Posted:
and boy do I regret it!
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So i had a horrid evening. And it would have passed by as another pleasant one hadn't it been for the mention of Gurmeet aka Maan.
Not that he had anything to do with the way I handled the conversation through the evening but by doing what MSK does best ( lash out paying little heed to self restraint ) I am on a sticky wicket.
And I am upset after a long time and ashamed of my inexcusable behavior.So much so that I dint watch today's episode and cant seem to get myself to sleep either.
To those who are reading this your chance now to quit because this post isn't even remotely about the show. I feel awful and will be relating of what I did to get there. None of my other friends are online and if I dint share outright and get this thing of my chest I am brightening my chance of making tomorrow an equally distasteful one.
As it is, it's strange I am admitting my guilt online but I reckon I have handful of sympathetic ears on IF; I don't want to get into another debate by confiding in people I will run into everyday.
It's a rewind to earlier yesterday..
I meet a bunch of buddies at a farewell party and am on my way back. I have parked at the basement of a govt. office building as the rush hour traffic around MG road makes it impossible to drive. I had walked the 1.5 kilometer stretch to the restaurant and window shopped on my way there. On my way back my bro called to ask if he could borrow the car and that he would come get me.And to kill time till he got here I walked into an emporium- artifacts/sculptures et al. I bump into an old buddy. We exchange courtesies. She introduced me to the folks tagging alongside her. Her 'gori' boss from Australia and her colleague ( also her immediate reporting manager ) Delhi.
(First things first, this friend I mention was just an acquaintance really. We studied in same section for a year at school and things dint really go well back then between us due to an argument over some trivial matters.It's been over 12 years so frankly I don't care why we were miffed and sour n the good old days.)
I was told the visitors were here for a transition cum training and were headed back home on friday and wanted to shop for souvenirs. Looking back, it was at this precise moment I should have shut up and gone my way, but idiocy usually wear a garb of innocence and ignorance. Us mortal, sigh!
I offer to show them around to a few places where they could strike a better bargain as the emporiums usually fleeced tourists. Being a good samaritan there. After an hour the shopping is done and my bro calls to inform he won't come as it dint make sense coming all the way to where I was, he being running late to some place else already, and that I should get my ass back home.
So I turn to bid perfunctory sayonara's but they insist we rest our aching feet and get something into our system. With that we head to the nearest pub ( for Lindsay's sake. My friend and I stuck with 'Real' Orange juice as the bar dint serve anything non alcoholic).
By now I was in a long drawn conversation with Lindsay who found it incredulous that we girls stayed with out parents even as pushing 30 and that they get to choose grooms for us. Typical reactions there nothing to write about. Mostly I just nodded and listened to her. Dint make sense cramming the real India gyaan into her at that hour. But she was not that ruined it for me.
The villain was Mehek. She glanced at her watch in between sips of her vodka ( or some kind of tonic , not sure) and declared if she could be back to her hotel room in time she could catch her favorite show. No prize for guessing why. This moment did me in. The conversation at that time was hovering around TV shows. I was telling Lindsay how closely I had followed previous seasons of Master chef Australia and Australia's next top model.
My mouth fell open mid air and the words just hung at the mention of GHSP. Its incredulous for me cause have not a single soul in my immediate surrounding at work or home who watch GHSP. Hence my affection/ connection with IF.
As you can guess I blabbered on from then on about the show and DD-GC and I was oblivious of my friend and the Lindsay who had now fallen quiet.Mehek said something about GC being on a tamil show Mayavi and how ridiculous it was.Next she says you Madrasi's are hilarious- the movies and tv shows alike are exaggerated and non sensical. I was taken aback momentarily.I mumbled something about not being a tv person and that about GC's journey much of what I know is through IF. I am not a tamilian. And I don't follow any daily soap other than GHSP so I wouldn't know.
Mehek has this wide eyed looked and she comments on my accent and refuses to believe I am not a madrasi. I am from Karnataka and a steadfast Bangalorean. That startles my school chum too. We were never good friends back then to know that about each other. I am usually mistaken for a Bihari or Haryanavi going by my accent.
(States, cities never meant much to me as they all seem wonderful to me. My dad was in the armed forces and having traveled the length and breadth of Incredible India my family has never considered itself to be a south Indian or Kannadiga.We have been raised to be proud Indians.But more importantly I was pained by the fact that educated, well traveled young folks carried such demarcations within their grey cells. No wonder the fanatics and sections of people in this nation has little or no tolerance for one another's faith.)
Mehek is rambling on and anger just about crept in me. I told her that the show which she was ridiculing was in fact a ticket towards stardom for GC however insignificant it may seem to us now. Besides there was nothing degrading about performing in regional shows or expressing oneself through vernacular media.
I have never seen Mayavi so I can't comment but she has and by drawing comparison to hindi shows she only proved herself dumber to me by the minute. My friend was chatting up Lindsay but shoots me a pleading look to stop whatever heated discussion we were getting into.
Mehek retorts, " you madrasi's are a joke...you could never have shows like GHSP, cause you are too caught up on idli vada sambar and your braided hair and chameli ka gajra always chanting " ayyo murugan". Tell me when was the last time you had a south indian family on daily soaps or even movies for that matter. More often than not they are around for comic relief."
With that I lost my temper and I asked her to shut her ignorant mouth up before I give her a piece of my mind. And I stormed out, walked at double the speed seething in anger, got home and haven't been in peace since.
Back home,mom was watching "Ye rishta kya kehlta hai" ( alternating between some kannada show) and when I got out of bath later, it was Balika vadhu's rerun. I asked mom casually about the soaps she follows and the basic plot and characters. And now I am aware that there's some truth to what Mehek said. None of the popular daily soaps across channels depict a real and average South Indian family because they don't sell or garner TRP's. Why are the soaps crowded with Gujjus and Panju families, the Kapoor's, the Singh's, the Guptas and Mishra's only? If people from South India can appreciate mainstream hindi shows why cant the same be said of others. I don't watch hindi soaps let alone regional ones so I wouldn't be the right person to comment and to each his own. And there maybe 100 reasons why producers of main stream hindi shows don't venture into story lines with their plot set in South India. The most important being loyal fan base. Its their bread and butter. Hindi speaking belt is their golden goose. Why alienate them with unfamiliar settings. That makes sense. And being a level headed individual I don't think this can be spun into making a pun out of others. Mehek did and I had a bitter taste in my mouth in a long time.
I came across few topics on IF as well with folks calling out to fellow Andhraites or Chennaites etc. But I never gave it a second thought. All our lives we have had multi ethnic neighbors. Our schooling days had kids from across the country. My family has celebrated Id and Christmas with as much joy as Deepawali.
We are in middle of a historic movement in this nation. "Anna" fervor has gripped the country and we will witness passing of the Lokpal bill in times to come. The unity in cause has trumped politicians who would have otherwise dismissed Anna and his motley crowd of supporters with a contemptuous wave of their hand. The last time the nation expressed solidarity in a cause was for the Jessica Lal verdict.
At IF who cares which part of the world folks tune into, it is all but welcoming to anyone who enjoys the show as much as the next person does. That's the essence of what maketh a happy crowd.
Phew! Just by writing it all out I have rid myself of all that negativity in međ. I wonder if I should even post this now. One educated yet illiterate blonde had me worked up all night on a petty remark and caused me to make an outburst like that in public and behave in a manner unbecoming of the daughter my parents have raised me to be. And no even if she was drunk which I am sure she was not I wont forgive the condescension.
Our emotions does get the better of us sometimes. If MSK hadn't been done in by his share of anger we would have been spared the Amritsar track. Such parallels I drawđ
Have a good day folks. You are truly blessed ( I mean to those who read through to its end...patience personified..I doff my hat to theeđ)
P.S: I shall get back to writing some more.This time to my school chum so I can apologize in earnest. Some muck she is in. Poor Lindsay not a good example of Athithidevobhav I set for her. Shucks! And she must think me a hypocrite. I was preaching her of India's tolerance in face of repeated foreign attacks and selling her the unity in diversity package you seeđ.
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