The Test - Part 2

He kept himself free that day and was eagerly waiting for that call. All that was totally new to him, which added to the excitement. The phone rang. He greeted the lady and the conversation started. It lasted for exactly 45 minutes, as precisely mentioned in the email. It was one-of-its-kind interview he had ever faced. The questions were unique. They were not only interested in what he had done till now but also on what he was capable to do for them in the future. So, they tried to know him and his leadership qualities along with aptitude. Before he could accept what was going on, it was over. The lady told her that she would update him about the telephonic interview in a couple of days. He felt he did a good job and gave brisk and confident answers.

He got an email in exactly two days, just like it was mentioned. He saw it in his inbox and opened it with his pulse shooting off the roof. He was getting excited at each stage wanting to know what was next. It was not the end goal which he was focused on but wanted to enjoy the journey to reach there. He could not believe the content of the email. He got through the telephonic interview and was now invited for a final round of personal interview at the company’s headquarters. This personal interview was not just a couple of hours of conversation but actually a three day process. It was an all-expense paid trip to the company’s headquarters including stay and food. Coming from a third world country, all this was getting quite amusing, funny and surprising for him. It was getting hard for him to realize and understand the amount of time, energy and money a company was investing in hiring people like him. All of this, when he considered himself as an average person with hardly any special skills.

The connections were checked and tickets were booked to reach the company headquarter which was actually in a different country than the one he was living in. He preferred to take the train. It was faster and hassle free. A top class hotel room was booked for him with a double bed and other luxuries. He checked-in at his destination hotel in the evening before the beginning of the real deal. Keeping up with his small town mentality, looking at room he thought, what a waste of money. The company could have easily adjusted two students in a single room. Little did he knew of the concepts of privacy and etiquette of the western world. 

While checking in, he was told that a representative of the company which invited him for the interview will meet all the candidates in the lobby next day morning at 8 am. He was told there were 12 guests in total booked for 3 days by the company.

He had a couple of sandwiches for dinner which he had brought with him and then checked his suit if it needed any iron. All excited for the next day, he went to bed early.

More in the next part ... 

The Test - Part 1

Like in the life of any other post graduate student, during the later end of his studies in 2007, he was looking for an Internship. With the intention of getting a big name stamped on his Resume and to get a better job in the future, he was only applying to big companies. He believed - big name matters most. That was his level of naivety in the real world.

He also applied to a company which had almost nothing to do with his studies so far. Even though being from the IT background, he applied to one of the biggest oil companies in the world. It was his way of exploring ways to deviate into another domain and try his hand at something new. This internship did not had any particular prerequisites. Anybody with good grades and involved in a decent level of extra curricular activities could apply. So, all confident of the open and flexible requirements, he applied and waited for a reply.

Now, this was not any average company. Founded in early 1900, this company has almost 90,000 employees worldwide, with total assets in the range of $600,000 billion, and with a recorded revenue in 2012 of around $450,000 billion. With such statistics to back it, even the intern recruitment was no child's play. They really meant business. 

The first phase of the recruitment process was an online application with an essay to write on one of the given topics. In addition, there were several questions to be answered which gave an insight into the applicant's character. That was also assisted with an online psychometric test. He carefully answered the questionnaire and the test which took him almost 2-3 hours but he was satisfied with his answers. He was quite surprised and happy at the same time for going through such an experience which was completely new to him.

After a few days, he almost forgot that he had even applied there since he did not heard back from them for a long time. Then one fine day, he got an email in his inbox informing him that he has cleared the online phase and had been selected for a telephonic interview. He was happy and content. He selected one the days offered in the mail for the interview keeping enough time for himself to prepare for it.

Being the kind of person he was, he kept all of this to himself and did not shared it with anybody, not even with his family and friends. He had once heard a phrase which stuck a chord with him and had stayed with him ever since. It says - It ain't over till the fat lady sings.     

More in the next part ...

My dose of 'hatke' Indian Media

I think I have mentioned it several times before on my blog that I am a news junkie. I do not know why but I always feel the urge to know as much as possible going around me from every perspective possible. It is tedious, time consuming and sometimes even frustrating. Even after all this, there are time when I feel, I still know nothing about this world and its working. The famous saying from the Vedas, "neti neti neti" (meaning: neither this nor that, nothing) starts resonating in my head.

Anyways, I thought of documenting some sources for a subset of news which I have been following regularly. Or in other words, how with changing times and priorities, I moved from one source to the other. So, before I lose track, it would be a good idea to document it somewhere. No better way than in a blog post. 

Living outside India and being fed up with the way, the mainstream media in India had been working in the last years made me look for something else, something "hatke". All the big Indian newspapers went online by 2006/2007. Like many Indians, I was a regular TOI & HT epaper reader living outside India. Slowly, I started feeling that these sources were limiting themselves in thoughts and news both. Half of the paper were advertisements. The main news was almost limited to the front pages with a continuation inside. Somewhere in the middle were opinion columns from regulars. The international news was almost limited to a single page. I got fed up with such short sightedness and limited information provided by MSM (Main Stream Media). So, I started exploring other venues on the internet.

Somewhere around 2007/08, I came across Mint. During that time, I has just started to explore the stock market and the business of shares. It had some really interesting and knowledgeable articles back then. It provided me a regular dose of the Indian markets. Another thing which I was hooked onto was its Lounge. It contained some selected articles from different facets of the ever evolving Indian culture. I was impressed by this new form & presentation of Indian media. With time I saw some great minds writing articles for Mint. A famous blogger I used to follow and now a writer, Sidin also wrote for Mint. I felt I was in the right direction. It was then owned by HT with some collaboration from the Wall Street Journal. Slowly, the articles became lame and I was losing interest in it. I felt that Mint had also fall prey to that limited form of media, restricting itself somehow. It made me move on to something else. (though I still sometimes visit it's Lounge) 

 

Then, in 2009/10 came the time for Open. It was more kind of a magazine but the articles were really thought provoking and their news appeared fresh. Or at least, it's presentation was new. I felt that it was the new and improved version of India Today and Outlook. It was as if Open had started from where India Today and Outlook stopped. It was my new dose. But again over time and due to some incidents at Open, I felt it was starting to go in a particular direction where I did not wanted it to go. Then in 2013, Hartosh Singh Bal, who I was fond of, left Open. I am still almost a regular at Open but now I read it with caution.

 

In 2010/11, I found my new joint or I can say was looking at something in parallel. It was Caravan. Based on a format which I found similar to Open, it came up with some flow or articles which I had never though or imagined or expected would come from India. Again, its presentation and feel was something I got attracted to as well. To some extent, I can say that Open and Caravan changed my perspective of news information and opinions on several current affair topics. In 2013, Hartosh joined Caravan after being let go from Open. I was happy. Though I might not agree with everything he writes or appear on Caravan, I am a regular there.

I found something different happening with news in 2012/13. A new website came up called Firstpost. It gained more attention during the Anna campaign. It started out with good intentions, it seemed. I was impressed with its format. It was different from Open/Caravan. It was more like MSM but filtered and refined. On and off, I was gradually becoming a regular there. Then came elections and its tone changed a bit. It again took another turn after elections. Now, I feel it is completely in  contrast to where it started. It has started to voice some strong opinions and mindless bashing giving its reader less to think and more to fulfill an agenda (at least what it seems). The website is cramped up with too much things which I would not like to see there. I hardly visit it now.

In 2014, I started following Scroll, Newslaundry, Hoot. Currently, I don't see these with a particular format or seriousness but maybe they evolve into something which can really has an effect. Good luck to them.

It is unbelievable how fast and how different media is evolving and in parallel how fast the taste of people is changing thus moving them to different sources. I hope that Indian MSM also return to sanity soon enough.  

List - W

INC: Indian National Congress
BJP: Bhartiya Janta Party
AAP: Aam Aadmi Party
TMC: Trinamool Congress
CPI: Communist Party of India
CPI(M): Communist Party of India (Marxist)

List - U

INC: Indian National Congress
BJP: Bhartiya Janta Party
AAP: Aam Aadmi Party
SP: Samajwadi Party
BSP: Bahujan Samajwadi Party
RLD: Rashtriya Lok Dal
TMC: Trinamool Congress
CPI: Communist Party of India
CPI(M): Communist Party of India (Marxist)

List - T

INC: Indian National Congress
BJP: Bhartiya Janta Party
AAP: Aam Aadmi Party
AIADMK: All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
DMK: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
TMC: Trinamool Congress
CPI: Communist Party of India
CPI(M): Communist Party of India (Marxist)

List - R, S

INC: Indian National Congress
BJP: Bhartiya Janta Party
AAP: Aam Aadmi Party
JD(U): Janta Dal United
TMC: Trinamool Congress
CPI: Communist Party of India
CPI(M): Communist Party of India (Marxist)

List - N, O, P

INC: Indian National Congress
BJP: Bhartiya Janta Party
AAP: Aam Aadmi Party
BJD: Biju Janta Dal
SAD(Badal): Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal)
TMC: Trinamool Congress
CPI: Communist Party of India
CPI(M): Communist Party of India (Marxist)

List - M

INC: Indian National Congress
BJP: Bhartiya Janta Party
AAP: Aam Aadmi Party
SP: Samajwadi Party
NCP: Nationalist Congress Party
MNS: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena
JD(U): Janta Dal United
TMC: Trinamool Congress
CPI: Communist Party of India
CPI(M): Communist Party of India (Marxist)

List - K, L

INC: Indian National Congress
BJP: Bhartiya Janta Party
AAP: Aam Aadmi Party
JD(S): Janta Dal Secular
TMC: Trinamool Congress
CPI: Communist Party of India
CPI(M): Communist Party of India (Marxist)

List - H, J

INC: Indian National Congress
BJP: Bhartiya Janta Party
AAP: Aam Aadmi Party
JD(U): Janta Dal United
JMM: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
NCP: Nationalist Congress Party
JKNC: Jammu Kashmir National Congress
TMC: Trinamool Congress
CPI: Communist Party of India
CPI(M): Communist Party of India (Marxist)

List - G

INC: Indian National Congress
BJP: Bhartiya Janta Party
AAP: Aam Aadmi Party
JD(U): Janta Dal United
NCP: Nationalist Congress Party
CPI(M): Communist Party of India (Marxist)

List - C, D

INC: Indian National Congress
BJP: Bhartiya Janta Party
AAP: Aam Aadmi Party
TMC: Trinamool CongressCPI: Communist Party of India
CPI(M): Communist Party of India (Marxist)

List - B

INC: Indian National Congress
BJP: Bhartiya Janta Party
AAP: Aam Aadmi Party
RJD: Rashtriya Janta Dal
JD(U): Janta Dal (United)
LJP: Lok Janshakti Party
TMC: Trinamool Congress

List - A

INC: Indian National Congress
BJP: Bhartiya Janta Party
AAP: Aam Aadmi Party
TMC: Trinamool Congress
CPI: Communist Party of India
CPI(M): Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Flavor of the moment

It gives me mixed feelings about India and its people in the run up to the latest elections. It makes me feel sad, happy, excited, afraid, ... all at the same time specially after observing the kind of behavior my friends are showing on Facebook. Even sitting miles away from India, I feel like I am in the middle of the battlefield with people already armed with their ideas so strong that they make the walls of the steel vaults of banks look like kitepaper. How informed/misinformed they are in making up such opinions is a completely another ball game.

I felt a bit left out after seeing many people online voicing their opinions to favor or against a particular political party. I wanted to throw in some of my thoughts as well but then felt like doing some research first. Amazingly, I found out that one of the basic things for elections is completely missing. No news website, blogger, tweeter, facebooker or even some political parties have released a complete list of their candidates online. Thus, there is no official source of candidates name for some political parties on their official websites. So, I thought that before I comment on anything, it is very important to first make a list of all constituencies and the different candidates contesting from them. It would give a better and clear picture of the upcoming elections. So, in the next few days, I will try to compile the list from whatever online sources I can get my hand on.

Some might argue that it is a futile attempt which does not solve anything. For me, it would be a learning exercise and might use that list as a betting game to predict who could win from where.

Wish me luck !!

The Underdogs

I tried it many times. I have many drafts on my blog to prove that I tried to write many times in the last few months but each time before pushing the Publish button, I thought, who cares! This site is only visited by a few people who I could count on my fingers, and the rest are just spammers from Russia. But, the bug in me made me come back again. Lets see how long it lasts this time :) 

I wanted to document my thoughts before a special event. An event, which might change many things in India or at least in Delhi. It's a city which has a very special place in my heart. No matter where I live, it always remain in my thoughts. The event I am talking about is the upcoming elections in Delhi. Now, to set it straight, I am a completely apolitical person. In fact, I am in my early 30s right now and I have never voted in India till today. A lot of people blame me for not voting but I have my own reasons. I will share two of them which are top on my list:

1. I clearly remember an afternoon when I was in school. It was a voting day for the elections. At that time, I was below my voting age. Some people came to our house and asked our family to come and vote. My grandmother at that time was quite old and could hardly walk. My family took me to the voting place since they did not wanted to leave me alone in the house. I went with them and at the entrance of the voting place, we were told that according to their records my family had already voted. I was surprised since we had not left the house since morning. After talking with the guys, we were allowed to get in and simply vote on some other people's name. On top of that, although my grandmother was not with us, they allowed me to vote on her behalf. Naive in my heart with absolutely no idea of elections, manifestos, candidates, campaigns etc, I went in the polling booth with ink on my finger, feeling all grown up, I just stamped on the most fancy looking logo on the ballot paper.
2. Many years later, after reaching the voting age, once again came election day. At that time I knew the candidates of the top three parties since they were known to our family. Since I knew that they are not the people who I would trust with my vote, I did not went to vote. I was helpless since there was no other choice. I could not bear the burden of electing a wrong candidate. My conscious did not allowed me. In that case, I would be the person to be blamed later since even after knowing that the candidates are lairs, I would have voted for one of them.

The above mentioned two incidents and a few others totally made me loose trust in the elections. And further through the years, I learned more about the workings of this world. I was convinced that all these elections are nothing but just a waste of time, money and energy. Until now. This is the first time, I feel like voting. Somehow, somewhere in my heart there is hope, once again. And it is only because of a new unconventional party called AAM, spearheaded by Arvind Kejriwal.

I must make it clear that I have absolutely no political alignment. I only want the governments to be honest and to work to make life of its people easier. I do not consider it a business and it is not a place where people should be making money out of it. Only people with intentions of doing good for the people should enter it.

Here, I would like to mention some points as to why that ray of hope has raised inside me. Or in fact some points which makes this party standout this time in elections.

1. The most striking think I found about this party was its Manifesto. It is crisp and to the point with some very clear cut goals. Unlike the generic ones usually made by political parties which holds almost no credibility before or after elections. I do not know if any political party advertised its Manifesto before in a similar way as this new party since they are always afraid what if anyone comes and blame them later for not sticking to it. I do not care if they are able to fulfill everything in it if they win. At least they have clear cut points where they can be openly held accountable in the future.
2. The next is their campaigning. The party leaders are really working at Ground Zero. I mean they are really interacting with an average person and trying to listen to their problems and then planning a way ahead to eradicate them. Yes, I have seen leaders of other political parties before interacting with people but even a 10 year old can make out that it is only for a picture which might be printed next day in its party backed media outlet. In this party, there are not people following their leader for ass-licking but for true admiration. I do not care if there is any show off in their campaign. What is more important for me is when someone who would be the head of an institution try and understand people he would be governing. Lately, I have always felt that we have entered a time like in the past where the king was totally disconnected to people living in his kingdom.
3. I have always been a person who rate openness and honesty very highly. Maybe, I have very few friends as a consequence. Anyways, this is the first time where I have seen a political party competing as openly as it can. Funds a displayed online, profile of all candidates are open for scrutiny, easily accessible for questions and suggestions.These are some things which had not been seen so often before. I do not care if they have a flaw. Human beings are not perfect but at least they can try to achieve it and I see this party making every effort to be open and honest.
4. I have zero tolerance for people involved in political parties with a criminal background. You cannot expect and good coming from them. A couple of years back, I came across a website called myneta.info during elections in UP last time. I was shocked to see that more than 50% of all candidates in UP with criminal cases against them. And I am not talking about charges of theft, charges like murder and rape were not uncommon. I was totally amazed how is it even possible to contest an election with such a background and why no one comes forward to say it is wrong. I do not care how candidates of this new party behave in the future. I cannot predict it. But right now, with the agenda they have of accepting no candidate with criminal background is noteworthy. 
5. I think this point can be biased since I am from IT. I hate websites which are not made in a good manner. By this I mean the color combination, fonts etc of that website should be handled aesthetically. I find the website of the party very well made. It is easily navigable, presents the most important aspects vividly, not overcrowded and aesthetically made. Checking websites of all the mainstream parties depressed me. They look like a project work done by a school student in his summer vacations. I do not care if everyone in Delhi cannot access it because they might not have the privileges of internet and computer and it might restrict their exposure but still I am in complete awe of their online campaign.

I do not know if elections are rigged. I do not know how much do funds, contacts and media play a role in elections. I do not know how people would vote on 4th Dec. But I know for sure that if this party does not win the elections this time, I will loose complete faith in elections and democracy in India for a long time. I hope that the people of Delhi will not let me down!

A chirp ... The Twitter

I work in the field of Research and Technology and it keeps amazing me with its wonders quite regularly. To some extent I can understand the mystery around new Technologies and its evolution but the human influence around it particularly in these times is something which fascinates me beyond limits.

One of the many children of modern Technology is Twitter. The place where it has reached today is pretty unbelievable. I wanted to praise and rant about it today at the same time.

Imagine a start-up with a few people you can count on your hands coming up with an initiative. The initiative is to allow people to broadcast 140 characters at a time on a website. It is a fairly simple thought and a pretty non-trivial idea (at least for me). It was a project named twttr. That was year 2006.

In about one year, the project turned into a full blown company called Twitter. A new term was conceived called microblogging to define its genre. Today, Twitter is one of the 10 most visited websites on Internet with more than 500 million users, generating revenue in the range of three digit million USDs and employing more than a 1000 people. This is year 2012. It is definitely a commendable feat without an iota of doubt. There are few companies I have seen or heard in my lifespan which has grown at this rate. You don't see such things happening every day in your life.

I personally cam to know about Twitter in 2007 and like many other ignorant people and investors rejected it completely at that time, I did the same. I has just finished my Master's Degree and started working. I still remember very clearly a photo of about 6-7 people grinning away as the team behind this venture on a website. I tried to explore it, learn its working and idea and found the whole thing a waste of time. I said to myself that who the hell in this world would be interested and have the time to know what others are doing in real time. Time, proved me otherwise.

I feel dragged on opposite ends when thinking about the use of this free online service. At one end of the spectrum, I feel that it is quite useful in communicating new ideas, links, news with people. It is a fast way to spread the word among your group. It is a good way for celebrities/organizations to keep in touch with their fans and for the fans to follow them. It serves as a good platform to promote yourself, your product, your ideas etc. 

There is absolutely no doubt that the features offered by this online service can be useful to many but then after reaching a point, I feel dragged by the negativity of this service and drag me into thinking many questions without satisfying answers. 

1. One of the biggest angst I have with Twitter is that I lost a lot of good bloggers whom I followed left blogging completely and started twitting. They started writing smart ass one liners and all the good content they could have generated never came up. It might be possible for a teenager to keep updating themselves every minute on their phone or tablet but for a working person like me is just not possible. You loose interest since you fall back on the tweets and then at one point give up forever.

2. I can accept that maybe for some people, keeping track of what their favorite celebrity/organization is doing. I can even accept that they need to know when and where they are going, when they are eating, when they visit the loo etc but does it really make sense to know what your best pal is doing by the minute? Does it not generate the need to show-off and materialize everything around you? Does it not generate a plastic life? Does it not generate a wannabe like culture? I read a study recently which showed that more than 50% of the content on Twitter is pointless babble!

3. Then it invites all the money sharks. Market researchers start hunting for the latest trends generated by the content on Twitter. To some extent that is good from technology point of view to understand the desires, needs and the thoughts of the society but then again after reaching a point it again starts becoming fake. Questions come up like whether the content generated is authentic? Was it generated by real and active accounts or just bogus ids? Were those people even sensible enough or just simple dumb? You or your product get paid more just because you have a long list of followers? Who checks how many of them are authentic and not just one time clicks? Does it not create an environment of more unreliability and non-trust around?

I can go on and on but I don't feel like doing it since it will not change anything. Maybe these and even more points must have discussed before by many other people but I had to take it out personally somewhere and what better place than my blog.  

Another big fat punjabi wedding ... (contd.)

.... contd.

The Cook: How can there be a wedding without a cook. In my opinion, food is one of the most important ingredient of a Punjabi wedding. You can let Ambrika add another digit to their debt clock but you cannot and I mean absolutely not serve mediocre food at home to the guests. To hell with the bride and groom, if the food is not good, it was not a good wedding. So, my parents called a special cook all the way from Ludhiana on someone's recommendation. And I think it was my favorite part of the wedding. They were a team of 3 with one being the head cook, one helper and one server. It was top quality food with minimum spices and oil yet high on taste and nutrition. To my amazement the cook one evening even made Pakoras with Tomato!! I consider myself a big foodie and critique but I had never heard, seen or eaten Tomato Pakoras in my life. And trust me, they were out of the world!! I could not even resist the Ghiya (Bottle gourd) dish he made on the reception night for himself and his team. So, instead of having dinner with everyone at the Reception hall, I already had it before leaving home.

The Guests: Discussing anything about a Desi wedding is incomplete without talking about the guests and their peculiarities. I felt that the arrival/departure plan of the guests change more often than the weather in England. Arriving unannounced or cancelling plans to come without informing to make the person standing at the airport/train-station go mad after hearing the cancellation news is I guess normal practices at weddings. One peculiar case was that of a relative coming unannounced by car from Shimla at 2 a.m. in the night before the wedding day. It was unbelievable to see my parents standing outside the house at 3 a.m. in the morning with temperature around 2-3 degrees to receive them and to arrange for their bed while the Baraat was to leave at 9 a.m. the same morning !! Atithi Devo Bhava, I guess !!

 The Ending: As the famous saying goes, all is well that ends well. And so was the wedding !! Everything went well, the guests left with their share of sweets and gifts and no major disaster happened which my mom was worrying about all through the wedding. Now, my mom is a person who goes to bed early and gets up early. It is hard for her to stay awake after 9:30 in the night. My father has Arthritis problem in his legs and was very close to getting operated before the wedding but avoided it. Even in such condition, I could not believe the energy and enthusiasm my parents showed during the wedding. It seemed like they were a someone else during those days. No matter what the work was, it was done. They did everything. I felt a little ashamed of myself that I can never imagine myself working so hard for my kids wedding. My sister was nothing less than an Event Manager herself and contributed all her energy and time for the wedding. Everything from selecting the cards to preparing the itinerary to checking the decoration to selecting the wedding dress for me was done by her. I feel humbled seeing my family work so hard to make my wedding a success. No matter what words I say or what gifts I give them or whatever I do for them, there is nothing and absolutely nothing with which I can thank them. I wish and pray that God continue to shower His grace on them with a long and healthy life.

Although, I am a very simple person and wanted a simple wedding for myself with just few and selected members of our family and friends to attend it, I could not say no to the desires of my parents who wanted it to be a grand event. I am not a person in favor of extravagance or things like that but it was just to show respect to my parents that I agreed to do it their way.


P.S: I am sure many of you must have experienced such thing before but for me, it was the first wedding I attended in the last 8 years. And it happened to be my own wedding :) 

Another big fat punjabi wedding ...

Writing anything about a Punjabi wedding would sound cliche´d. Doing everything over-the-top from food to dresses to dancing, to the overall madness. I am sure anyone reading this post would have experienced at least one Punjabi wedding in his/her life or at least read/heard about it. So, let me not bore you with the general stuff. I will try to stick only to the specific event around my D-Day. Although I have always tried to follow the rule of not writing anything from my personal life here but then I have to also respect what George Bernard Shaw once said, "The golden rule is that there are no golden rules". So, let me pen down some incidents which might bring back memories when I read them here 10-20 years from now.

The Prelude: I reached India many days before my religious marriage ceremony so that I could do a court marriage to apply for my wife's visa in advance. There is not much twist in the story as there was in my back. A couple of weeks before leaving for India, I had a slip-disc problem. So, I reached India with pain in my back and my leg. I went to the doctor the next day after landing and he advised me not to bend and sit crossed leg on the floor. As soon as I heard that, I chuckled. And there was an "Yeah right !!" expression in my head. Imagine a wedding without bending to touch the feet of the million of uncle and aunties who would come to greet the newly wed. And a religious wedding without sitting crossed leg? Are you kidding me? Asking the priest to change that part would be like asking Mr. Ahmadinejad to close down his nuclear program. The doctor advised to take precautions.

The Invitations: The preparations started with the distribution of invitation cards. I personally feel that this is the toughest part among all preparations. Making the list, not forgetting anyone, to personally go and invite everyone even though you have not met them for ages and even though they live in the remotest part of your city. A personal visit is a MUST! One night, during the card distribution phase, lying in the bed with a bottle of hot water under my back to ease my back pain, I felt so amused comparing the contrast of life and culture between India and Germany. To visit anyone at his place in Germany would require an appointment to be made well in advance and not just banging into their house at any time of the day as in India. Even after invitation lists being made well in advance, sorted out according to the various regions of the city, according to preference in delivery, it took like forever to distribute them.

The Dresses: One of the things with which I am most amazed in my life is that why my dad has a single cupboard of clothes compared to the three which my mom has, not to mention. An almost similar experience I had with women during wedding. My mom, aunts, sisters, cousins all had a different dress for each meal at least for the last 2 days of the wedding! I am pretty okay with that but even though all of them knew 3 months in advance about the wedding, still most of them were still going for trials till the last moment.On top of that there was enough drama with the tailors. Some of the dresses were not made up to the expectations of the women. There was a lot of crying and moaning. New dresses were then ordered 3 days before the wedding. Aunt from Ambrika calling my Mom at 2 a.m. IST 4 days before the wedding and giving her measurements to order dresses for her, Cousin from Ambrika coming hours before the Shagan ceremony and 5 people going with him to sort out all his dresses for each event of the wedding. I mean, it was complete madness on the dresses front!    

More to come in the next post .....