Sunday, October 16, 2011

The Twisted Tales of Karwa Chauth

Story's based in Mumbai. It was a Karwa Chauth day and we focus on a working couple living in the suburbs of Mumbai.
PART I
To make matters tough for the Girl, she had to go to office while the Boy could leisurely at home (It was a Saturday- some companies work on Saturday while most don't). To build a better perspective, the boy is a typical lazy guy who mostly likes to sleep on weekends. He could keep a fast for only one meal at a time and hence he is unlike some of the modern husbands who accompany wives's in their fasts on Karwa Chauth.
So, work + fast for the lady and sleep + no-fast for the boy. Girl, however, asked for a simple favor. She wanted the boy to
  • make preparations for dinner so that time would be saved when she prepares it in evening.
  • keep home tidy
  • get Pooja material for Karwa Chauth.
Evening comes and W is about to leave her office for home when she rings H. She wanted to give H a surprise reaching early at home and tells him that she would get late But the boy also decides to give her surprise by reaching her office to pick her up.. He started in his car. W arrives home (she had the alternate keys) and finds that the house is very untidy. She tries to find out if H has done any preparation for dinner. She searches for Pooja material and finds nothing. It was 6:30 and she was mighty hungry and thirsty. She felt agonizingly bad as H had not done anything but slept the whole day; he could not even bring the Pooja material !! She calls him and he answers that he is on the way to her office. He returns home after getting to know that she is already home.
20 minutes later; H enters home. He sees that W looks utterly sad and she actually starts weeping. She complains that he does not care about her and takes her for granted. H finds out that she is sad because he didn't do anything.
Perfect plot for a tragedy!!! But wait, is it actually? H soothes W and shows her that
  • he had actually cooked whole dinner for the first time and hide that to surprise her;
  • he was also carrying a bag along in which he had kept all the Pooja material, water and also some sweet that he had prepared- he carried this along since he wanted her to do the pooja and end her fast in the car itself as soon as he reaches her office.
Getting to know about the facts, W started smiling and then laughing. She had got the perfect gift from H, more than what she expected.
Funny ending!!!

PART II
Fast forward, 2 hours. H & W are waiting on the roof top for the moon to show up. Technology comes handy as they could locate the exact position of moon through an Google Sky Map in W's android based mobile. Moon was slightly above the horizon but could not be seen because of tall building plus Mumbai atmosphere. 1 hour wait and still Moon is not to be seen. Although Google Sky Map showed Moon to be located clear of all the buildings but clouds spoiled the party. At 10, Moon is still not visible. Technology savyy couple decides to do the Pooja in front of Moon visible through Google Sky Map. One lady seeing this inquires as to how they we able to see the Moon. The boy explained that there is some feature in their mobile which helps locate the Moon. He also forecasts that Moon might not be visible till 12- 1 Am considering the envelope of cloud all round the sky. The couple comes back to their flat- just beneath the roof. The Girl overhears the lady taking on phone that moon would not be visible till 1 and one couple had done the pooja using some phone.
W drinks water and the couple start having their dinner when the bell rings. One aunty living in the flat opposite theirs was at the door and inquired about the magic phone which came to their rescue. The boy understands the situation and takes the phone along with him to accompany the lady to the roof. All the ladies along with their husbands are waiting for the magical phone. The boy explains the features to one of the curious husbands. The ladies were not exactly confident that the phone was showing actual Moon (though it was not! but since clouds had rendered human eyes incapable of visualizing Moon the technology had provided a close approximation of reality). The husbands somehow convinced the ladies into believing Moon's presence. What happened next is a picture of modern India. In a perfect association of Tradition and Technology, the ladies performed the rituals in front of the image of Moon in the mobile!!! and the funny part was that they were doing it in front of boy (holding mobile) instead of their husband
( Seems like a lost opportunity for android phones in India- this story could have multiplied the sales by at least 2 times) Though, the ladies would never know whether the Moon that they saw was real or not but then its more about faith then about visualization.
End of PART II