Roti, Kapda aur Ladki!

I was walking down the streets of township with a friend of mine. He was narrating his tale of love to me. And I was patiently listening. When he suddenly turned to me and asked , 

" Bamboo Moshai! Paisa hi sab kuch rehta kya ? "

[ Bamboo Moshai! Is money everything in life? ]

I was startled! Not because of the question but for the nick name he invented at the spurt of the moment! o_O

" Sab kuch toh nahi pan fir bhi sab kuch! " I replied trying to make myself sound like some spiritual guru.

[ Not exactly every thing but still every thing ]

" Nahi yaar! Yaha paisa phek apne aap log tamasha dikhaenge! ", He replied with an expression of irritation. 

[ Nope! Money is everything, you throw money and people will do whatever you say! ] 

He added further,

" Mai apni madam ko us ladki ke baare me bata raha tha to h madam boli k uske baap ko tu kya bolega? Yahi ke maine usko kabhi kharab nazar se nahi dekha! Road cross karte time uska haath bhi nahi pakda! Ya mai usse bohot pyaar karta hu..ye sab! Uska baap pehle ye puchega ki tu kamata kitna hai?" x-(

[I was telling my teacher about that girl when she backfired me! What would tell her Dad? That you never ogled at her or never touched her once or that you love her so much! he would ask just one question - How much do you earn?]

" Tu apni AUKAAD dekh pehle! Kya hai tu? Kuch bhi nahi hai tere paas khud ka! Sab Dad ke paiso ka hai! Pehle kuch ban ja fir apne aap ladki aur uska baap dono bhaag bhaag ke aayenge!

[ Know your limits! What are you today? What have you earned on your own? Whatever you have is provided by your parents! Be a man first, get a job and then both of them will come running to you! ]

This conversation echoed in my mind as I listened to the song Bhaag D.K. Bose from Delhi Belly. 

It said, " Roti, kapda aur ladki, 

              Teeno hi paapad belo toh mile! "

As I see the scenario around me today I find more and more sense in those lyrics and I get more and more frustrated! Unless and until you have a job or lets just say money in your hands no one's going to even consider you. And that is the only reason you will find more engineers on road than the number of Hero Splendors. Market Slag and that terrifying word called 'Recession' has been screwing us since time unkown. I don't know how much of that is true but I do know one thing, there are people who have made our unemployment as their means of income. These job portals still send me openings for fashion consultants, nursing jobs, stenographer and everything but engineering fresher jobs! 

Getting back to the point. I discussed with Riddhesh, a friend of mine. " Why is it always that a guy needs to have a job to make a girl feel secure as in the case of arranged as well as love marriages here in India. Why is it that we guys always have to give importance to their priority first, and side line ours! "

He beautifully answered my question,

" S**le aisa isiliye kyo ki wo apna ghar, family sab chhod chaad ke tere paas ati rehne ko! Job nahi hoga to baith ke kya sirf h!laeyga uske saamne "

[ Bastard! Its so because she leaves her family and home just for you! If you are job less what would you do with her! ]

I was moved by his touching answer and to be honest I was convinced! But then again I tried to gauge the depth of the matter and realized that getting a job is not just about a girl. Its something more than that. :-P

I still remember how badly the Training & Placement Officer of my college had insulted me when I told him that I appeared for the campus test despite knowing that I was not eligible for it. [ Before anyone points out let me tell you - I had cleared the aptitude test. As the day came to the end when I talked with the HR as they were leaving, he explained to me that selecting me as a candidate was not a problem for them but it would be problematic when I would have to appear in the company with my documents. That was the only reason for not allowing me to proceed. I am still trying to figure out why the officer made such an issue out of it. May be someone who has shifted 18 jobs within the age of 30 tends to find chances to insult people. After all he had been through 18 jobs and I guess most of his bosses insulted him and kicked him out ;-)

In the month of August, my friend Shashank got placed in Posco Steel! We all were so happy for him and we being the typical bhukkad [always hungry] friends we coaxed him into taking us out for a treat. He gladly obliged and treated us at a posh restaurant. Later that evening I wondered when would I be able to take out my friends or my family for a dinner, on my own without having to worry about anything. :-)

Last month Dad bought me a new laptop. [ For those who are seriously into computers - Core i3-2348M 2.3 GHz, 4GB RAM, 3MB L3 Cache, 2 GB Nvidia GeForce 710M, 500GB HDD, 15.6 " ] I was overjoyed with that but at the same time I felt sad because I still had to depend on him for that. I know its not right to think like that but I have attained the age and the necessary qualification then why am I still stuck being job less! Dad keeps asking me not to hesitate for anything I need and he sends me money even before I ask for it! But my ego doesn't allow me to reciprocate with that. I try to stretch myself to the extremes. O:-)

But this job thing is not just about the money or taking friends out, or shopping trips. 

Its all about self-satisfaction and ego gratification. There have been instances, where people have insulted me, under-estimated me, made fun of me and what not. I believe most of us have such idiotic elements in their lives who keeps on pinching you every now and then and look down upon you. X-(

I want to see the expression on the faces of these good-for-nothing people when the tables turn and I live my dreams. And for those who keep on yelling ," Teri AUKAAD hi kya hai ? " 

I want to show these guys what their AUKAAD actually is!

But at present I need to remind myself that to achieve such a power, such a stature, I need to focus my energy on preparations and managing time rather than finding new ways to torture these people. ;-)

[ I hear a faint sound coming from the road, probably from someone's phone - 

Na Biwi Na Baccha, 

Na Baap Bada Na Bhaiyya,

The Whole Thing Is That K Bhaiyya,

Sab Se Bada Rupaiyya ]

Cheers!