Mirch masala!

Now I know what tempts the big wigs to abuse and manhandle the media! Not that I am celebrity or I know any of them. I live in a small town and work with a NGO as a researcher. One fine day this newspaper arrives and asks me if he could include me in one of his articles for which he needed to interview women in the development sector. I readily agreed and also handed him a snap of mine! He asked me about some memorable incidents of my childhood but I elaborated none and only talked about my work profile and qualifications. He thanked me and promised coming back with a copy of the printed article in “Hindustan”. Needless to say he never turned up. i also forgot about it after sometime. One fine day when I went home from office my mother in law told me that I was in the newspaper and I was surprised. As I was wondering my brother called up and his speech was taken over by laughter. I got irritated and was about to bang the phone when he asked me giggling “sis when did you cling to a rose bush?”..i asked what are you talking about? He told me don’t you know there is an article with your photo in this newspaper and its hilarious! Now my curiosity had no bounds and I asked him to relate the whole story to me. When he did that I didn’t know how to react but frankly speaking my laughter took over my surprise and disgust. Please read on…..

Now when you are done with your laughing bouts please think and sympathise with those celebrities who are linked up, blamed, tarnished, and spied upon and what not and they have to bear all that without reacting to it publicly. If they react, the reaction becomes bigger news & the 24 hour news channels have masala for almost 2-3 days round the clock! Like the above article which has no true facts besides the ones about my work, I am sure we all read lots of such on celebs with no fragment of truth.
Its high time the media becomes a little responsible and do their bit in spreading the “right message” and not look for “breaking news” while a man is setting himself on fire in front of the camera.

FRIENDS FOREVER

The bus stop near my house was where I took the school bus and this is where I met her for the first time. It was my first day in Class 12th and so was hers. What followed was a brief introductory conversation and then a friendship bond that has been going strong since the past 13 years. Here I am talking about the girl I mentioned in my previous blog.
The second time we met was in our colony where she had come to stay with her maternal aunt and uncle to study. I still remember she wore a pink skirt and top and my first impression of her was that of a very mature, pretty and soft spoken girl.

We had different subject combinations in the science stream and hence we were in different sections. From our first meeting to several subsequent meetings we always gelled in well though nature wise she was more like my sis. But still conversation flowed spontaneously and we could (and can) talk any thing under the sun. Our bond strengthened and so did our closeness with each other’s siblings and parents. In fact her mother and mine share the same birthday and are very much alike! Also she was born 2 days after me J

Besides complimenting each other on our clothes, achievements etc. we could always comfortably point out our shortcomings and this is actually what friendship is all about.

After class XII she went to BHU for graduation while I pursued it in my home town. Till then we kept in touch through letters and cards. (Internet was not common in those days). Then fate brought us together again. This time it was in BHU where she pursued MBA while I did my masters. She stood by me and I by her through several trying times in our lives.
Fate brought us together again at BHU itself. She enrolled there for MBA while I pursued MSc. Those were such beautiful days- our long strolls and chats after dinner, our cycling to the swimming pool in the morning, our visits to Lanka, our shoppings and visits to the famed Banaras ghats.

She was always very focussed and ambitious- these 2 traits completely lacking in me J she always advised me to make the right career and education moves and this is where I followed my heart and not my mind or anyone’s selfless advise.
So today she is climbing the ladder of success very fast while I am content with my job and life in a small town. Life goes on and we continue exchanging our happiness, worries and sorrows. I wonder how incomplete life would have been without this precious bonding.