RISHTA BANANA

In an earlier post I had mentioned about writing a memoir titled: "Rishta Banana", this has 2 unique meanings. The first being the obvious one of 'Match Making' in Hindi, while the other is something that can be classified as a belief in this part of India, and has got something to do with the fruit 'Banana'...

In my numerous matrimony interviews I would notice that the prospective bride's family would visit us with a bunch of bananas. On subsequent enquiry with few elders in my family circle i learnt that: Banana being considered as a seedless fruit, when carried to a matrimony interview and presented to the bride/groom's family bears a positive impact thanks to its seedless nature.

Thus i realized Banana would be the apt name for my memoir. However, I'm giving up the idea of a memoir and want to make it a semi-fiction novel, similar to the novel '2 States' by Chetan Bhagat, inspired from real life events. I have started to record all my experiences thus far in this tricky world of 'Rishta Banana'...

The front design of the book would have 2 bananas: one representing a bride and the other representing the groom which are tied together by 3 knots.

I have no time frame to write this, I want it to look as realistic as possible but the message from this book should be like: "Quest of Simplicity is imaginary, what matters is the individual's perception".

First Pay - Cheque!!!

Life's full of experiences sweet & bitter, though we all vividly remember our first experience, it could be anything from the first gift we received to the first date we had. It always remains fresh in our minds no matter how many times they repeat... unfortunately i don't remember the first gift i received and I'm yet to go out on a first date :)

But i do remember my very first pay-cheque, it was 8 years back at the end of monsoon of 2002.

I received my first salary and the amount was RS.1600/-, the accountant of the marketing firm i worked for called me to his desk and handed an envelop and said: "Congrats! your first salary, may the digits improve as you progress in your career". I was dumbstruck, holding the envelop in my hand... my first pay-cheque, my first hard earned money and its all mine... this excitement brought a sudden rush of thoughts ranging from buying gifts for my mother to treating all my friends, and I didn't want to waste any time in realizing my thoughts, I noticed the cheque was made by State Bank of Hyderabad, Victoria Layout Branch. I was desperate in en-cashing the cheque. I ran to the parking lot, took out my bike and drove as though there was no tomorrow, i took just under 5 mins to reach Victoria Layout from my office which was then situated at Indiranagar 2nd Stage. I just barged into the bank not realizing that the transaction hours were well gone by, I found the teller and demanded him to 'en-cash my first pay-cheque, since its from your bank'. Noticing the excitement in my face, the teller instead of reprimanding me for my arrogant behavior, calmly asked me to fill up a challan, enter my account details and deposit the cheque, for which I shouted back at the teller "I don't know my account number nor do i have an account in your bank, but the cheque is from your bank so please take this and give me my money.." before I finished my talk i started getting back to my senses and realized my foolishness... I stood froze staring at the cheque.... by this time the entire bank which was witnessing my erratic behavior burst into laughter. I was apologetic for my stupidity and hastily made an exit from the bank, on my way out the teller called me back and wished me all the best for my career! was that sarcastic or genuine I could never make out since I wanted to run away from that place as quickly as possible...

I have been operating my savings bank account since my high school days and was well aware on how to get a cheque en-cashed, but still the thought of my first pay-cheque drove me crazy and i forgot everything I had known about banking.

This was the greatest stupidity i have ever done thus far in my life. Its amazing that recalling our first experiences always bring a laugh on our face even though when we experienced it we would have been frowning at ourselves or others...

Back after a Break!!

I'm back to blogging, after a break. I was busy with few things ranging from my nephew's birthday at Singapore to 'my date with Salmonella typhi'. Done with all of them now back to life as usual... few pending blogs, I have resumed the 'Book Census' and should be back with the final result in few weeks time.

As for my 'partner preference', the quest of simplicity is still on... i am planning a short memoir of my experiences in quest of simplicity!!!

The name of this memoir would be 'Rishta Banana', which in hindi would mean Match Making. However, there is always a twist in the title... i'd brief on these in my next blog titled 'Rishta Banana' :)