Part Of Being Sane Is Being A Little Crazy

Two things I really really hated to hear when I was growing up – ‘You’ll understand when you grow up’ & ‘That’s what you say now, but just wait.’ The first I stopped believing quite a bit before now, seeing as I’m now 25 and still don’t understand things. I don’t get why staying up past 10 is a punishable offence or why I need permission to get my hair styled even though I’m 26 going on 27. I’m as grown up as it is possible to get & no closer to enlightenment. As for seeing things differently when I’m older or in this case when I have my own kids, there’s just one way to find out. One sticking point between my mom and me has been how much control parents should have over the behaviour, thoughts & feelings of their adult offspring. I say none while she says all. Will I be singing the same tune when I’m 50 and my kids 20? How do I find out? Time to put my money where my mouth is & my words on paper aka my blog. Reality Check time. Will an older & wiser me look...

Guess whose birthday it is today? He was a music legend (south of the Vindhyas) and was born long long ago. Still nothing? Today is the birthday of Tyagarajar , one of the greatest composers of Carnatic music along with Muthuswami Dikshitar & Syama Shastry aka the Holy Trinity of South Indian Carnatic music. By a curious coincidence all three were born in Tiruvarur. Wikipedia says he was born on May 4, 1767 but then we all know how accurate that is. Besides, the Indian calendar is based on the moon you know, so we can just about pick any date we want. So today is his birthday. To celebrate, there was to be a procession from our school to the temple and back again (I assume, I don’t know the exact route). After all the confusion that such an occasion entails in my house, we were finally prepared for it. Mom and I left for the school but unfortunately the procession started the moment we reached. There was nothing to do but walk along with them. Then we waited for it for to re...

Two days ago, I ran an experiment. 24 hrs. with no gadgets and by  that I mean my phone, Nook & laptop. Not my idea of a grand old time but still, in the name of science and my mother I forged ahead. Now what could I do to fill those 24 hours? In a house where the average age is about 55, my options where pretty limited an anyone can imagine. As part of Operation Rehabilitate Shilpa , my grandmother and her daughter took me to the temple first thing in the morning. Cue the usual rigmarole Hindus do in temples and hours (well more like 30 minutes but it sure felt like hours to me) later we were on our way home again. An ordeal but I managed to pull through, without  murmur.  Later that afternoon, the following conversation happened between my mother and me: Mom: I don’t like what you did in the temple. Shilpa: What did I do? Only everything you told me. Mom: (& I quote) But that’s not enough. You can’t just go through the motions. You have to love God...

It’s been two years now since I’ve started hearing the dreaded M word, no not money but Marriage with a capital M. And of course being an Indian girl the only real option you have is to let your parents ‘arrange’ it, which by definition means Arranged Marriage – Process by which family A condescends to let their son be married to the daughter of family B who is in turn thrilled that their precious daughter is able to marry someone who can provide for her (mostly through the dowry given by family B not to mention her salary at her ‘day’ job). In addition the son has approved the daughter’s looks while the daughter was just annoyed enough to say yes to what ever sample of homo erectus the family B has managed to dig up. Now come the Rules of Engagement for both the sides. Say what you will about arranged marriages, you can’t accuse the family elders of not playing by the rules. Here then is an extract from the Rulebook for both guys and gals. Different rules for guys and gals, you...