Zebra Couples

As we all know, zebras are one of the most magnificent creatures of the animal world and are found in the Savanna grasslands of eastern Africa. A special feature of this species is the unique stripes on their body. Unique because no two zebras on this earth have the same pattern.
If you think, that I am about to lecture about their various other features, habits or the chemical reactions that attract one to the other, you could not be more wrong. That’s the job of zoologists and I trust them to handle their work well.
Rather this is about a term that my friend popped up in one of our thought provoking conversations. Zebra couple is a nomenclature which is used to describe those couples (only human beings!!) who are completely opposite in their looks to each other. It can be any comparable physical attribute like …. Tall and short, fair and dark or obese and anorexic. Basically, couples who would be quite thoroughly stung by the penetrating glances of the nearby onlookers or would be an interesting topic for gossipmongers. For example, think of …hmmm…..Kamal Khan (no offence to all the Kamal Khan lovers…n if you are still guessing who he is ...plz watch the latest Big Boss 3) and Barbara Mori…the very first question that comes to our mind will be "what did she see in him??!!#$#%$%".
But I say why they can’t be together. One thing that I have realized over the time is that beauty is not the only important factor for a couple to be together. In fact may be its last on the list. These days, when emotions are considered very fragile, people have become mature enough to rise above the masquerade of physical beauty and seek inner beauty. I am sure the name of Farah Khan and Shirish Kunder (again racking ur brain to place the name …..I dont blame you) would not exactly ring a bell. But as Shania Twain said
"They said, "I bet they'll never make it"
But just look at us holding on
We're still together still going strong …."
(..a trivia…recently their relationship has been blessed by triplets … J )
Beauty has got a new definition. Today, when both men and women walk hand in hand in all fields of work, they need to discuss and understand each other’s perspectives, obligations and priorities as these become all the more important. Young generation should keep all of this in mind while choosing their life partner so that they share a good level of comfort.
There has been a shift in the mindsets of people from arranged to love marriages and am sure the same is going to be the fate of all the devotees of goddess Venus. And to all those who are still in search of their perfect beauty…. Look at a zebra couple and take some tips from them because you still have not figured out the essence of a perfect relationship.

Small Wonders

One good thing that turned up after the cat incident was our friendship with the angelic tiny totters who stay right across our flat. They are three energy busters aged 6, 4 and 3… I presume this going by their looks and vocabulary.
One day…. My roomies and I were watching television when we hear this barely audible knock on our door. Although the sound wasn’t a bang but I could make out the urgency to open the door with the persistent knocks. It wasn’t a surprise when I found the knocker to be the eldest of the clan. She stood there in her piggy tails and claimed why didn’t we open the door before. Before I could answer her, she ran into our house and started talking to my room mates. This is not it. Following her were two other chutkus, her two cousins who always happen to be in her flat to our great joy.
Our house turns into a playfield post their arrival. We forget tv and phone (two things always on when I am at home). We cling on to every sweet nothing that these ppl utter. We try to bribe them (don’t even ask with what, the answer will be pretty embarrassing to us) to perform a dance, say abcd or simply run into our arms. Their antics and innocent talks leave us in peals of laughter and a warm feeling to cuddle them closer. They are so adorable, lovable and well mannered that I wish they stay in this age forever. Kids are so much fun to be with. From my experience I feel basically these are the reasons why are they such sweethearts:
1.They never criticize you.
2.They look at you with awe.
3.Having "namkin or boondi" is as lavish a treat to them as a grand bash at Hyatt is to us.

4.You are always taller than them. ;-))
5.They are always on their heels and their energy is infectious.
6.They are neither hypocrites nor make a conscious effort to leave an impression behind.
7.Princess Dora and Captain Planet is what they wanna be when they grow up.
8.They never get bored of you and sincerely want to be with you.
9.They have characters to die for …. Jealousy and Anger, the two fangs of our dark personality, are unheard in them.
10.They are beautiful sculptors of God.
The pure joy, fun and laughter that we enjoy with these little monsters are unmatched to any other form of fun that we as grown-ups enjoy. Like it’s said……… some things are priceless, for everything else there is a credit card. ;-)

The Encounter

It had the making of a perfect evening- early return from the office, 3 day long weekend ahead of me and quiet surroundings. I lay stretched on the divan in my hall with the lappy snuggling besides me and the latest Bollywood songs and updates crooning from the TV in the background and then something happened that made my evening.

I was engrossed in my work when for some reason I looked towards the kitchen and saw this four-legged creature confidently coming out of it and moving towards bedroom. For the initial few seconds I was too paralyzed with shock to react, and then instead of shooing it away, I picked up my phone and called up my roomie. I did not realize that while speaking on the phone my legs had automatically carried me out and I was standing right outside the flat of my neighbours and shouting at the top of my voice. Hearing my voice the next door aunty came out ......and did a quick surveillance of my look- so what.. if I was dressed up in shorts and a t shirt, my hair loosely hanging from my clip…the only thing that made me look austere was the specs- but heck I am not here to make an impression on her !! She heard the entire story and then gave a shout to her husband to help me.

Out came her husband from the room, and I confess that this was the first time I had a proper look at him since I shifted to this house. I could not help but run a comparison report on both the husband and wife. Lets start with the wife…she was a strong, tall and healthy women with dominance dripping from her every sound and now the husband- he was painfully thin, narrow moustache and neatly combed thinning hair. Decked up in a loose trouser and vest, carrying a stick the superhero of the evening entered my home with a smile on his face (who wouldn’t be excited to help a poor helpless girl). Bravely he entered the room and started hitting objects randomly so that it rushes out from whichever place its lurking. All this while I stubbornly stood in the hall and was prepared to jump on the centre table, if there was any suspicious movement. After a 10 mins non happening grueling search, he decided to give up and went back but not before adding sweetly that if I see anything or feel anything I am welcome to give a shout to him. CHO CHWEET!

I eagerly waited for my roomies to return from office. I relayed them the entire story and for our satisfaction we decided to have a final search. After a lot of nudging and pushing, they finally took it on themselves and had a look and found nothing. By this time I had started doubting myself….had I actually seen it..or was I hallucinating. But my dearie roomies were courteous enough to explain me that maybe it had escaped from the bedroom window. It kept on lingering on my mind till I went to sleep. I was so sure of its existence ….by the time I was closing my eyes…my fear had given its way to frustration..why it did not show up…. N the last thought before I dozed off…. ‘Oh you stupid cat ..i don’t care whether you exist or not but please do not disturb my blissful sleep”……zzzzzzzzzz

Waking Up....

I am watching Ranbir Kapoor’s interview with Omar where he is out promoting his new movie “wake up sid”. One of his statements on the show was “there is a sid in everyone”….this made me wonder the truth in this small sentence.

For those who do not follow TV closely….I would like to devote few sentences on the character of Sid. Sid is a carefree, happy-go-lucky teenage fresh out of college. He has no aim in life…living on his parents money. Basically…rich,spoilt,aimless boy but not a brat who discovers his aim only after coming in touch with the girl of his life(Konkana in this case).

Quite an ordinary story but in reality the most frequently repeated ones around us. Ever wondered why only the sons of rich fathers are tagged with the status of a brat! I have seen friends around me who hail from ordinary backgrounds and have all the traits of a brat but still they fail to reach the zenith of disapproval that the rich sons usually face. Hmmmm…..well I ll ponder on that later….coming back…Rich or poor all of us are aimless at some point of our life. I still remember I wanted to be a doctor till I was in seventh standard, doctor gave its way to being an engineer (after I saw my sis successfully clearing the entrance and proudly grabbing a seat in a premier college) and may be after that doing a MBA to give a final fullstop to my study career. That was my POA but there is a difference between wistful thinking and practicality. I “woke” up when I failed to crack any of the top engineering colleges and enrolled myself into a BA programme with Economics Honours in one of the city’s college, not something that many people would be proud of ….because in my place only two professions are looked on upon….Doctors and Engineers, other career options are unthinkable. I easily sailed through the 3 years of graduation with top marks and then thought may be I can still make it to MBA.

Thinking I will drop one year, prepare and then appear for MBA, I started my preparations. I decided to sit for the immediate CAT taking it as a practice exam. I gave the exam JLT….but was stunned with the results. I did gr8….yes…I mean really cool. Unfortunately, I had filled no forms for admissions and yet again life chose a different route for me. Fortunately, Crisil had just floated its forms for a new in house finance programme…and there I ended up at last after all the interviews and GD.

I still wonder what would have my life been had I chosen my original POA…..but its just curiosity because am quite content where I am. But I am still aimless, aimless about what
to do after this, should I change my company, when should I settle down, so many questions but no answers……m I aimless or plain confused. i wonder…I ponder…..