The Mail !!

🙂

This emoticon was the only reply i could send back to her email which said, ‘cant think what to say’. This was not the first time when we have reached a point where such words were shot on each other. those days we tend to forgive and forget. ‘okay, lets talk something else’ or ‘why not we talk about our last year trip’ were responses as normal as getting those single lined emails.

Last few moths were quite bumpy. though we have seen worse. our patience have been dropped with age. when she got married, it was only once i had showed a sign of depression. never again. and this was way back. she has been married for more than two years now. we both gave more value to our relation rather than dragging morals of the society.

Loyalty was never in question. she was completely a wife of a charming husband, who was better than me in all aspects. our relation was caged. calls had dropped from daily to random. talks had reduced from hours to minutes. but we both maintained a regularity in that too.

Then a time came when those small talks turned to emails. sharing was almost drowned. but we still tried to maintain emails. me being in a different time zone, replies will be irrespective of the other’s message. my ‘when are you leaving to home?’ will next day get a reply of ‘Good Morning’ and my ‘good morning’ would get a response of ‘you must be sleeping now’ something which was making communication way to uncomfortable.

and then those responses started taking more more and time. i used to wait for hours for her to come office and reply to my previous days email. it would come only after it was almost sure that i must have slept. a part of always said that its not deliberate. other part had started telling me that i was taken for granted.

once or twice i tried confronting her about my frustration. but how far can one go with a girl who is already married. she had said, ‘you will never understand me’. may be she is true, i do not. But i also do not want to be just a ‘good morning’ mail.

when i went back on vacation, i called her, just to inform that there is no more restriction of time zone. ‘would give you a call tomorrow’ she had said at the end of it. after ages, i was going to see her number flash on my phone. it never happened though. i emailed her, ‘you were supposed to call today’

‘I thought you would be busy. ok, will give you a call, but there is a small problem, i did not save your number’ was the reply i had received. It was no big deal i guess. that’s a different case that i even have her mom’s number from which she had called me only once. but that was ok.

‘no problem’ i wrote and pressed the send button. i don’t know what else to reply. i was, i guess heartbroken. but i didn’t feel any pain. it was just suddenly i felt a feeling of disconnect. there was an immediate reply ‘what was that?’ but now i was in no position to click. with a shut sound laptop went to sleep mode.

a mail pooped up today, ‘wishing a happy holi to me and my family’ and i replied wishing her the same.

‘I think you don’t wanna talk to me?’

‘It will never happen’ it was truth. i always wanted to talk to her. i always wanted us to share. i always wanted that we be friends our whole life. but it was not the same anymore. she didn’t knew anything which was happening in my life and she never cared to know. she never shared her life, even after asking. disconnect it was. we were reduced from knowing everything about each other to just a ‘good morning mail’

and then ‘cant think what to say’ mail appeared. I smiled back for good.

Whatever !!

Gyaan

Religion and marriage !!

it has been two years she got married. Soon to be a mom. Yes, i am one of those blessed people who still share friendship with the one whom i loved. i still love her and what makes me happy, is to see her happy in her life, managing her family and work so perfectly that she can make anyone jealous, i envy her husband, as he is one lucky fellow to have such wonderful wife.

Many a times i think what if we would have got married? what if her parents would have agreed? what if we were more rebellious? would she still be happy like she is today? answer perhaps is, no. Being a Jain, there are various routines and beliefs she follows. and as she got married to a Jain, her husband shares the exact same thoughts. His family is amused when every time they see her going to a Jain Mandir, forcing her husband. everyone loves it.

My Family on the other hand would not be that exited, out Hindu temples are far different. Though nobody would have stopped her from visiting a Jain temple but nobody would show any excitement as well.

Let Temple be a separate matter. eating habits, thought process, food priorities, all needs to be adjusted, either from her side or from mine.

If you are alone its fine. Involvement of families makes it tougher.

Today whatever she does, makes her husband and family more fond of her, they can relate and know what she does is appreciable. But any other religion would not be able to tolerate. Its the nature of all religions, intolerance towards other religions.

Marriages are by nature combination of two families. and if there is a basic difference in the thought process, it becomes difficult to gel.

Though more and more people are becoming liberal, but for a middle class family, inter religion marriages are still a big deal.

have we become immune?

Like every other guy who has a smartphone with whatsapp messenger installed in it, i too woke up this morning and checked my phone for new messages. and like always there were few conversations popping up the screen. mostly messages were in groups of which i was an inactive participant. but two of them were eye catching. one from a very old friend whose message came like after ages. second was again from a friend who was now married but keeps dropping by every now and then, in short we were in touch like every fifteen days.

i opened the first one, ‘Hi Mate, How are you?’ was the message. somehow this ‘Mate’ word doesn’t look very familiar to me. though i am in US, but the word is more like European. which reminds me this friend of mine is in UK for say like almost three years.

I opened the second message. ‘need to talk…its urgent’ now this is something to be acted upon. i picked my phone and dialed her number. she was on another call so i dropped it. first thought was something bad has happened, she was calling everyone.

while i waited for her message, i typed a reply to my first friend ‘Hey…long time….m fine…how are you?’ there was an immediate reply,

‘Good…last week came back from India’

‘Oh wow…so found some girl? marriage plan progressed?’

‘actually, my father passed away’

i was shocked. there was nothing i could reply for at least few minutes. meanwhile second friend’s message came, ‘call now’. what else bad news will be here, i thought. i thought of calling her after some time as i must talk to him first. I could not call him as my US number does not allow me to make call to UK due to my India calling card. so i asked him about aunt and his brother on the messenger itself, it was weird consoling someone via messages. every message lacks emotions and somehow makes you more detached. but i had no other choice. 

I looked at the watch, it was already 8 and i was getting late for office. soon our conversation ended with words like ‘hmm..okay…and take care’ i turned to the other message. and dialed back. ‘Hi…sorry couldn’t call immediately. whats the matter? everything okay?’

‘yes, all is fine, i just need your expert advise on which company should i join? i have two offers. one is paying good but work is hectic, also very less leaves. other one is paying less but lot of leaves and work is also not hectic’

my first thought was what the hell, here is a guy whose father had died and he was like ‘how are you’ and there is this girl ‘call me urgent’ isn’t it weird how the world works, how different people react on situations? i find it weird. well like she said, as an expert i gave her both pros and cons of both the companies but with no conclusion as it was she who has to decide for herself not me. she was satisfied. time was already 8:25 and i was really getting late.

i ran to the bathroom and within few minutes i was all groomed for a reputed US based pharmacy company. while traveling to the office, what was changed? a friend’s father had passed away, other friend was more worried about which job offer to accept. apart from being late for few minutes to the office, what was changed?

here when i thought of penning down this incident, again i thought ‘what was changed?’ then a more relevant question passed by my mind, ‘have we become immune as humans?’ 

Software Engineer’s leave plan

moving on from here !!

There was a time i used to think that this is a life time relation. how many of us can be friends with the one we loved. our friendship was too strong to be broken by the distances and events like marriages. we shared a bond even after she was married. seven years, two of which was after she was hooked with someone else through the social ritual of marriage, is a long time to be with someone. it turns into habit to get rid of it.

past few days there was a weird stress. regular calls and emails were decreased drastically. first i thought work keeps us all busy. it had happened earlier too, but we always managed to take out some time of it. this time it was stretching, long enough for me to think it as a sign, i knew her so well that she doesn’t have to tell me. and when for a single stretch of fifteen days there were not a single attempt from her to contact, i was quite sure that she was now over me, she has been moved on with her life.

only thing which hurt was her silence, which kept me hanging for so long. i made a fool of me thinking that she still wanted to be in touch. now its time, to make myself realize, and to move on. i don’t know how i am going to tell her this. but then i guess, she doesn’t even need to know, or i can say she don’t even care anymore.   

cross country dilemma

Responsibility, dependency, attached strings, whatever you call it, makes drastic impact on your decisions and plans. priorities are deciding factor in such cases. Dilemma arises when priorities clashes with one another. such life affecting decisions are hard to make, harder to face.

Being in a different country does affect you and your family. my case is completely different but when i heard his story, i felt that i myself end in the same situation in coming days. he was sent to Chicago in June 2012. everything was moving like a perfect movie. great job, higher salary, work form client location in US, growing carrier, happy parents, proud girlfriend who was soon to become a wife, it was like a dream.

Soon situation started turning around. family pressure started increasing by each passing month. every time he asked for leave, he was told ‘client’ is not agreeing. February 2013 he got two weeks holiday to go back, get married and travel back with not a single day exception. plan was to travel back with his wife, all preparation was done, visa was applied, girl left her medical carrier and for the sake of married life agreed to travel on dependent visa. when everything seemed to be fine visa got stuck in embassy. they were told some verification is required and it might take some time. with no other option, he traveled back alone. every time embassy gave the same answer. days started passing and then months. After June his parents started asking him to come back, they said people have started talking, they say you are having an affair or the marriage was against your will and what not. he decided to travel back and started asking for release from the project. every day was passing like a struggle, either explaining the situation to family or begging clients and managers for release from the project. it took three more month before they agreed to let him travel back to India. not even 15 days were passed his wife’s visa got cleared and within a month he traveled back to Chicago from a different project. things started coming back on track. next five months passed peacefully, but then his wife started asking to go back. whole day sitting at home was making her mad, her carrier has already taken a back seat. she was fed up of the loneliness, no one to talk, no one to share, just wasting and passing one day by other. Now he was completely clueless of what to be done. because of his visa, company will not let him stay in India and his wife and family wants him back in India.

After listening to him i thought, what is the point? you are neither here nor there. now when i am here and my marriage is getting planned, i wonder what will i do in such case? what option is left? just leave the job and find something in India? may be yes. for now we will cross the bridge when it arrives.

.

If its a matter of choice !!

Hell yeah !! marriages are made in heaven and God knows there is no such thing called heaven, if a God also exists. No, I am no atheist, Yes, i diverted from the topic.

First of all there is no comparison between a cell with a lock and a hall with open doors, as long as your crime partner is allowing you to walk free. its the same thing with marriages and live in relations, live in relations which end in a marriage is an ideal scenario. but again you are so much confident that after putting a lock, you will still be able to feel the same hall like freedom. spurious.

The hype, word ‘live in’ gets is limited. I stay here in Chicago and hardly find anyone even lifting his eyebrow on this. reason? non existence of society. they are not bound to society, its individual like i said in one of my earlier post ‘American culture, Indian culture‘. All hell doors get loose only in India (well, i am not sure of other countries, never been there).

each and every relation, needs an approval from society. things are changing in urban areas, but that is only till no one knows about it. I am still to hear a case where parents know about the live in relation of their child and are cool about it, No, none. our generation, for sure, is not the one who is going to reap the fruit.

On the contrary each and everyone of them want their child to get married. you dont even have a choice to remain unmarried as well and hell if it is a love marriage, holy cow, you are worst son your father ever got. arranged marriage, and as my friend here says, yes ‘the good boy theory‘ works perfectly. what a hypocritical society we live.

i can keep cursing, i can keep blabbering about it, forever, but when you ask which one is better, as long as the girl does not slap you with a charge of rape after your breakup, Live in relations are best way to be together till you both feel you can no longer live together.

American culture, Indian culture !!

Being an Indian staying in America, many a times i end up in a situation where i need to explain this. all wants to know what is the difference and are we better in any scenario? when i say no, simple debate is based on culture. look at them, they dont care of their parents, they get married so many times, they have kids without even marrying at all, some of them even dont get married and keep changing their partners. look at their cloths. look at their way of living. look look and look…

there was a dialog in movie ‘swades’ ‘jab hum muqabale me dabne lagte hain to hum apni sanskriti apni sabhyata ka naam lene lagte hain’ i find it really true. Indian culture is just a word of glory. i find it no way better than any other culture. we are still a bunch of followers. from childhood on wards we start shaping the mind of our children, follow this god, follow this religion, follow this guru, cow is our mother, beard is our symbol, turban is our pride, all such things are stuffed in our mind. there is no concept of natural selection. one when comes to an age where he can apply logic, he is already biased or say stubborn on the matter what is trained for.

the basic difference is, american culture is ‘Individual first’, they dont care about what other people think about them, they do what they like, what they love, what makes them happy. on the other hand  Indian culture is ‘society first’ your likes and dislikes get last preference. first you think about your religion, then your cast, then your relatives, then your parents, then your children and then if there is any possibility you can think about yourself.

I have seen a father driving BMW and the son working in subway, can this ever happen in India? i would say never. why? it was beautifully explained to me by a friend who is now planning to settle down in america permanently. he said, its simple, once the boy starts earning, he is free, he has his own life and his own way of living. he is free to decide his religion, his partner, his good and his bad. unlike in India, he has no responsibility towards his parents as well, same applies for his parents. One man is solely answerable only to himself. Now when you look the same scenario in India, one man has responsibility of his parents, his partner, his children and also if its a join family, his siblings.

Now which one is better? Indian, because in old age someone will be their to support you, bullshit. millions of people in India are abandoned by their children and all with hatred in heart. Ultimately its all about doing what you like, making your own choices, living life the way you want and above all living free. So its not the culture makes us feel great or feel low, its about how free you are.

How to let it go?

‘Do you love me?’ i asked her, we dont talk any more, so the feel was expressed on an email. every few seconds i was pressing the refresh button. such replies needs to be instant else mind stops working. mine was already slowing down. after around hundred more refresh, a pop up came, a new mail was received. i opened it with an increased heart beat. ‘i guess you dropped me this mail by mistake’ was the reply. dodging is her middle name and she was doing the same, avoiding. but sometimes i can be damn heavy and will stick to my ground. ‘yes or no?’ i typed as fast as i could and pressed the send button. how difficult is to understand the avoiding itself is the sign that the answer is a no, but you see human mind works weird ways, i wanted to hear it, loud and clear, without any doubts in my mind, i just wanted a straight forward, no, and not the words like neglecting, avoiding and dodging, these words give birth to new word, hope. and i was not going to hang myself from a rope of hope.

‘whats the matter with you today? are you drunk?’ was the next, not with answer but a new and irrelevant question. well not really irrelevant, in fact it was almost like, ‘stop asking me, i am not going to answer’ or ‘stop asking me, i dont love you anymore’ but this all were again my perception of predicting the meaning. i was yet to receive a clear ‘no’. instead of typing again. i just forwarded the same mail again, ‘yes or no?’ by now i was already frustrated, i mean how far can you go? there must be a full stop.

‘Go to sleep, Good night’ was the reply this time. anger has its own way of controlling you, one thing for sure, it never comes out without any reason. try asking a simple question thrice when you dont get an answer, you will know your anger management skills. In my case, the question itself was worth a relation. i wouldnt talk about friendship, cause when you have already crossed the bridge of friendship, then there is no going back. either there is still love or no love. sentences like ‘we will be friends’ are just a curtain.

Sleep was not even in this universe at this time. and wishing a good night is just a formality. i was already determined. ‘you just have to reply a single word, do you still love me? yes or no….’ i replied without acknowledging her good night wishes. i was not even expecting a ‘yes’. but she has to say it, she has to let me know that it was gone. i need to know.

‘I never expected this from you….disappointed’ this was the reply which really hurt. ‘disappointed?’ for what? for asking you that do you still love me? for letting myself know that whatever i feel is just a lie? why cant you just say ‘no’ and free me? ‘never expected from me’ to hell with it. why in the first place you are expecting anything from me? in the name of friendship? if such was the case, no friend would ever behave in such ruthless way. i know its harsh, after all you expect me to behave in a particular manner, and i make you disappointed.

its frustrating, without a clear answer how to let it go?