heart must be in it for the long haul. And she absolutely must also be aerodynamically sound!!!

Banker
Wanted wife who takes interest in me and credits me with her service

Shayar(Poet)
Bari muddat keh baad eik arazoo jaagi hai Key hum bhe shaadi shooda ho jaayeh,Kya bahaana shaadi karaney ka...............
Joh kurrey sarey sarey,Yeah mai butaatah hoon .........
Kyoon key yaroo ub khud ghur keh kaam hotah naheesarey sarey.

Accountant
Required a girl - 5'8". She must be averse to making unnecessary expenditure and her very nature should be one of generating as few expenses in my life as possible. She should profit from a nice personality and be a credit to her family.

Sharabi (Drinker)
Wanted a girl. Girl's father should preferably have a drinks factory. I am an occasional alcoholic who drinks only whenfriends come round. Friends come round only seven times a week. Girl preferred who can carry me from bar to ghar-bar(home). Meet personally in a bar or send drinks for trial. Sample should be ample.

Mini Cab Driver
Hello! Hello! number 9 calling. This is number 9 I'm calling from base, erm a wife is needed for pick me up. Drivinglicense not necessary, but maps reading skills are a bonus.

Beggar
Allah kay naam peh koi eik biwi dey dey, Doosrey kee nahi to upni hee dey dey, Allah terah bhalla karray, Tujhey eik keybadlay doh dey dey, Hillery hogi toh Monika bhi dey dey!

Builder
Wanted a wife to help build upon the foundations of my life. Must be homely and willing to build relationship from theground up.

Doctor
I am looking for a wife to cure the emptiness in my life. However if you feel the need for a second opinion then it's fineby me.

Army Commando
My mission in life is to find myself the perfect wife. Successful applicants must be able to use a penknife and a compass. She who dares wins. Camouflage provided

Race Car Driver
A model wife required to fit in with my fast track life. Must be able to keep pace!

Astronaut
I'm searching for a wife to fill the space in my life. Someone to share my universe. Must have looks that are out ofthis world

So guys have u decided which one suits ur requirement !
and as for gals after some introspection they can easily decide from what profession their future life partner would be ! :) :)

Sania Mirza and Parineeta

No no Sania Mirza has nothing to do with Parineeta hee hee :) but they made two of my evenings in the last week memorable.
Firstly Sania played an exciting game against world no. 5 Svetlana Kuznetsowa & matched her stroke for stroke playing some great tennis on Wimbledon center court. Last time an Indian featured on center court in singles event was the great Vijay Amritraj who defeated French star Yanik Noah in the thrilling encounter in 1985. Infact I was privileged to listen the radio commentary of the match on BBC World.
And on Wednesday it was Sania..
Though Sania lost the game 4-6, 7-6, 4-6, she managed to win million of hearts with her gritty ground strokes. She proved beyond doubt that she has that something extra to be counted among the best. All she needs is to improve her service, net play & athleticism to reach the top bracket. Wish u all the best Sania! Hope to see u as a better player next time in Wimbledon.

Coming to Parineeta I was planning to see the movie for past few weeks but somehow things didn’t make out. When I went thru my blog fren Puneet’s review of the film I immediately decided that the coming Saturday will be the day.
The movie which is set on Calcutta of 1962 is really refreshing. Saif is maturing fast as an actor & Vidya Balan who is a rank newcomer has done a wonderful job.
Songs are really sweet specially Dil ki ji batein hain dil mein hi rakhna piya & Raat Humari To on which I have dedicated one complete post on my Hindi blog.
So do see this movie frens u will not be disappointed!

Ohhhhh Ash.........!

After a gap of so many years we went to see a movie in a cinema hall.
It was my second attempt to see the movie!
In my first outing I have to leave the hall midway during interval to catch the night train! And I was happy to do that...

So my second visit to Bunty & Babli was without any expectation. With a script going haywire the only Paisa Wasool
was the 5 min entry of sooooooooo sweeeeet Ash in the song Kajrare Kajrare Tere Kare Kare Nayna !

And with Big & Junior bachchan to her side her jhatka matkas were hmmmm just jaanlewa :) !

Do miss the movie but don't miss the song :)!

Arranged & Love Marriage -Part VI

......Not every love match is similarly doomed. There are enough marriages based on great romance. Marriages that have survived all attempts to ruin them. Couples who have battled tremendous odds to be together—religious problems, caste problems, class problems, too. Yet, I fear the vulgarization of the entire love-marriage phenomenon.

At least some of the blame for this has to be shared by popular Hindi cinema. Love ke liye kuch bhi karega and similar sentiments. Nearly everyday, our newspapers run headlines about lovers caught in some hideous situation—elopements gone awry; acid attacks on women who have turned down ardent suitors; kidnappings and rapes. All this in the name of ‘love’. It’s not just an urban problem. These ludicrous manifestations of ‘love’ can be found in rural India, too! A direct spin-off of Bollywood potboilers, I’m convinced.

Marry for love, by all means. But be realistic at the same time. Marrying ‘above’ or ‘beneath’ your own level is an option only the stout-hearted should take. Even in this day and age, a large part of India is still preoccupied with caste and class. Those who attempt to cross either or both, will necessarily be up against a great deal of resistance.

To have the guts to stand up for your beliefs and marry the person you fancy, despite daunting odds, is a challenge. If, on the other hand, you are lucky enough to flip for someone you can happily take home to mother, go for it. There is no better reason to give up your independence than to be with a person you love and who loves you. But love alone is no guarantee.

At the end of the day, it’s back to the C-word: commitment. A couple in an ‘arranged’ match can fall in love later and make a success of their marriage. But someone opting for love cannot then look for the rewards of an arranged alliance.

Love is meant to overcome all odds and embrace any and every complication. Nothing quite as unrealistic or lofty is expected from a more conventional approach. Which is why, the next time someone rolls up flashing the right credentials and with serious intent, I shall swiftly arrange a dekho session at Mumbai’s all-time favourite ‘dekho’ venue—the old-fashioned ‘Sea Lounge’ at the Taj Mahal Hotel. Imagine me as a ‘proper’ mother-in-law! You can’t? Too bad. I can!

Source From The Truth abt Marriage by Shobha Dey

Arranged and Love Marriages Part-V

The worst thing about a love marriage that ends up on the rocks is that parents get all huffy and judgemental. ‘We told you it wouldn’t work. Did you listen? We knew he wasn’t the right person. Now look where you are.’ Parents in such a situation do have a point. But they also need to rise above their own feelings of outrage and false pride and provide much needed empathy to a child who has made a mistake and is going through hell.

Love marriages may be more common now than they once were in our society, but that’s only because of increased mobility and access. Dating starts during the teenage years. Couples might see each other for close to a decade before tying the knot. But even such marriages can collapse, much to the parents’ dismay. ‘After ten long years you people still didn’t know what you were doing! Ridiculous!’

Parents must avoid this harsh judgement trap and extend a helping hand to an emotionally distressed offspring dealing with a broken marriage and much else. This is a time which can only be described as wretched. I know the feeling. I’ve gone through it myself.

Your self-worth is at its lowest and you’ve never felt as desperately alone. You also feel the entire world is sitting in judgement over what is a personal and painful decision. Friends take sides, cast aspersions, play the blame game. As for foes—they gloat and chortle with glee, while trading the ugliest rumours and theories as to why the marriage collapsed.

If, at such a time, your immediate family turns its back on you too, then why call yourself family in the first place? All it takes is a little sensitivity, a little love, a little patience. I keep running into single parents trying hard to cope with a failed marriage, while presenting a tough facade. Having been there, I can identify with the emotion. No matter what anybody says, it isn’t easy. Never was, never will be. Society is not known for its kindness. When the chips are down, you have just one person to fall back on—yourself!

U can not do away with the feeling of love !

Now that my exams are over I am back in business of Blogging.:)
We r in midst of a really hot hot summer
with temperatures touching 43 degree C with added humidity! I travelled a lot due to my official preoccupations criss crossing boundaries of Bengal, Jharkhand & Orissa during last two weeks !

And while coming back i saw an interesting spectacle. Just when my train was passing over a river I saw below this big love sign with an arrow made on its parched sandbed .

And I thought even this blistering heat can not prevent someone to show their emotion on a river bed and that too in a midst of a jungle!

Interruption Interruption Interruption...

Its exam time folks!
So I have to interupt this thread in the middle!

Only after 28th my blogging activity will return to its normal.

and then we will talk about marriages in the context of indian society in detail

BYE TILL THEN!

Arranged & Love Marriages Part-IV

///In Mumbai, too, more and more children of parents I know are leaving it to mom and dad to look for the right alliance. ‘My mother knows me better than I know myself,’ a young man confessed, ‘I trust her judgement. My dad has seen the world, he has more experience. They know what’s good for me.’ And these are guys in their mid-thirties, who have studied in foreign universities, dated a few girls, done the party circuit. And yet, when it came to marriage, they were more than happy to settle for a conventional, old-fashioned match. Much like their grandparents!

It was my generation that stupidly rebelled against a system that had worked perfectly well for centuries. A lot of us paid the price for letting our impulsive hearts decide who our life partners would be. No regrets. Just that I fear we were blindly following the West and taking our cues from Hollywood, just to prove to our parents how ‘liberated’ and ‘modern’ we were.

Our kids are smarter. And more realistic. They’ve seen too many marriages collapse and they definitely don’t want repeat performances in their own lives. Force-fed on romantic drivel from countless movies, it’s a generation that laughs at the old Mills and Boon version of marriage. They ache for performance and stability. If an arranged match can provide both, they’re not averse to considering it.

My own girls receive proposals from suitable (!) boys, through well-meaning intermediaries. So far nothing has clicked. But at least the girls aren’t scoffing. Ditto for the boys, who shrug ‘whatever’, which translates to ‘It’s okay’. Which is perhaps why I wasn’t caught entirely by surprise when I met those desi young marrieds in the US.

They were refreshingly candid while talking about the methodical manner in which their parents had gone about the whole thing. The girls were all educated, attractive professionals who looked happy enough as they adapted to an entirely alien culture with an entirely alien partner.

‘ We got to know each other only after the wedding. But it has worked out,’ they insisted. Some had had earlier relationships, but claimed that fact did not colour their decision. They’d made informed choices and expressed no regrets.

On the other hand, I also met alarmingly young divorcees (some with babies), who lamented the day they’d said, ‘I do’ to a boyfriend of long standing. ‘We thought we knew each other so well. We were used to each other’s ways, too. God knows what went wrong after we got married. It reached a point where we couldn’t stand the sight of one another.’ Can happen. Does happen. Love . . . passion . . . desire . . . madness . . . where does everything vanish? Nobody knows.

Arranged & Love Marriages -Part III

....I often ask my father what he thinks are the two basic factors that made his marriage a success. He always gives me the same answer: ‘character and abiding love’. With these comes the rest of the package. It helped, of course, that my father flipped for my mother’s looks at first glance. But what about her? Did she have a choice in the matter? He insists she did and that nobody could have forced the spirited seventeen-year-old Shakuntala to marry a man she did not fancy.

What about fights? Differences? Tantrums? Of course their marriage had their fair share of all these. But beyond occasional arguments and sulks, I don’t recall a day of sustained hostility or unpleasantness. If they had problems, they settled them in privacy. It was, in many ways, a great marriage, full of sharing, caring and deep understanding. And more than that, full of communication.

One need not rule out either communication or passion in a modern-day arranged match. Recently, while in America, I met several extremely bright American Desis. I confess I was a little surprised when told that most of the young couples slaving away for their MBAs, were in fact, not the dating couples I imagined, who’d taken campus romance to the altar, but couples who’d met as strangers through family intervention. In this day and age, these kids had taken the crucial seven steps around the holy fire, without so much as holding hands before the wedding night! And here they were, some with young children, others still settling into their new lives as ‘young marrieds’, but nobody could possibly guess that they had opted for a conventional ‘arranged’ marriage out of choice. When I expressed my surprise, they drawled, ‘Aaw—no big deal . . . it has worked out just great!’ And so it seemed!

Arranged & Love Marriage Part-II

......My father recalls his first encounter with my mother with a wry smile, so many decades later. He describes each stage as if it happened last week. How his eldest brother asked to see the ‘girl’ in broad daylight, and insisted on her displaying a bit of her ankles too! This was to make sure my mother was not lame, had no deformities in her lower limbs that a flowing nine-yard saree could successfully camouflage, and that she could walk unaided! The ‘broad daylight’ factor was to judge the exact shade of her complexion—naturally light-skinned, or caked with ‘snow’ and talcum powder? Fortunately, she was not asked to sing, dance or produce a culinary miracle for the guests’ benefit!

Apart from this, their formal meeting, my uncle also surprised my mother’s family with an unscheduled visit, during which he demanded the ‘girl’ be produced in an ‘as is’ condition, without as much as running a comb through her hair (beware! Maybe the future bride is bald and wearing a wig!).

Once she passed his scrutiny, the talks progressed to the matching of horoscopes. Alas! The family priest declared the match entirely unsuitable, insisting there was no hope for such an ill-starred couple. I understand he was ‘persuaded’ to reconfigure the astral positions with a few additional rupees thrown in for a fresh verdict. And bingo! The match was declared to be perfect after all. And so it was!...

Arranged & Love Marriages-Part-I

While browsing on the net I came across with the writings of Shobha De. Though she is not my favourite novelist, I found the topic quite closer to my heart. I remember those days when in college we discussed at great length on pros and cons of Arranged and Love marriages. So i thought why not throw the issue open to u all out there! But before that lets read what Mrs De has to say on this...


...I have seen as many successful ‘arranged’ marriages, as ‘love’ marriages. This is, of course, a peculiarly Indian description that amuses the rest of the world. But hey, I see ‘arranged’ or ‘semi-arranged’ marriages catching on, even in the West. Perhaps people have woken up to the reality that there are no real guarantees, no safety nets, either way. You can consult the most revered astrologer, talk to the family pundit, match horoscopes for all the ‘gunas’ endorsed by the shastras, but if a marriage has to collapse, it will. Ditto for a marriage driven by emotion, which we so cutely call a ‘love marriage’. It’s a fifty-fifty chance, whichever option one takes.

Young people have figured this out, perhaps intuitively. A lot of kids today are entrusting this all-important decision to their folks—parents, relatives, even well-meaning friends. Of course, the new ‘arrangement’ is more open-ended and better structured. Devoid of the old ‘rules’, which prescribed the ghastly ‘Dekho’ session, the social meetings orchestrated by middle men or women these days work in a more acceptable fashion....