You've got mail ...again

I watched You've got mail for the umpteenth time on a Sunday afternoon. And I ended up falling in love with it and its soundtrack all over again. Infact I am listening to it right now....and I am so in love with the quaint little shop around the corner. (This movie by the way, has been taken from an older movie of the name "The shop around the corner". :) ) Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks are probably all that I could advise on a sultry afternoon. I don't know, either there is something about the characters or the story or just the idea of the books and bookstore..... that gets me.

But thats ofcourse, not all that I did. I cooked Tandoori chicken (in which the seasoning hadn't really soaked all through bcoz of not long enough marination) but it still tasted good. And I made brownies and had it with ice-cream...... I wish I had had somebody to invite over ....... no not for company sakes alone ..........also for compliments , even false ones would do. :)

Contd on Monday:

My friend(Shriram) has been pulling my leg lately about how my accent has changed. I guess thats not all thats changing, outlooks, perspectives and acceptance of a lot of things and ways of life....... Ahh , can anybody be more obtuse. :)

Its become a difficult thing of late for me, to explain what exactly is an arranged marriage. More horrifying (for me), is the apalling stares I get at the end of it...... and seeing the idea sink in, that it may be possible to get married and then fall in love. Don't get me wrong, I am not a proponent or opponent of either arranged or love marriage. We'll talk about my views on love some other day , if I ever talk about it that is. :)
Anyway, so where was I...... at this luncheon, with a bunch of girls from all over the world probably, Russia , Ghana, China, India, USA. Somehow (I gloss over details here), the question of arranged marriage and parents asking us to get married came up. My vague attempt at trying to explain arranged marriage as a means by which your parents or others set you up to meet somebody and then see if things work out, did not exactly get notes of applause. :). I also did say its an alternative for us as opposed to falling in love and getting married. To this, Rachael, the intern in our team, asked: "Wait ! Isn't that how its supposed to happen." (as in, aren't you supposed to fall in love and then get married.) My other explanations: :) (pardon my chauvinism (if I can call it that) )....... women have become very career minded and hence do not have time for relationships, hence the advent of matrimonial sites and the whole saga of express interest, accept interest and other matrimonial site jargon I am sure many people out there , (even those who ultimately went for love marriages after all ) will identify with.

From my side, I can't really see much difference. So in love, you choose someone. In arranged, you choose someone too. You did not actually blindly go for the guy or girl, you did see whether you were compatible. Well yes, so it did not actually happen to be a coincidence, he or she didn't just cross your path and you didn't exactly meet him/her and think "This is my soul-mate". Lets be real, how many people actually do fall in love? (This brilliant piece of advice is thanks to a friend :)).

I probably sound quite the cynic here, and I had thought I would omit any explanation/justifications about that. But I just couldn't brutally murder the romantic in me, just like that. :) So, just a year or so ago , I would probably have lectured you on how there is this unexplainable thing called love, how there is this one person you would want to grow old with, this one person whom you would like to share the sunsets and sunrises with, to enjoy walks on the beach, to wade into the water and leave footprints in the sand, to read books together and argue about your different views, to quarrel and make up, to tease and to love, to never look at the time when you are together, to chat about nothing and everything, about how in that one person's eyes you would feel loved and just by that, to feel on top of the world........about how in someone's eyes you would find yourself to be the most beautiful, and just by that you would be...... becoz as they say, you fall in love to rise again..... a whole new person, and its then that everything seems such a beautiful place..... about this one person with whom you would want to spend the rest of your life with. :) Sigh !! Well in my heart of hearts I still hope all this is true, but there is a lot of difference with being on the right side of 25 and the wrong side of 25. And though I have been bashed up by friends for saying this, I don't want to sound like a grandma, but yes ... there is some point where you have to look at the real side of things too. I end my soliloquy here.

So somebody please give me a good enough definition of arranged marriage which will not make it seem like some deathly evil. Its amazing how arranged marriages are looked upon here, and how love marriages are looked upon back home. :) I wonder which is more ironic !!