Kitna badal gaya insaan

ek matka kulfi... bought from amul .. and to my amazement instead of the mitti ka matka it was a plastic one. colored in earth colors... not that i am one particular enviromentalist.. but still it led me to thinking how far we have come..
today is rakhi as well.. a day traditionally celebrated with enthusiasm and demands and anticipation. I remember when we were kids my brother and I used to fight a lot... on why should only i get a gift on rakhi... this day used to be so special... now that we are far away... we are in separate offices and cities.. working for money and not bothering ab't many other so called smaller things...
just some year back when i was in school.. i used to send rakhi to all cousins and uncle. writing well being letters..even if just the formal ones and then calling up to know whether my rakhi reached on time... man..things have changed. though i still send the rakhi to my first cousins, the number of cousins expecting and getting has reduced. from a thing that had no questions on whos gonna get it..it has become a thing of choice.
and worse still... readymade rakhi.. no pains.. no issues.. nothing.. just book it online ..121...151..anything and they'll send it on ur behalf the traditional tika and naariyal attached. the only thing missing , perhaps the feelings... emotions and personal touch... but who cares for uncountable things???! guess we have come to paisa faik tamasha dekh age... u can buy anything...
from pickles like ur mom.. to dhol and shahnaai ki CD for ur wedding.. and morning chants of gayatri mantra... sab readymade..... no trouble.. no guilt...
i guess still i do get nostalgic sometimes.. i still don't think that anyone can beat my mom when it comes to samose.. i still can't believe that the tel-maalish sessions of gappe and head massage can be given by anyone other than my roomies... and that i think sending this e-rakhi is worse than sending no rakhi at all... atleast u don't fool urself that u have done ur part.

Choosing the lesser evil

After a lot of thinking and a bit of analysis (with some surveys supporting me) I came to this conclusion that we Indians are perhaps more emotional and sentimental than many other races. We have too strong emotions to cater the love need of just our close ones. We need to find someone to shower them on. Someone to bask in our love and affection.
Indian cricket team has almost always been the most pampered (and if I may add, without hurting too many sentiments... spoilt) child of Indian mass. We love them, treat them like Gods, praise them, idolize them and if they dare (which they often) lose we do not mind burning effigies and their homes. We cannot accept cricket as just another game. I have given up hope on this scenario changing during my life time... come any number of world cups...
But the Indian love needs more than just Indian cricket team. The next close contenders were Tulsi, Parvati, Prerna.... aka Ekta Kapoor. We cry when they cry, we laugh at their joys. We recognise the characters by their screen names. The greatest thing about these serials is that the things do not change much, even if you watch after 6 months, only the number of foiled attempts by vamps varied. But now as producers and channels have increased many folds, it is too much to keep track of all the available saas and bahu. Imagine the difficulty when the ladies in the club watch different soaps. How do they discuss the plight of our common famous Tulsi????
Now the times have changed (don't worry, just a bit) now we have the power. Ab Hindustan ki janata faisala karegi hindustan ki awaz ka seems to be the trend now. With atleast 3 popular voice based and voting based serials high on TRP, this seems to be the latest mantra. Now the topic of discussion revolves around "Who should be eliminated and who would be eliminated". We now watch the programmes to see how "My Contestant" performed. We cry with joy as the judges praise our favorite one, we cry in despair when they are eliminated. These now seem to be a part of daily life. My flat mates as well as my mom correct me when I mix up the contestants in these 3 serials, Indian Idol, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and Voice of India. So much for my bad memory. You cannot eat your dinner without listening to these melodious voices (grrrr...). I don't know whether contestant popular with junta wins or you can change the things slightly by money. Really not sure. But knowing by the number of votes polled in all the three serials, I can make one thing out..."India Shining". We have too much money to spend on SMS and calls.
Though I do not relate much to the Saas-Bahu saga as well as Aapki Aawaz-Aapka Faisla trend, somehow I prefer the latter one. Atleast you get to hear nice songs once in a while, plus you ain't forced to think how evil one might plan. And may be, just may be... one day we will understand the importance of voting in our elections as well. May be, one day we will be as passionate and enthusiastic about the future of country as we are about the future of these contestants. May be....
Amen!!!