Belated wala... Thank You! :D

I really don't know where to begin.
First of all, THANK YOU for remembering me on my birthday!

Secondly, I apologize for doing a disappearing act.
Yup, had kept my phone unreachable on purpose, was off the scene from Whatsapp too...
Got your wishes when I switched on my phone. Along with all kind of abuses with that, like a dowry. Trust me, the abuses have been one of a kind. Guess every gaali that exist was given to me by everyone.

I respect you for remembering me on my day, and really appreciate the fact that you tried to get in touch with me. Whole day, I suppose. And still I was unreachable.

And the only one who actually reached me, were the strangers on the road. The strangers, who either were running late to catch their train, and the remaining few who had all the possible time to witness a life other than running around the buses and trains and what not.

There were numerous plans I had in my mind to carry out on my day. Most of them couldn't take place for some or other reason. Though did manage to do a lot of other stuffs.

For a change, had decided to spend the whole day with myself. Tried to roam about. Without my camera. And I did.
Found an open space. Walked around that open space. Sat for a while at one corner. Walked more. Went to the center of that open space. Lied down on the ground on my back and stared straight at the sky. City sound was shut off. Couldn't hear any traffic noise. Shut my eyes and fell asleep. About an hour of time which passed by silently and the tiny raindrops, finally decided to wake me up. Though I lay there for quite sometime, motionless.
And the rain became furious. I still lay the same way. Feeling of the raindrops on one's face is truly a refreshing moment! Umbrella was beside, but getting wet made more sense. And I walked back home after a while.

That's precisely what I did on my birthday.
Guess Kit-Kat's Squirrel wala ad will explain you the feeling!

In the end, SORRY again.
And more than that, Thank You once again for all your wishes on my Birthday!

50-50 ho jaye?

Oomidon wali Dhoop, Sunshine wali Aasha. Rone ke bahane kum hai, Hasne ke bahane Jyada...

Satyamev Jayate, as many say is the desi version of The Oprah Winfrey Show, now reached it's 3^rd episode, my first to watch! :P And this 3^rd episode took the case of Dowry, indeed one of big topics to think about.

I have heard here and there, not much though, about all these practices. As in, a guy's family taking a toll on the girl's family in the name of keeping her happy. Most of which had seen on TV in some or other serials, and then also in the newspapers. But hearing the fact on the show was really shocking, and hearing the stories of girl's going through the ordeal of the after effect of dowry.

Though it was just me and mummy watching the show, it did instigate a conversation between us, many a times I exclaiming, “How can people do something like this??”

Maybe I haven't seen much of the world outside, the reason my reactions were such. Then there were few on the show 'coz of whom the show had a positive effect too. And the small conversation we had is the reason why am writing this blog.

I asked mummy if anything of such happened in our family. Her reaction was what made me understand 'No wedding is perfect, no relationship is awesome. It is done by the people in it.'

Very true.

Every time a wedding happened or even the discussion happened in my vicinity regarding a wedding, being young and small, I wasn't 'officially' allowed to be present in the discussion but overheard many a times. Obviously am not aware of everything, but it is agreed that the whole wedding's expense is shared 50-50 between both bride and groom's family.

Isn't it is that all wedding has to be like that? If both families are equally being part of it, then both should share the expenses equally too. It's one of the thing am very much proud of my family and my community, for that matter.

In the end, for those who missed the show, there was this gentleman from Assam, North East who brought in a point that Dowry is something they've unheard of. And also shared this hypothetical situation he thought shouldn't arrive. Which goes like this:

“Suppose there comes a time when I have to watch a match on TV and my wife has to watch a serial at the same time, there shouldn't come a time when she says this TV was given by my family and she has first right to watch the TV. Then toh my match gone and so is GPL on my izzat!”

That's all had to share.

Comments well appreciated.

Family that stays together, votes together

Lazy morning after long, woke up little late than every other day. It’s a half day today at work, starting post lunch. All coz it’s an election day!

In my family it’s an unsaid and understood rule that we need to vote. No discussions on the politicos, maybe coz everyone have their own opinions and no one wants to bind theirs on any other. Or rather, this time around, none of us had any clue who’ll are standing for the election and which party they belong to. But even in this situation, there was no discussion on the parties as such.

So we all set a time and step down, on our way to the voting centre. Together. It pretty much was empty when we reached the centre, few senior citizens right in front of us, struggling to climb up those few stairs. Any help, was declined in manner that they are still capable of climbing up on their own.

That’s when a thought runs in my sister’s mind ‘their kids, who’re comfortably sitting in the air conditioned homes and driving expensive cars are nowhere to be seen, but their parents are here to cast their vote so that they continue to live their life in royalty.’ I would say what she thought isn’t wrong at all.
In fact that is all has become. People complain about the politicos not doing their job. Here by ‘people’ am referring to the ones who’re literate and have sufficient monetary income. Few days ago I saw this image shared by a friend on my news feed, which said “If you don’t vote, you don’t have a right to complain”. 

Guess, these words are enough to show what am hinting at. There are times when you cast a vote to a particular candidate, doesn’t win. And the one who won, isn’t worthy of the title. That means there is no wrong in your right, but other’s like you have their right in the wrong compartment. At that point, yes, you have full right to complain. My point is, first carry out the necessary steps of exercising your right, and then jump on the bandwagon of pointing the (inked) fingers. And if the right candidate wins, you can feel happy about it for supporting such a candidate.

Also, looking broadly, the people from lower economic section and illiterate ones are easy to mislead by the politicians as they follow mob mentality.  So if in this case the literate and the rich will refrain from having doing something that will make lives of everyone around better, why can't they do?

Once inside the voting booth, we noticed some confusion going on with few people ahead of us. After few minutes, it became clear that few ladies who were ahead of us wanted to go for 49-O, the protest vote. However, the authority over there said that rule is not applicable or there were no forms available for the protest vote. And hence, these ladies left without casting their vote. Did you guys had the same issue in your wards?

Well, going through the procedures (I liked the ink marker, as opposed to the ink used earlier), finally came the moment to press the ballot button. During the procedures found out the candidates standing in my ward, made a mental note, and then went to the secluded cubicle and BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP.

All of us returned home, with a happiness to fulfill the certain responsibility of being a citizen. Feeling happy about having done my bit.

As one of my friend has rightly said,  
                             “Feels good for being responsible for everything that is around.”
True True.