Beauty Business!

It feels like it has been ages since I blogged. There were some instances wherein I really wanted to write, but then anger and sentiments wouldn’t make good writing (neither does it make good reading!). So I let it cool down. Now I am back to Bangalore, after a ten day vacation at the in laws, and the silver lining is that I got to meet my parents as well.

The trip to hometown had been a major function- a wedding. Wedding is good business for the beauticians. We give them gold, wedding dress, veil, and whatever it takes to dress for the event. They put it on us and make big bucks. It reminds me of my own wedding. A month before the wedding, my Mom calls up the famous beautician, who has many celebrities as clients in her credit.


Mom: Hello?

Ms.Beautician: Yes?

Mom: My daughter’s marriage on the 28th, next month. I wanted an appointment.

Ms.Beautician: I am so sorry, there are around 12 appointments already.

Mom: Oh, in that case, could you recommend some place you know?

Ms.Beautician: Well in that case, if you can be here before 6:00am..

Mom: We’ll be there. Your rate..?

Ms.Beautician: Ten Thousand rupees.

Papa stood next to Mom, trying hard to eavesdrop the ‘rate’ part. His jaws fell wide open when he heard the rate.

“Ten Thousand Rupees..! That means will she be providing the gold and saree as well?”

If you thought Papa asked that sarcastically, you are wrong. Papa actually asked that out of innocence and curiosity. Whatever that was, it drew some skeptical looks from Mom and me.

The big day came…and ten thousand bucks were utilized in a matter of three hours. I dint like the lip liner, lipstick and lip gloss colors. Once out of the beautician’s area of control, I wiped off the lipstick with a handkerchief borrowed from Papa. Soon relatives and friends hovered around me, and some uttered feel-good compliments and looked at me admiringly. One of them asked Papa,’ So Anu got dressed from Ms.SK right? How much did she charge?’

Papa: (looks to the heavens)…Ten Thousand..! And Anu just wiped off a five thousand here in my handkerchief’.

Posing for the photographers, I glanced at them and got to see the peals of laughter, followed by a display of a lip-shaped red lipstick on a fresh white handkerchief.

Duly noted..!

Conversations with friends have suddenly narrowed down to husbands, in laws, cooking, the indisciplined maid at home and other stuff which once I never knew existed...Oh My..! I painfully realized that our capability to pass comments and nickname others and forget their actual names have been destroyed. Yes, now my ears and all other organs which are supposed to do the LISTENING part have trained themselves to do their torturous duties. It is usually about Thunderbird, Sony DVD Player, Canon 500D, Apple laptop or the like..!! And yeah, the enthusiasm is often met with a curious expression of mine :)


I am a brilliant actress you see.

When asked very romantically as to what he needs as a wedding anniversary gift and gleefully replying ‘Ya! That would be ... a stabilizer for the home theatre’ came as a slap on the face. But coming early from office that day and giving me a huge pocket money with permission to buy whatever I want is duly noted!

That my Dad says not to drink juices from local stores to avoid cholera and other deadly diseases is poorly misinterpreted by the daring husband as ‘spoonfed and pampered to bits’. But, buying an egg puff to a hunger stricken child while at the store is duly noted.

That multiplexes are for English movies and misjudging Hindi and Malayalam movies as not worth a multiplex ticket is disgusting. But a Saturday special ‘come lets go to forum’ but saving a surprise ticket for ‘3 idiots ‘is duly noted.

Hesitating to visit my home whenever we are in town and making a huge fuss about the distance and time required is painful. But talking cheerfully to my parents on phone and making them feel like he is a son they never had is duly noted!

Getting increasingly impatient while I choose a dress at a store is embarrassing. But enquiring whether I liked it and paying the bills without any haste is duly noted!

Reminding me of his Mom’s culinary skills is discouraging. But initiating to have lunch from office when he understands that I dint  have the time to cook, is duly noted!

Men are from Mars and women from Venus, but we nag and pester not because you are unacceptably weird, but because most of the time you tend to be in Mars itself..This is the only way to make you listen! But even when you are seemingly in Mars, the big heart that’s inside is duly noted!

Generation Gap ..!!!

This Christmas I learnt one big lesson. Generation Gap. Talk about twitter, orkut, facebook, the geeky Moms and Dads are unlikely to understand and thats what we usually call a Generation Gap. But, its not so. Having my Dad and Dad in law equally active in orkut, facebook and twitter, I never had the right opportunity to use that phrase.

Here are some of my inferences on Generation Gap.

*We are planning a family reunion at Cochin. My parents have to come from Trivandrum, me and my better half from Bangalore.*

Two months before the reunion:

Parents are planning the reunion, whether we should have dinner out, what gifts to buy, coordinating the expected time of our arrival with theirs.

We: ???

One month before the reunion:

Parents book tickets. Tells maid of the trip in advance so that she will be available on those days to water the plants and feed the fishes.

We: ????

Two weeks before the trip:

Parents wrap gifts, keep them packed in respective bags so that it is not forgotten. Other luggage are taken out from cupboards and cleaned.

We: ?????

One week before the trip:

Parents start packing the bags, ensure three copies of train tickets one in each bag, identity cards, gives instructions to the maid, keeps valuable items securely.

We: ??????

Three days before the trip:

Mummy takes her travel checklist and checks away all items and ensures stuff forgotten is packed, and checks them too. Toiletries are kept near the luggage as they have to be packed last.

We: Awake from hibernation.

Two days before the trip:

Parents ensure that no food is kept in the fridge and tries to finish them or give them away.

We: Speed through the traffic to travel offices to see whether any tickets are available and gets the obvious answer. Decide to go in car.

Previous day of the trip:

Mummy is checking a higher level checklist which has options to check whether the other checklists are done.

We stuff clothes into one bag and throw away food from the fridge. Informs peers and Leads of vacation required and see their true colors for leaving on such a short notice. Meanwhile listen to the long distance yelling of parents against driving ten hours at a stretch.

At the reunion:

**Fun Unlimited** (with occasional warnings against driving from Bangalore **Ugh**)

Back Home:

Parents are busy unpacking, putting clothes out for washing, cleaning fish tank, putting back bags in cupboards, taking a fresh copy of checklist for the next trip.

We: ????????????????????????

Generation Gap..!!

Victimized by a Nameless Award!!

 Blunt Edges has tagged me with a nameless award…more of a questionnaire to fill, which is 7 things about me which hopefully no one knows. Here they come!

1. I can't control my tears when someone cries in front of me, or if someone is crying on screen. I hide it very efficiently enough that only sometimes do I get caught. However this doesn’t mean that I am innocent and angelic, but that something is wrong with my tear glands.

2. I talk nonstop, am very loud and noisy with friends, and act very smart. But deep inside, I am always insecure and unsure of myself.

3. I cannot make myself like any food that’s outside my general taste. But I hate to admit that I can’t get accustomed to other cuisines and force myself to eat them so that others may not think that I am a country fellow.

4. I love cold coffee. I don’t drink regular coffee.

5. Whenever I get into the lift of my office, I suddenly get super conscious of my toes, the nail polish on them worn out in amoebic shapes, and try to hide them. Then, I promise to myself that I would get my nails done, and when I reach my floor, I forget the promise instantly.

6. I always have an over estimated mental image of how my hair at the back of my head looks like, at any given point of time.

7. I can memorize and reproduce any stupid ad that comes on TV and recite them as and when it is broadcasted. But when there are guests around, and I can’t do that, I feel curbed and irritated.

Please don’t hate me..!! *SOB*