An Ode to Homemakers....

Have you ever felt that you are carrying the whole weight of the world onyour shoulder? Why is it that only you have to do everything to keep thethings moving? Why should only you struggle to make your house a home?

Well these questions were pondering in my mind on a Friday evening. It wasraining heavily and I was completely drenched on the way to my home fromoffice. The first thing I wanted was a nice hot cup of Ginger Tea, Coz no matter what, there is no combination better than heavy rain and hot tea. Irushed to the kitchen only to find that the Fridge didn’t have any milk in it. I braved the rain, went to the nearest departmental store and purchaseda packet of milk. I went back to the kitchen, all excited with the thoughtof having a hot tea. But things were not going my way. I found out that theGas cylinder was empty. No matter how much I try and extract the last bitof LPG from the cylinder, the burner wouldn’t budge. I was pissed, butthere was nothing I could do for a cup of tea. I mumbled a bit but thenrealised the best thing to do is accept the fact. So I decided to watchTV..

The hunt was on for the remote amongst the stack of magazines, CDs, andnewspapers and finally the remote. Switched on the TV, tuned in to themovie category only to be welcomed by a blank screen. There was a messagefrom Tata Sky – “ Dear subscriber, Your services have been temporarilywithdrawn for non-payment of the monthly subscription charges. Please makethe payment immediately to resume your services..” OH craap !! I forgot topay the charges.. Bloody hell !! No TV, and that too its a weekend !! Nooo !!

It was a good Friday evening. Our plans for a party had to be cancelled cozof the heavy rains. So I thought of spending some quality time at home allby myself as my roomie had also left for his hometown. But little did iknow what was in store for me!

All pissed and irritated, I finally decided to catch up with my friendsonline and I barged into the bedroom to grab my laptop. By the time thelappy was booting up, I had somehow managed to calm myself down. I clickedon the Mozilla browser, and by default hit the Facebook URL. You won’tbelieve, I was again welcomed by an alert message. – “Dear Airtel Customer,Please pay the current month outstanding amount to enjoy uninterruptedservices”.. I was spell bound. Have never felt so frustrated in life. I waslike wondering, why is it that only I have to do everything. Why aren’t myroommates concerned at all? But what is the point.With nothing working in favour of me and left with no choices, I decided toread a novel. Still feeling irritated, Pissed and helpless somehow byaround 12.30, I slept off.

But unfortunately, it was not over yet. I had to wake up the very next day,early in the morning as the maid had already come. Still groggy, somehowmanaged to get up, opened the door and went back to sleep, only to be wokenup by the maid, as there was no detergent powder and she couldn’t wash the clothes. I just could not believe it was happening to me. There are so many things to be taken care of in the house. I somehow told the maid to washthe clothes the next day, and finally just managed to doze off again.The door bell goes off again. It was the cook. Yes ! We have a cook. Abachelor’s boon. But not necessarily mine. She enters the kitchen andshouts out a list of things not available ranging from vegetables to atta and so on.. Man I had to finally pay her extra 50 bucks to go buy it andthen prepare brunch for me !! Add to it the additional effort of makingher understand how to prepapre the normal roti – sabji without adding herown favourite masalas.. My God !! No one can ever dare to taste itagain... he he...

This was the time when i truly missed my Mom.. It is only now that Irealise how difficult it would have been for her to manage me, my sis, Dadthe maid, the cable wala, the newspaper wala, the household shopping etcetc etc.. the list goes on and on and on.... She never ever made any of usuncomfortable. Whatever we wanted was always available. She used to solely manage the entire household with such great perfection that I had almosttaken it for granted. It is now when I have to personally manage thesethings that I realise the difficulty.

I want to take this opportunity to salute all wonderful homemakers who havebeen making houses as homes for so many years and meeting the needs of theentire family....

I salute u Ma...

Cheers..Kash !

A Reason to Celebrate...

It was a regular day in Office.. The same old Client presentations, the same old pretending to be busy etc etc.. Somehow spent 11 hours in office and reached home.. As expected out of a typical Bachelor, the first thing I did was to turn on the Television.

I love the company of some good music especially when I am alone at home. So the obvious choice was VH1. Made myself a cup of tea all the while enjoying the latest number from Lady Gaga. Finally I freshened up and decided to watch a beautiful series on Discovery Channel – TIME WARP.. ( A Genuine statement to people who have not watched it.. you are missing something).. And so I was watching Time Warp and enjoying every bit of it till the inevitable ad break..

I was just staring at the screen when suddenly one ad caught my attention… My Hero, My Daughter… Celebrate Daughters’ day on 27th September, with Archies Cards.. I was like.. Duh.. WTF… Daughters’ Day. Hey... I am not against the Fairer sex or anything like that. I am just amused by the way these Greeting card companies make regular calendar days something really important.. I mean, no one ever celebrated these kinda stuff had these Greeting Card companies not made cards on Mothers’ Day, Fathers’ Day, Teachers’ Day even Valentine’s Day. I mean there is nothing wrong in it, but somewhere I feel the emotional value is getting lost... (I am bound to find plety of differences in opinion in this context)

But now , somehow I feel there has to be a limit somewhere. There is nothing wrong in Celebrating a day specially for someone, but there has to be a history behind it. There is a specific reason why Valentine’s day is celebrated, why Teachers; Day is celebrated and so on. But Daughters’ Day – on what context.. May be I am ignorant or unaware, but I don’t think the significance of an Intense relationship between a Father, Mother and their children should intensify on a particular day! It is something to be celebrated throughout ones’ life…

May Be I am thinking too much.. May be it would be better if I set my mind at rest and enjoy the next episode of Time Warp…

Disclaimer -- I have nothing against the celebration of any day, Just that I personally feel that the significance of certain relationships are lost into thin air behind the marketing gimmicks by a few companies..

Cheers.. I sign off...

Destination Unknown….

“Kabhi Kissi Anjaan sheher keliye ticket kata ke dekho”… Be Born Again….. these words said by Amir Khan in the latest Titan ad were echoing in my head all the while I was travelling in the Bus…

Everything started with a wedding invite that I received from a very good friend of mine. The D day was on 23rd of August and the venue was a small village somewhere in Tamil Nadu. Well that was the only information I had… Along with a mandate that no matter what I was supposed to attend the wedding at any cost ! However I was assured by my friend that he will ensure I land up safely at the right venue.. :)
You will not believe, I had no clue where this village was till the final date of travel as the tickets were booked by another one of our friends who was travelling along with me to the wedding. Finally, after loads of struggle, I somehow managed to find out the destination. It was close to Tanjore, the haven of traditional art forms paintings and the ever famous Tanjore temple. But still this wasn’t the exact location. But at least I knew where I was headed to – Close to Tanjore… he he..

So we boarded the bus on Friday night and reached the location on Saturday morning 7.30. It was finally when I got out of the bus (No Volvos or AC buses to the destination… Only an old rickety bus, which is probably meant to run only on country sides….) that I realised that I actually am in one of the remotest place in Tamil Nadu that I have ever visited. Apparently the ‘close to Tanjore' was an eye wash made by my friend who probably didn’t want to take the pains to explain where the hell we were off to. I realised that we were around 170 KM away from Tanjore and 380 KM away from Chennai...

Well the name of the Village or rather hamlet was ‘PATTUKOTTAI’. If translated literally into English, meant SILK FORT. It was altogether a different feeling. No hustle bustle of Automobiles, no blaring horns, no busy people running around. There were no Auto rickshaws. Only Govt buses were the means of transportation. That too one bus every 5 hours. One can slightly get a feeling as to what kind of place it would be.

But what changed my perception was the Tanjore – Pattukottai bus trip. I could experience the real beauty of the unspoilt, unpolluted countryside... Long winding (surprisingly well maintained) roads through acres or rather hectares of lush green Paddy fields on both sides dancing to glory to the tunes of the wind. The roads were rarely occupied by vehicles. Cows, Buffaloes, and occasionally the tractors used to crowd the roads near small towns. It was a beautiful experience all in all.

I was feeling totally out of place in a plain Blue Denim and Grey Tee. The rest of the Junta were in the traditional White Dhotis and White Shirt. I could feel as though the entire village was staring at me with amusement. And finally, after a two and a half hour long journey we finally reached the marriage venue.


The entire family was there to welcome us. It was a royal treatment that we got. I was taken aback by the warmth and the affection being showered on us. Suddenly, the feeling that – Oh my God, where on earth have I landed, just disappeared. I was feeling really great.

The marriage was purely traditional with the entire village attending the ceremony. It was a fantastic experience. The way the people of the village were taking pride in being part of the wedding was just too good. Small kids to young men had taken the responsibility to handle the function, from arranging the tables and chairs, serving the lunch etc. The females had taken up welcoming of the guests and collecting the gifts, ensuring that each one of the guests were well taken care of etc..

This made me realise how distinct is the culture with in one state itself. It was a great feeling to be part of the entire function. Pattukottai and the wonderful people will remain etched in my mind for a long time..

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