Live-in Relationships vs Marriage - Your Take

Hey folks ! Hiiii.....

Helping someone doesn't fall in the category of crap. Still, I love to help. Not that I'm giving away my tag of a 'Crapologist', its just that helping someone makes me feel good.

A friend Manali wanted my help in her research study. She wanted a few responses to a short-n-sweet questionnaire. Five questions - all yes/no types. They won't take more than five minutes. All you guys have to do is just leave your answers alongwith your Name (optional), Age (mandatory), Sex (mandatory), Location (mandatory, you may not be specific; but be general) in the form of a comment. The topic of her research is "LIVE –IN RELATIONSHIPS v/s MARRIAGE"

Link:’’http://lifestyle.indianetzone.com/relationship/1/live-in_relationships.html

Questionnaire for the research study 

1. Do u think that live-in relationships are preferred over marriage?
a) Yes
b) No 

2. Are live-in relationships proved to be successful than marriage?
a) Yes
b) No  

3. Do you think that Live-in relationships should be made legal supporting an agreement so that no one can cheat?
a) Yes
b) No 

4. Do u believe in old traditional form of marriage rather than the modern concept of live-in relationship?
a) Yes
b) No 

5. Do u think that live-in relationship is like a traditional marriage with no cohabitation and no sex before marriage?
a) Yes
b) No

That's it !! Thanks for helping !

A kiss forever!! -Part 3 of 3

PART 3 OF 3

The Truth...

He answered in his sweet musical voice...

“Nothing went wrong. I wanted to go away from there. I wanted to change my life. I was missing an important part of my life.”
I felt a hard pinch and my stomach churned.
“It isn’t convincing enough…” I muttered, “Still, who is the bride?” I asked.
He smirked and then laughed and he didn’t laugh alone. Only then did I notice that all our friends were present there. What cheaters I thought. I waited as he was about to answer. I wanted to know what was so funny.

“The bride is YOU!!”
I was shocked… I felt weak at knees… I stumbled and he took me in his arms.
“I missed you… I wanted to stay with you… every morning when I wake up, the first thing I want to do is see you…”
“But you said you didn’t want to be there anymore?” I interrupted.
He answered with a warm smile.
“Yes I didn’t want to be there in that place anymore. I wanted to come here and get married to you. You wanted it here right?”
I was starting to believe it. I finally gained balance and hugged him hard. I cursed him for putting me through all that.
I realized that I was dressed in rags compared to all others who looked like movie stars. He probably read my expression and said, “Don’t worry; we have a change for you. Everything is ready. You just have to go and come back and be mine forever.”
Those of whom I thought as cheaters and had sided with him were the ones who had help arrange all this. I was taken to the hotel room where a hair-dresser, a make-up artist and my stylist were all ready to work on me. I pitied the hair dresser as my hair were bad than the worst, they required a lot of mending. My face was still better. With just a scrub and a cleanser I looked reasonably fresh.
I took a hot water bath and then sat on the recliner and rested my head on the pillow. I slept while the three ladies played their role to make me look special for the most special day in my life… for the most special person of my life. I had something to eat while the hair dresser still tried to straighten the strands.
When all was done I dressed in my white satin wedding gown and with flowers in my hand I entered the hall. My best friend was my best man today who escorted me through the aisle. The priest chanted the usual and announced us wedded which was to be followed by a kiss which would seal the relationship and before our lips could meet he whispered in my ear…
“It’s the day when you are dressed like an angel… today you look the most beautiful, alluring all the words which describe the beauty of a woman. I want to kiss you till the end of life.”

A kiss forever- Part 2 of 3

PART 2 OF 3

The Big Blow

I dialed his number for the umpteenth time and...
“Hello?” came his sweet voice finally. I somehow managed a faint greeting which I could not hear but I was positive he recognized me. After 5 years of togetherness he could not have not recognized me. I asked him where he was and what was all this about but I did not get a reply. It was only then that I realized that all these questions were in my head and I needed to find my voice. I asked and then remained stunned when he said that he was getting married in St. Paul’s church tomorrow. St. Paul’s church!! How could I forget that place? It was there where I wanted to marry him and he knew it. How mean of him to do this to me… to leave me like that and get married to someone else in the very place where I wanted to take our relationship to the next level… where we would have created a permanent and stronger bond. It was the most brutal way of breaking someone’s heart.
NO!! I wasn’t letting this happen without contenting myself with a reasonable excuse of being left like that… not until he convinced me that I deserved it (I knew this would never happen… because I would never let him go to someone else).
I decided to go to St. Paul’s straightaway. It meant a 6 hour drive. I then realized how far I had come in search of him. I took a cab and next thing I knew was that I was standing right in front of the St. Paul’s church. I wasn’t embarrassed in going in, in 3 days old attire, a haystack for my hair and bruises on my body and my clothes brown with dirt. Knowing him and his contacts and rich and famous that he was, this should’ve been a grand affair. Holy shit!! If this was a grand affair, this was being planned for quite long now. I shook my head and thought to myself that it didn’t matter. I just strode across the road and stomped past the doors of the church and bang!! He was standing right in front of me in the best suit ever… looking handsome. My anguish seemed to fade away. I gasped and then reminded myself what I was here for.
I ran to him and asked what was all this about and why? What had gone wrong? He answered in his sweet musical voice.

Well even we are waiting for his answer!!

To be continued on thursday 19 th november!!

A kiss forever! - Part 1 of 3

Hello everybody!! Following is a short story i had managed during lectures. It's my first try at something like this.

PART 1OF 3

The Search..

‘Stand with me, hold me in your arms’, were the words stuck in my throat as voice refused to come out. All I could manage was a feeble scream that did not hit my ear drums. All I knew and all my mind could decipher amidst all confusion were hi last words.
I shuddered at the thought and yet again someone pressed the rewind button and then play… For a moment everything was hazy and then again those words. My eyes burned and my head spun. I could not find my hands to wipe the tears on my cheeks. I lost the sense of the world. I could not feel the pain when the door closed on my fingers and hot blood gushing from my nails gave me warmth as my body … my soul was cold. My stomach let out loud groans which had nothing to do with the hunger of not having eaten for the past two days!!
Yes two days had passed, I realized, since the phone rang and I had foreseen my world coming crashing down. I wanted to stand right below it and catch it before the glass shattered. Someone rewinded the tape to that point when I received a call at 3.30 am on Monday. Now starts the flashback.
I picked up the phone and put it on my ear, half cursing the person who had called up and then my eyes turned twice their normal size... my ears alert like a dog’s and my heart racing with no competitor. I heard the words,

“this is my last call to u before I go. I don’t want to be there anymore. Good bye and take care.”
I sat still for 15 minutes trying to unscramble what I heard. A shiver ran down my spine. I understood the last had cum but why? I deserved a reason and more than that I needed to save this. I jumped out of the bed and changed into…whatever (it didn’t really matter). I took all the money I had because I didn’t know where was the end of the search that will now begin.
I took a cab and headed towards the house behind the old mill…found nothing. I searched in the office… no relief to my eyes yet. I took the cab to the pub we often visited but of no avail. The cabbie refused to go any further as we almost circled across the town... I jumped out of the cab and half ran towards… well I didn’t know where. I reached station and took a train and got down at the last stop. I ran… my heart raced faster. What if I could not find what I came looking for? I decided I dint have time to think and straight went to the art gallery where his exhibitions were usually held. I slipped and tripped many times. It was raining cats and dogs and I had forgotten my overcoat. The only benefit of the down pour was that, people who thought that I had been bit by a mad dog could not see that I was crying, the fact being that even I did not realize it earlier.
I reached the gallery but it didn’t do any good. I searched in all the malls, departmental stores that I passed by. I also visited all the exhibitions scheduled for that day in the town hoping to see him in his 3-piece Raymond’s suit attending to the visitors. But, well as I said I was just hoping… the bubble kept bursting and a new one would ooze out every time I headed towards a new destination. Well I could have set a record and got myself entered into the Guiness Book for the optimism I showed.
I used cabs to move across the town. Some cabbies refused as I was all wet and some might have thought that I was some crazy woman who escaped from an asylum, given my hairdo. As if I cared!!
I don’t know why I was running around, looking for something (someone) who still had an option of rejecting me and after that, all of this running, starving and crying would be a waste. But I knew one thing, whatever may be the reason I was sure and positive about not letting my world come to hit a dead end. I’ll do whatever it takes.
Reality hit me hard when I realized an officer was calling on me for I was standing in the middle of the street when the signal was green. I apologized and my hunt began. I was already getting depressed as another day was coming to an end with no success. I shook my head and encouraged my self by thinking that I still had time. I went to the restaurants we often dined in, the cafes and the music stores that we usually visited, but no… I still had to try harder. Then something dawned upon me and I looked for my cell phone. I dialed his number for the umpteenth time and...

(Part2)will be continued on tuesday,17th november!!

The National Song and the Fatwa

Fatwa issued against Vande Mataram

This piece of news is shocking to many. But, to me, it is disgusting ! Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind of Deoband has issued a fatwa (n.  A legal opinion or ruling issued by an Islamic scholar) against the National Song 'Vande Mataram'. (Watch the Times Now video)

Jamait Ulema-e-Hind or the JUH on Tuesday issued a fatwa against singing national song ‘Vande Mataram’. According to a resolution, Muslims should not sing ‘Vande Mataram’ as its reciting is against the Islam.

The resolution, which was passed at the Deoband national convention meet, says that Muslims should not sing ‘Vande Mataram’ as some verses of the patriotic song are against the tenets of Islam. The JUH leader said that the some of the line in the song is against Islam.

In the first place, I'd like to ask these so-called scholars is it necessary to issue such a fatwa against a song which inspired a lot of freedom fighters (including Muslims) to fight for the country's independence? And if you do so, I'm very sorry to say that you don't deserve to be called a 'scholar'. And if you have a problem in reciting Vande Mataram, nobody's compelling you to do so. In turn, you shouldn't impose your thoughts over other Muslims brothers and sisters.

I'm not against Islam. I respect Islam as much as I respect my own faith or any other faith for that matter. All I can not stand is this 'extremism' and imposition of thoughts on others.

Isn't it a deliberate attempt to create differences in the minds of common people? Will in not create rifts between Hindus and Muslims? And God forbid, if something happens, who the hell is gonna take the responsibility? Will the clerics hold themselves responsible?

Why didn't they issue fatwa against A R Rahman for his much successful rendition of Vande Mataram? Wasn't it un-Islamic at that time? Hats off to A R Rahman for that marvellous rendition. I loved that song ! I don't think A R Rahman would stop singing Vande Mataram at his concerts. And the clerics would agree that he's a perfect Muslim. So here you go....

I just want to say that I detest those people who poke their nose in other's lives. You live yours, and let others live theirs. Thats it !! In my opinion, the nation should be primary, and religion or faith should be secondary.

Meanwhile, the Muslim Law Board justified the decision saying that (Muslims) can’t offer prayers to anyone but Allah. Kamal Farooqui, a prominent leader of the Board said, “We love the nation but can’t worship it.”

Dude !! Who tells you to worship? If you don't want to sing, its ok. Don't force it on others. GROW UP !!! Get a life !

On the contrary, many of the Muslim political leaders and other prominent Muslims personalities have thrashed the fatwa against the national song. Renowned scriptwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar said, “The objection is redundant. You don’t want to sing Vande Mataram? Don’t! Who is forcing you? I sing it. I don’t see it as objectionable. If you do, don’t sing it. Why do you insist on bringing such irrelevant matters centre stage?”

Javed Akhtar, who is considered as nationalist believes in strengthening the country not dividing its people on the basis of religion said, “ It’s a non-issue and unnecessarily provocative. I’ve written songs with Vande Mataram in them. I used the term Vande Mataram in Priyadarshan’s Saza-e-Kala Pani. Then I used the term for a song in Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani and finally for a song that’s used at the military academy at Dehradun. Please don’t make an issue out of a non-issue. These are non-entities.”

My advice to everyone : Singing or not singing Vande Mataram is entirely your personal choice. Please don't let others make it an issue. If you don't want to sing, its better you don't sing rather than publicise the matter and create rifts.

And by the way, here's the song Vande Mataram followed by its English translation, which will help you understand it.

वन्दे मातरम्
सुजलां सुफलां मलयजशीतलाम्
शस्यश्यामलां मातरम् |
शुभ्र ज्योत्स्ना पुलकित यामिनीम्
फुल्ल कुसुमित ध्रुमदलशोभिनीम्,
सुहासिनीं सुमधुर भाषिणीम्
सुखदां वरदां मातरम् ||

वन्दे मातरम् ||

And here's the english translation :

My obeisance to Mother India!
With flowing beneficial waters
Filled with choicest fruits
With cooling breeze
Green with the harvest
O mother! My obeisance to you!
Ecstatic moonlit nights
The plants blooming with flowers
Sweet speaker of sweet languages
Fount of blessings,
Mother, I salute you! 

In the end, I'd just like to add one more thing :

Be an INDIAN first, then be a Hindu or Muslim or Sikh or Jain or Buddhist or Christian or whatever.....

PS : You decide !!!