Monday, November 13, 2006

Will anything ever change?

In the continually changing world, will anything change with the existing arranged married system??? Probably not.. but I needed a vent-out! So, here goes.

Being a single girl with her parent's on the lookout for a prospective groom, I have to say its worse than slim-pickings out there! Not because we are choosy. But because we (rather I) had anticipated some changes in the society and the general outlook in the people. But what I see is NULL. Nothing has changed. Probably almost everything is just the same as it was when my mom or aunt got married about 20 odd years ago, more worse now than ever!

Irrespective of what the guy does, how well behaved he is, how educated he is, how much he earns, how he looks, etc, almost all guy's parents want a beautiful (but who isn't too into her looks), well-educated (though she has to be less educated than the guy), well-earning (though she must be willing to quit her job if the family needs it and of course SHOULD be earning less than the guy), who can probably cook well (although cooking rajma, fancy salad, anything Italian/Mexican doesn't count, nothing healthy, everything fried traditionally in oil and made traditionally), sing (though during later phases they say they don't like noise of any kind) and what not!!!

Oh, and worst of all, the whole process is based off of horoscope HOPEFULLY (probably) written right based off of the correct time of birth or whatever... and the exchange of pictures. And here again, I have come across several cases where out of fear of GOD-KNOWS-WHAT, there is this big tug-of-war as to which side has to send the first picture. And whoever sends it (which about 70% of the time happens to be the girl's side... well, lets face it.. the status of the guy's side is still higher up, according to them!!!! ) is just isn't good enough for the other side. If it happens to traditional picture, she isn't modern enough and if she send a slightly modern picture, she isn't the right family-oriented person!!!!

Of course, there are exceptions and a few scapegoats are seen on both sides of the fence. I guess its just difficult for these scape goats to meet when there are hoards of other scavengers in the midst! I was definitely not trying to hint anything to anyone or hurt anyone. I am sure there's another side to the story where the girl's side is greedy and utterly unyielding and is on the poach-like look-out for guys too!! But I don't have to write about it and so I didn't!!

Monday, November 06, 2006

Why to bother?

Read this article below recently and it flicked something in my head.

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. "What food might this contain?" The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning. "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry Mr Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers."

The mouse turned to the cow and said, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap-- alone.
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house -- like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever.

Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient. But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.

The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral; the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them. The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember -- when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to see that mousetraps all over the world whether in the shape of nuclear bombs, dictators or famines are thrown out: So add your voice and start being bothered by what's happening around..!

Is this whats happening in the world and are we reacting like the mouse or the other animals?