Dancing Passion

Rajeev was tired. Work pressure at office was immense and he was now waiting fervently for the two "golden" days of the week when he could forget about the world, hang up his boot and relax.

Quite inevitably they were here and a bright Rajeev woke up to a bright Saturday! He happily sipped his coffee smiling all along. He endeared this lunatic self and kept singing, "my plan is to have no plan at all..du da ra da ra da ra ra..".

Just a few "plan-less" hours into the morning and his cell phone beeped.

"need shoppin for 2nyt's party. 1pm, City Square Mall, be there on time".

Dismay rushed down Rajeev's body, his smile faded as he slumped into the sofa. Reeta was at it again. She knew how badly he wanted these weekends to himself, that he hated nothing more than SHOPPING!! Shopping that too on a weekend was the most perfect imperfect recipe of disaster to Rajeev.

But he couldn’t say NO to her. They had been together for more than a year now and he knew that she had no girl-friends...that he was her be all, and end all..that he was her only friend, guide, help, philosopher, lover, alter-ego..and that she loved him. He could never disappoint her, rather he didn't want to. He didn’t want to lose another relationship. He knew how mean life had been to her and he somehow wanted to make up for it, give her everything that life had snatched away. Reeta, once in a while tried to take undue advantage of the fact, but Rajeev...well he just kept mum, never said a word lest he would hurt her.

                                                                            ***

"Oh baby, I’m so sorry you had to step out today", Rita placed a kiss on Rajeev's cheek while entwining her fingers around his. The "Dancing Passion" she wore filled his nostrils. Many a time this sweet fragrance came floating into his dreams and that is when he missed being with HER the most.

"Why couldn’t you shop yesterday? And which damn party are you going to tonight? Can’t you wear something that you already have??" a miffed Rajeev blurted as Reeta pulled him by the arm into City Square.

"Arre baba! today is Bijoya and our TL (Team Leader) has invited us for dinner", said Reeta still tugging him along.

"That fat arse, can't he leave you alone even on weekends!"

"Arre chill baba..its Bijoya..Dussehra, remember?"

"All I know is that it’s Saturday.. And why do you have to shop, what happened to all the clothes you had?"

"The dress code is saree..you know I don’t have a single saree.."

"Sarree??  that fat arse....i swear.."

Rajeev hated Reeta's boss. Seeing Rajeev swear this way about him always made Reeta laugh. Still giggling, she managed to tug him into the saree section. With 5-6 randomly selected sarees Reeta marched into the ladies trial room, pulling Rajeev all along.

"You sit here and come when I call you, I'll try each saree and you tell me how it looks on me..OK?"

Rajeev nodded, uninterested. With this Reeta entered one of the four trial rooms that ran alongside the sofa into which Rajeev dropped. A large mirror hung on the other side reflecting the lonely trial room, the only person visible in it was a slouched and grumpy Rajeev.

He stared at the wall infront of him, his mind blank, thinking nothing but yearning to go home. Just as he glanced into his watch Reeta called, "Rajeev come, have a look.."

Quickly onto his feet, with head bowed down he moved toward the trial room and knocked on the first door. The door opened, he pushed it ajar and entered.

"What took you so long?" came a voice as he lifted his gaze. A woman's bare back welcomed it. She had let a pallu* fall carelessly down her left shoulder. Rajeev adjusted his gaze to follow the spine descend like a rivulet down a slope. Her form had curves that arched like sandunes do in deserts. Those pair of shoulders stood like a dancer’s:  well-poised and firm. A tress or two of jet black curls sprung off the bun on her head, gracefully descending down the neck and onto the blemish-free back.  Mesmerized, Rajeev at once felt drawn to her silky smooth skin.

Enticed and caught as if in a trance he moved forward trying to touch and feel and hold HER once again when suddenly, she turned!

"Where's the................"

Before she could utter another word, Rajeev covered the girl's mouth with his palm and she strangely made no effort to resist. His heart skipped a beat as he stared right into those large mysterious eyes. The warmth of her breath seemed to fill the room as her delicate lips quivered under his touch. It soothed and comforted him for what seemed like an eternity, until...

"Rajeev”

“Rajeev Where are you?”

“Rajeeeeev...."

The calls grew louder and suddenly the two felt jolted back into reality. Rajeev quickly moved his hand off her mouth, took a step behind, turned, glanced back at her and finally, left.

"Pooja are you here..." knocked a man onto Pooja's door minutes after Rajeev closed it behind him to enter the one in which Reeta waited.

                                                                       ***

As he slept in his bed that night, "Dancing Passion" filled his senses. He began missing HER in his sleep again, HER fragrance binding him like never before. He woke up with a start! It had been two years that he had last seen her graceful form, her perfect curves, her dancing curls...until...until today...

It had been two long years since Pooja left him to marry some guy her parents had chosen. "Dancing Passion" was the perfume she wore every time they met. He didn’t know why be he always made sure that Reeta wore it too.

                                                                    *THE END*

 *pallu: the part of your saree that you drape over your shoulder

 

 

My "Modern" Neighbours

The concept of " being modern" seems grossly misinterpreted in this country of ours. Having lived in metro cities across the country, I have been exposed to a major faux-pas in the way women from the upper middle-class and in their 30's interpret the term " modern".

Is being modern all about wearing western outfit? Is being modern all about speaking english even if you donot know its "this" and "that"s?? Is modernity all about going to late night parties, not caring about your aging in-laws and innocent kids? or, Is it about spending hours over the phone either bitching or bragging?

My answer to all these above is an in-your-face NO!!

Before I go further, let us take a moment and analyse the story of these so-called "modern" women.

Most or rather almost all of them have graduated from some local college in their neighbourhoods. They have never had a "life" outside home and college. They have all been married off at an early age and have husbands who earn much more than they actually need. Thanks to their husbands jobs, these women have migrated to the metro cities and live in neighbourhoods where the women in other families share a similar story.

Post this migration to metro cities they find themselves suddenly free, free to do anything and everything they feel like. The poor husband is too pre-occupied with work to monitor his wife. The aaya takes care of all the household chores and her kids spend a major part of the day in school. She is left with immense free time and complete freedom. Indulgence is the only activity that strikes her.

So she gathers all her new-found like-minded friends and plans a lunch, sometimes a brunch. The only thing these women discuss at these get-togethers is clothes, make-up and accessories. They all complain how wearing a sari or a salwar suit bores them, how it doesn't go down well with their status to turn up in a saree and, voila! they all decide to shun them- the Indian dresses!

And thus begins the saga of misinterpreted,misread and misconstrued trip down the road to modernity.

I have seen women in their early 30's shop for mini-skirts. Well, no harm in that but lady, look into the mirror atleast sometimes and realise that your unshapely legs, bulging tummy and hips do not grace that skirt. You are in a way only mocking yourself.

Even the likes of Rekha and Hema Malini, inspite of having a perfect body make it a point to turn up in a saree. Why then does an ordinary woman like you despise saree, our national identity?

A Reality Check- this is what these women need. I wonder what kind of an example these moms are setting for their kids. With time, tables shall be turned. It is then that these self-proclaimed modern women will realise that attire and self-indulgence do not define modernity. It is ones morality, knowledge, outlook and realisation of responsibilities that decide whether one is truly modern or no.

　

　

　

home away from home

Burrabazar among us mawaris is probabaly more famous than the seven wonders of the world! Many from the community have scripted their rags-to-riches story in the narrow lanes of Burrabazar. Some of the most successful "baniyas" (businessmen) can be found here dressed in crispy white kurta-pyjamas, chewing rajanigandha and spitting paan.

Hundreds of gaddis (business set-ups) exist cheek by jowl in the area's dilapidated buildings. However there is no "fierce competition" among them. A sense of mutual respect and co-existence lets harmony preside. A "gaddi", of all is a very humble place. Furniture here is minimal. Only a couple of mattresses covered in sparkling white sheets, a galla and images of Laxmi, Goddess of wealth and Ganesha, God of auspicious-ness is all you will find. Appearances are deceptive and this applies here too. So do not go by the humble interiors of a gaddi, business dealing worth crores is done here!

I do not know how and when I developed this "phobia " towards Burrabazar. Maybe it was the fear of running into those dark, perspiring, lungi-clad labourers earning their daily wages that scared me; or may be the sheer cacophony and disoriented-ness of the place repelled me. I always feared getting jostled, unable to gain control.

But then the best way of overcoming fears is by facing them, and face I did! Compelled by "shopping needs" and pushed by the urge to overcome the "burrabazar-phobia" I, one fine day, decided to visit Burrabazar.

As I marched into the marketplace, a certain sense of familiarity struck. Little did I know (but soon found out) that this place was just like any other marketplace in Rajasthan, my birthplace! It was a microcosm of sorts. Shops were named the way they are in Rajasthan. "Sohanlal and Sons", "Chandmal Sitaram", "Chhaganlal Shyamaldas", have you ever known shops named this way? Well, I have. You find them either in Rajasthan or, yes you guessed it right, in Burrabazar!!

Soon my ears began picking words in marwari from people's conversations. Bandhej and chunari (native Rajasthani fabric prints) sarees lay on display as I crossed them in shops, one after the other. Those perspiring labourers gave way to lovely aunties, some sensuous and others pot-bellied. (:D) Suddenly I felt releived, and safe. I looked around as gentle breeze from a nearby banyan tree caressed my face, as if to say, "Welcome home!".

Delightful mirth dwelled in me as I explored few more lanes around. Such was the aura, that I soon realised that one could easily pass off these lanes as  being those of Jaipur. I was overjoyed and wished I had "discovered" this facet of Burrabazar earlier.

"The leaving" was as difficult as "the coming" but this time the reason was completely opposite. This time I just didn't want to go! I wanted to explore more, shop more and in turn relish abit more in this new found "at home" feeling that the place was so generously exuding.

Alas! leave I did, but only with a will to soon return to my very own "home away from home". :)

( And oh! I had the yummiest curry-bhujia in one of the eatries there, it tasted just the way it does at home :) :) )

City of Joy?

Living in Kolkata is very different from living in any other part of West Bengal. I have never felt such strong presence of any city around me as much as I have done here in my 4 years of stay.

Its running helter-skelter,this city. There's sheer madness that i have felt- a madness to struggle today so that the tomorrow is secured. Tomorrow, however ushers in more such struggle. Everybody here is running, both literally and metaphor-ically.

There are so many people here, that a bus-stop sometimes resembles a fair ground. People, people and more, people! This definitely IS the population explosion that our books in school talked about. But you can't help wondering whether Kolkata is the city most affected by it.

This city has the more number of bandhs/strikes than any part of the country I have heard of. Politics was never so important in my life as it is now. In my stay here I have realised that political activities are capable of doing anything and everything to you.

They can make you miss your flight by causing a road block.
They can put a full stop to all your Christmas celebrations.
They can make them shut down the grocery store before you can buy your daily rasions.
They can also postpone my Advance Java exam by 12 days!!

Yes. Thanks to some useless nationwide strike on 31st May, my exam for that day has been postponed to 13th June!! This in turn made a friend postpone her Kashmir trip by over a week. Simply preposterous, isn't it?  In the name of "general welfare", political parties have begun interfering a bit too much into our private lives.

The degree of this interference is most if you are living in Kolkata. And why not! With a CM like ours, this was not far behind. What can be expected of a lady who labels a student Maoist before walking out of a chat show?
A maoist? Just because the girl questioned your governance? Is this how a CM is expected to behave? Definitely no.

Here's the link of how our CM fled the show, watch it for yourself.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx-2SsI4B9U

I worry for the future of this city, for the millions of youth living here with dreams in their eyes, dreams to make it big..to reach the skies..to live in and still love this city.

　

Day #2

Exams Exams Exams..there's no getting rid of them! So three more papers to go before I wish "Sayonara" to my 4 years of engineering.

The only activity I am doing these days is studying. So what good can I be expected of. Neway. But one good thing i did today was that i was agreeable, polite, cheerful and good to everybody i met. :)

I will be blogging intermittently as my studies will be keeping me occupied most of the time. Hope you fellas have a good time doing good and spreading smiles. :)

Chao!

DAY#1

So here it goes..the G-R-aaaaAaaa-N-D opening of my "GOODNESS" posts! Lets spread some goodness..through little acts of goodness:)

Incase you are wondering what this is all about, read HERE.

Since I have university exams from day after tomorrow, I had to keep myself confined to books, books and only books today. So there. Couldn't do anything extraordinarily nice. However I would like to pick a few good tid-bit actions from the day.

• decorated the wall by my bed with some messages to motivate me: "Be positive" and "Smile often" and "Love thyself"
• helped my roomate prepare for her exam, by making her learn.
• called up mom, dad, and little sis. Spoke at length to each and felt extremely satisfied after.
• stood in the porch to face the ferocious winds of the storm..loved the feeling of power that gripped me when the winds, with all their force couldn't move me an inch..YAAY!! 

:) :) :)

psst! the last wasn't a task in goodness, however doing it made me happy. And the evry essence of these GOODNESS posts is to make others and oneself happy.

!!!Surprise!!!

I have been really mean to this blog of mine, no? Lately I have been behaving like a step-mom; but wait! this blog isn't my step-child. It is duely my own; and first; and will always remain the dearest:)

The elder child is by default the more mature, understanding and compromising of all. More so if the child is a girl. I have always been all these things. Dad confided most of his worries into me. I would get worried hearing of his worries, but never let my expressions show that I was worried. And when I got worried all I did was pray, pray and pray hard for whoever/whatever I was worried about! ( :D )

Then when I had crushes in school I would be extra careful to ensure that nobody at home came to know about them. I don't remembering looking at myself too much in the mirror either. It was towards the end of school that I began caring about my looks ( :D ).

I-dont-know-why Im writing all this nonsense

I remember all the family outings, all the good things that happened to me, all the things we talked about and all the times we spent together..and thats when I start missing home. Four years among not-so-congenial and no-so-familial people is not a joke! I am so proud of myself for never complaining about anything to mom and dad! All I want now is to get back to them and see the family together:)

The mature me talking, eh! :)

P.S. i have been planning something for this blog. I have thought of this: at the end of each day, I will be posting about all the good things I have done in the day. If you happen to read this I would like to request/beg/plead/coax/ask you to join me. Post all the good things you have done in the course of the day on your blog and leave your link as comment below my post for the day.
These little acts of goodness can be anything. It could be something you did to help someone, or to make somebody happy or to make yourself happy...just anyhting that you did and feel happy about.

I believe this will help us all in becoming a better person, spreading happiness and remaining happy ourselves :)

Much love.