Why do Men......???

Well, before I start writing, let me be very honest that no special pun or satire is intended towards men in general & this post is totally based on my experiences with my husband. Hubby darling loves me a lot but many of his habits simply lead to so many unanswered WHYs in my mind. After spending few months of our married life together, I have realized that there are certain WHYs about men, which is simply unrequited. Now here goes my list….

1. Why do men read newspaper in the loo? I mean I really don’t understand this funda of my husband. I always wonder, reading newspaper not in bedroom, not in living room, not on his way to office & out of all the places WHY in loo??? Yukkk….frankly speaking I toh don’t feel like touching that newspaper when it is out of that loo & because of his this great habit he takes so much time in a loo that one can actually write a movie script or a story in that time.
2. Why do men point out on our wardrobes? Whenever we decide to clean up our house, the first thing on which his eyes go, is my wardrobe. He will start scrutinizing as to why I don’t wear this & why don’t I throw this out & then he will make his final verdict – " If I distribute your clothes which you don’t wear nowadays to some needy people, then I think I will be able to help out at least one village". Hello, I asked you to help me out in cleaning our house & not emptying my wardrobe. I love clothes & that’s it!!!
3. Why do men love those blood-shedding movies? I think my husband gets really turned on by all those action packed movies, boxing matches & hardheaded movies pointing out political corruption in our society. Excuse me, why do we go out for a movie? I mean real life is already filled up with so many political corruptions then why to watch them in movies too? Also all those boxing matches, wherein they show so much of blood & injuries….eeeekkkk….how can he enjoy such things!!! Yes, I like romantic & senti movies. Atleast they are more eye-soothing & pleasant to watch.
4. Why do their favourite answer is "KUCH BHI"? Me- "Hey what shall I cook today"? He- "KUCH BHI". Me- "What shall I wear while going to your aunt’s house"? He- KUCH BHI". Me- "What gift shall I buy for your sister’s bday"? He- "KUCH BHI"….(this list is endless)….Can somebody please tell me, what does this “KUCH BHI” mean??? Hello, when I am asking you, that means I need your suggestions na!!!
5. Why can’t they remember dates? I very clearly remember the days like our first meeting, our first date etc…..but my hubby darling, forget it!!!I sometimes wonder if he will remember my bday also after few years. I think most of the females have agreed to me on this that men simply can’t remember dates.
6. Why do they hate shopping? The kind of faces which my hubby makes whenever we have to go out for shopping….It looks as if I have done some kind of atrocious torture on him!!! However, he never says no while going out for shopping but from his face one can simply make out that he hates shopping. I seriously wonder as to how men can hate a wonderful & exotic activity like shopping!!!
7. Why do they expect us to be so quick? O.K, O.K., I know that I take time to get ready or I take time to select a dress….but so what??? See, we have to decide so many things before getting ready, right kind of dress, right accessory, right footwear etc….So, we will take time na….Now if you get ready on time, so whats so big deal??? For you its simply a shirt/tshirt or trouser/jeans. But see, we have to decide from so many options- jeans, skirts, salwaar-kurta, saree etc…..Isn’t it a time consuming & difficult task?
8. Why do they simply hate our girl friends? Well he never puts any restriction on me, but there is not even a single girl friend of mine, whom he likes easily. Some he finds to be snob, some he thinks are very showy, some he thinks are not trustworthy & blah blah blah………Well, even I don’t like your MISS PERFECT or MISS SMARTY! But do I scrutinize them???
9. Why do they compare us with every Jill, Suz or Mary? "Janu, why don’t you wear something like her, or why don’t you do this like her etc. etc. etc"….Hello, do we compare men with any Tom, Dick or Harry, then why do they compare us with all those so called hot looking babes? We don’t look like them & neither we want to look so hot (rather cheap).
10. And last but not the least….why do they put the towels on bed? Now this is something really serious about my husband, he simply can’t put the wet towel anywhere else. I know that its of no point to tell him this anymore as I think he finds bed to the most suitable & best place to keep the wet towel after bath….Amusing, isn’t it???

Well, enough for now, I think this list can

Is JOB synonymous to CAREER?

Well, we all study & grow up with some purpose & goals in our lives. As a kid if, one used to ask me – What do you want to become after growing up & I excitingly used to reply – "IAS officer/ Doctor/Engineer/Pilot". Of course like many other kids, even I used to have different answers at my different age levels. But the crux was that I was having some goal & ambition in my life. Even after having an outstanding academic records & a good bachelor’s degree, I finally realized that in present corporate culture, you are nothing if you aren’t having a MBA degree. So, went ahead for pursuing a MBA degree also & finally landed up with this job at a reputed company.Started my job with some very high hopes & firey aspiration to have a great career in my life. Well frankly speaking after working for two years, now I realized the difference between the word "career" & "job". Now I know that I am having a very cool & comfortable job but a pathetic career. Now if someone asks me –"What do you want to do in your life?", I think I will be clueless. After lots of introspection also, I think I don’t know the answer to this question. I feel as if I am having no goals in my life. Well, everyday I come to work in the morning with absolutely no enthusiasm, no zeal & no excitement towards my work as I know that nothing new is going to happen. My work is supposedly interesting but with the passage of time, my role has just ended up as a co-ordinator. Now, one can understand how messy the job of a co-ordinator is!!! You co-ordinate with n number of different teams. If something good comes up, all the different teams are ready to share your success but if something goes wrong, it ends up being only my responsibility. I think my whole office strongly believes in the saying- "Success has many fathers but Failure is an orphan child". Well, my dear ones say that it happens with everybody as in every office it’s the same story. They advice me to carry on my work & not to think too much. I also carry on the work like others, try to finish off as much as possible and then at the end of the day return back home with same unanswered questions in my mind. Where am I heading? What am I getting out of this job? What am I learning? What do I want out of my life? Why was I so confident of my dreams & aspirations during my childhood & now when I have got the potentiality to do something then why am I so inconfident of my goals and way ahead? Why am I so clueless of my aspirations? Does a cool & comfortable job mean a great job or does a great package mean a great job? What is the meaning of having a great career? Is JOB synonymous to CAREER?

Working hard is a passe.......

"Hey, it was really good. I just convinced everybody. I am so happy, finally I got promoted." I coolly said – "Wow!!! You deserved it dear. When are you giving us treat?" These were my only words, which I could manage to tell her with my heavy heart. "DESERVE IT, my foot. PROMOTION!!! Oh nooo, really, how can an idiot like you be promoted"………these were some of the honest comments which I really wanted to tell her, but I didn’t, as in this corporate culture, I have learnt one very important thing i.e., to be POLITICALLY CORRECT.

But way back my home, I was really feeling very sad. I was wondering how come she got promoted!!! How come she manages to get so much accreditation? Why does she get so much recognized even for her smallest of activities & why don’t I get noticed for all the thousands & thousands of work which I have done without opening my mouth. Not that I am not appreciated by my superiors & peers, well I am appraised for my work & my talent but not in the same way as she is. Be it qualification, sincerity, hardwork, confidence, or taking initiatives, I don’t think I lack anywhere as compared to her. Even my boss appreciates my initiatives & intelligence, then what is it which makes her so popular? How does she manage to convince everybody that she is the busiest person around? Any new complicated work being given to her & she will very sweetly announce that she can’t take any new assignment as she is working on some very important project. Resultantly, it’s the donkeys like me who will end up doing extra & extra work on her behalf. Well, we very well know her important projects…….all those net surfing, phone gossip & back biting of other colleagues. But one thing she definitely makes sure to do whenever she does any work & that is MAKE NOISE of her own work. She makes sure that whenever she is doing something, whole office should know that she is doing something very complicated, exciting & new. She will make sure to create an impression that noone has ever done this work in the same way as she has done & hers is the best & most systematic approach towards work. Best thing is that she generally takes help from me/others, understands so many things from us, copies so many formats from us but presents it with some cosmetic changes to the superiors with full confidence as her own new ideas & initiatives. Superiors also get impressed by her initiatives without even realizing that it is a copied work as neither me nor others like me would have done tom-tom about our work. The next best thing about her is that she very strongly believes in networking & relationship management with superiors.

Initially I never used to pay attention to her loud character. I always used to believe in the saying-"Modesty is the best virtue". I always used to convince myself that I should keep doing my work with full sincerity & devotion and one day people will realize my potential. I always used to believe that talent & sincerity pay in the long run and mere relationship building (in my language, unnecessary networking or rather shoe licking) with superiors will lead to nowhere. I used to strongly believe in the traditional equation of success which is, SUCCESS = INTELLIGENCE + SINCERITY + DEDICATION + HARDWORK. But I think my belief is wrong. Gone are the days of sincerity, hardwork, dedication & intelligence. Well it is of no use to be intelligent if you can’t impress your intelligence upon others & its very easy to impress this now-a-days….Just make sure that whatever you are speaking, even if its full crap & rubbish, it should come out from your mouth with full confidence (rather over-confidence) & loud voice. Its absolutely useless to be sincere & dedicated to work, what matters most is how best you can make sure that people know your sincerity & busy schedule during work. Working hard is a passe these days, the in thing is "working smart". Now, one might wonder as to how to work smartly? Well, very simple…..make others work hard on your behalf & get the job completed by them and show it smartly as your own work to the world………Cool na??? I think the equation of success has changed now. The new equation is, SUCCESS = LOUD CHARACTER + NETWORKING (rather ASSLICKING) + OVER CONFIDENCE + SMARTWORK. Isn’t it??? Atleast I am observing this new equation in my office......

Festivals

Maa, why don’t festivals seem to be festivals without all of you? Dusshera has come, but not even a single day of Navratri looked like an occasion of Puja. Something is missing Maa……, something which I can’t explain. Not that people aren’t celebrating here, but all I can see here is glamorous Dandiya or Garba nights wherein some DJ is playing music & people are dancing. We do go out for festive feasts outside but nowhere I can find the same satisfaction which we used to have when you used to make those festival special dishes for us. Even the simple kheer made by you was better than these exotic festival special sweet dishes served by grand restaurants. Yes, we have taken new clothes but I haven’t found the same excitement at all which we used to have as kids for getting new clothes especially on festivals. You know why have we bought these dresses especially? Its because all these Garba & Dandiya nights have got dress codes wherein you are supposed to wear only such types of clothes. You know what, here people don’t gather themselves in the evenings to have fun & enjoy the Navratri, rather everyone is supposed to pay money to go to these Dandiya & Garba nights.
Maa, Diwali is also going to come soon. I know you must be busy arranging for whitewashing of our house as you still believe that Goddess Laxmi should come in clean & new house. I still remember those days when you used to make us clean our rooms during Diwali vacations. Not that we aren’t going to celebrate Diwali, but not by decorating our house & worshipping Ganesh & Laxmi, rather by enjoying the vacation at some CHILLING place. Yes, instead of welcoming Ganesh & Laxmi at their houses, people lock their houses here & go out for vacations as this is the only time when you get a leave of 3 to 4 days from office. With the attractive tour packages offered by travel agents & Diwali special nights arranged by hotels, its an ideal time for people to go out on holidays.
I still get nostalgic when I remember those home made sweets which you used to make for us, those crackers which we used to play in the colony & those gharondas which I used to make with Bhai & the excitement with which we used to decorate the same. I wonder if ever my kids will experience such sweet things & more than that, will they like such things at all???
Sometimes, I really wonder on the extent of commercialization of our traditional festivals. I really wonder if these kids who are enjoying these Dandiya nights ever know the reason of celebrating Navratri & Dusshera? What does Vijaya Dashmi mean? Do they know the reason of celebrating Diwali? Do they understand the meaning of customs like making Gharondas or welcoming Ganesh-Laxmi? Are these festivals just meant for those glamorous dance nights & lavish holidays at alluring locations?
Really miss, the festivals celebrated with all of you Maa…………