I slyly clicked this sweet post-shaadi moment in Prague.... and love the mood. It can't get more romantic than this! Just after taking their vows and walking out of church , the young couple strolled across the huge main square , to pose for the official wedding photographer. The cobbled surface must have been hard on the bride's ankles for the poor girl hobbled over to the nearest free bench and collapsed. The gallant groom was at her feet in a jiffy! He not only massaged her sore toes, he also helped her out of her stilletoes and into a more comfortable pair of sandals that she was sensibly carrying in her bag. These two are certainly putting the best foot forward and starting their married life on the right note.Frankly, I can't visualise even the most devoted groom in India doing what this Czech dulha is so comfortably attempting. The desi ego won't permit such a display. He'd be branded a jhoroo ka ghulam instantly and permanently. And mocked by relatives from both sides.
***
Oh God, this pic-thing is just so much fun! More tomorrow. I'm whetting your appetite. But wait... I'm off to Bhuvaneshwar at the crack of dawn (avec Arundhati). Amitav Ghosh and I have been invited to a literary meet organised by the Arya Vedant Society for Culture. What are we going to talk about? Well... we are on the same flight.... I'll check with Amitav ( absolute darling!). 'Sea of Poppies' may lead to an ocean of ideas. Shall tell all on my return. With pictures?? Awwwww.... I'm shy about posting my own.
But hey, even shy old me can't help showing off just a little. The latest 'Vogue' has a rather interesting cover. Check it out....
49 comments:
hahah! you are now on a pic spree.
wow! i love watching men at women's feet.. though i always speak of an equal society, i heart of heart believe men are weaker than women.
Not just biology, but also otherwise in terms of emotions et al. we often need to mask it with a male ego.
ITS JUST MY VIEW, I AM NOT SPEAKING FOR ALL MEN.
Such sweet thing..I think I got lucky with mine too..he still opens the car door for me after 10 years of marriage..i remember when my cousins on my wedding, hid my shoes under a red chunni and played a prank making him worship it saying, it is the family GOD..and later when he found out, he took the pair of shoes and touched it on his forehead..everyone was stunned and said that now we are relieved that you will take care of our sis well!
I think I completely agree with you when you say that an Indian dulha would never attempt such a thing.. ok, may be that's a blanket statement but it would be almost impossible to find an indian guy doing that.. and living in Canada for as long as I have and getting used to men being this gallant, I know I'll be in for a quite a bit of challenge if I end up with an indian guy for a husband..
I certainly agree to what you mentioned about starting a new life on this note. The groom's gesture is commendable. It's such a romantic scene. And yes, it became so because you brought it to us in this shape !
Thanks :)
Hello shobhaji..
Love aaj kal....very true. I also loved someone, but....life has its own ways for everyone it seems.
For those who loved someone, Pls read my following lines with love in their heart:
Aur ek sooni shaam ,
Meri jindagi ke fasane mein reh gayi..
Shabanam ke moti jhad gye..
Wo apne sathiyo ko jagane mein reh gyi..
Saari dhoop udd gyi..
Wo apne baalo ko sukhane mein reh gyi..
Mein aakar uske ghar se wapas bhi ho liya..
Wo thi ki apne ghar ko sajaane mein reh gyi..
saasein poochti rahi usse naam mera...
wo geet gungunane mein reh gyi...
chehre par thama rha aansu mere...
aur wo khudki palke sharam se jhukar reh gayi..
saath chalne ke liye jo bhadaya tha haath uski taraf..
wo uss haath ka ishaara samajhne mein reh gyi..
mujhe to pata bhi hai ki wo bahut masoom hai magar..
wo to maasoomiyat ka matlab badalne mein hi reh gyi..
kisi ko dard to kisi ko pehchaan mili uske pyar ki..
hum to rahe diye mein.. aur wo law bhujane mein lagi reh gyi..
Saw you on the cover this morning....you looked stunning :)
Jhakaaasss !!!
Thanks for sharing the pics, it is a very thought provoking picture indeed.
Ohhhh...And I thought it is going to be pre release movie review!!!
I've got a good name for your Prague photo album - "Czechs and the City"
But seriously, if the groom does that here, his mother will KILL him, or spend the week crying, or both.
And have a great trip. Bhubhaneshwar is a lovely place, except when them cyclones get emotional.
Terribly sorry to hound you like this, but a most important information has come to light
Q. Why did the merchant throw his customer from Prague out of the window
A. He wanted to find out if the Czech would bounce
Evn I thought it was going to be a pre-movie review. Anyway, it has an apt title. It's very romantic, yeah. But as you said, it's romantic as long as it's not in India. So, it would be romantic even if the gender roles were reversed there. And in India, I dunno if I can always blame the attitude of the people I've grown up with, but it's true that there would be negative reactions. Do we really think in the wrong way? Or do we just think too much?
It's very rare to find such caring couples these days...What i believe that one should not bother about people's comments and forget them like a cocoon. When a cocoon builds a silk ball around itself he is so busy in that stuff, i once watched on T.V....wonderful post and an eye-opener for many husbands
its good to see images in ur post now
keep clicking n posting
Welcome to bhubaneswar
Public display of affection has always been an issue with Indian men. I am yet to understand why. I was hoping you will give us a clue.
Hello,
I am just curious do you ever reply to your comments or all theses 1088 followers of your blog are fools. Because they are just following your blog without any response from you and I am sure quite many of them have asked question to you as well in past. No offence as you are quite older then me, please take my comment as a qusetion of a curious mind
Sunny
My Latest Post, where I DO REPLY
Silent escape of Indian Bollywood
http://snoopythoughts.blogspot.com/2009/07/silent-escape-of-indian-bollywood.html
Am in complete agreement with you! Was watching "Shakti" other day... the one starring karishm kapoor. When her hubby stands up for her and supports her.. her father in law instantly calls her hubby (his son) "bibi ki pooch"!!
After living in the US for sometime... the concept of putting the entire world before your own wife had mercifully dulled...so i was kinda of shocked at his comment!
But such are our "desi men" who do mellow down and become "Americanized" here...to an extent... such that they cook, take out the trash, do shopping or plain "listen and communicate with their spouse"!!
Can we hope to have some change and a more "equal Indian civilization"??? NAaah.... I dont think so...not for another decade atleast! The desi men have too many fools to massage their ego which ultimately encourages chauvinism!
BTW... you have a good eye and you capture intriguing things... no doubt this has a lot to do with your success as a writer. :) It gives you a unique perspective and you see things differently and list them boldly so! :) Keep going De!
The husbanf has picked up quick .....lol !!
That is such sweet photo that you have posted on your blog they also look so happy together I give the groom credit for that you are even lucky if some american men would do that for their wives on their wedding or even at all. That is great I wish them the best of luck
sigh... mush makes me happy :)
and I really hope guys like this exist in India too.. ;)
First thing first, I have been your follower since many years now, thanks to blogging, now its more direct. You are still so skillful with words and expressions. Loved today's post. I have a slightly different view on this one. I agree, no Indian groom will do what is depicted in the pic, but I am sure not very many Indian brides will do it either, especially in full public view sacrificing their meager ego in front of practically an antire community(since its a marriage occassion).
im glad youre enjoying the pic thing. You can easily upgrade to a movie thing...its VERY easy
That was really touching..Problem with Indian society is women only.There giving more then what is actually deserved has brought them at this stage.
Women can easily do what the above guy is doing as it will turn out devoted but for man it will be considered henpecked.But astonishing thing is women don mind it.
U generalize a lot when it comes to Indian guys. Sorry if you have had bad experiences but generalizing is unfair to many guys who might not just do what this czech guy did, but also end up carrying the bride the distance to give her tired feet some rest. Think about it.
Moments of envy for meh...I wonder how it feels to be there at her feet and right inside his heart...
its more like Pyar ke liye kuchh bhi karega...
I absolutely agree with you about Indian husbands, thanks to their desi mammas. There is not a single devoted husband, nor a chivalrous man in this country. Period.
There few that think they are don't know what it is all about. They just don't get it.
BTW, it'll be "joroo ka ghulam" not jhoroo ka ghulam as you wrote. I actually think you are too adept at doing hindi/english mix, but here it's not. Koi baat nahiin.
Love your Picture Parade.
Also, the grapevine has it that all current Vogue issues have been removed from news stands. any one knows why? Well, they have been sold out like hot cakes to all Shobhaa's blog fans! ha ha. Happy Bhuvaneshwaring.
Cheers!
what is most attractive is the sweet gesture that is captured in this pic
how strange, we all want our partners to be loving, caring.....and all those things that even we ourselves fail to become.
all demand no supply!!!
@thegeek: I don't know why I felt compelled to reply to your comment. I am a new follower to this blog, and I was so surprized when I actually got an email as a follow up to my comment. I could not believe that SHOBHA DE TOOK TIME TO REPLY TO MY COMMENT.. So, she definitely does comment back.. BUT having said that, I think it's unfair to expect her to do that for each and every one of her 1095 followers - a number that keeps growing every day...
very well written piece.. but i beg to differ ma'am. there are chivalrous Indian men who exist and care for their wives.. :)
@rookieblogger....
I am back here coz of your second round at 'thegeek'. You are right. Shobhaa de does reply to comments, but only to NEW COMERS. After this you are unlikely to receive any more responses.
@Shobhaa:
So there Shobhaa..!! this is how blogging is different from writing columns or publishing books. You get unedited response here: the good, the best and the not so good, and the ugly - but the TRUTH.
Which is fine. As long as you read your reader's comments it's fine, unless you feel VERRRY strongly about something. your fans will not complain.
Rookieblogger, your calculation about responding to comments by shobhaa is slightly erroneous. Shobhaa has a whopping and growing following of 1095 but actual people who comment are about 1/3 of total, which in itself is not that huge. But I would rather Shobhaa read and respond to them instead of hiring honchos to do it like the great BigB does, of whom Shobhaa is a big fan.
@ridima...
We all want our partners to be loving and giving, coz they are not. And waht makes you think that we ourselves all fail to be loving and caring? Plus love can never be a one way traffic, and caring follows love. "All demand and no supply" may be true of some, but I dont agree. Sorry, I beleive most desi females end up with "all supply no demand" actually.
Cheers..!!!
awwwww This is a familiar sight for me cuz even my boy friend does that to me after a party......
@Rookieblogger, @introspection
May be she don't even care for her followers at the end it is our choice to follow her blog nobody ask us to do that.
Or may be she is too very busy lady
@Rockieblogger good you got response from her, not that I am begging to get a response but it would be nice get some kind of feedback or may a "Hi" or "How you doing"
Responses show that you care for your followers
Anyway enough said. No hard feelings for anyone
TheGeekHead
Blog where I do respond
http://snoopythoughts.blogspot.com/
@introspection
maybe we all react to same situations depnding on what we have experienced or seen people experience in there lives. though, being honest i have never been in any serious relationship ,i have seen my friends( of both genders ) expecting unreasonably out of their partners.
but then it may also be that it sounds unreasonable to me being an outsider.
maybe i will get a better perspective when i myself get involved in a relationship.&
allmy fundas for a happy relationship too might go for a toss.
:)
but i agree with you in india females have a tougher time with their marriages considering the societal bondages.
India mein shaadi ki functions mein romance kyun nahi dikhtha??
Somebody mentioned 'sweeping generalization'........agreed 1 in i lac Indian men will do what is shown in the pic......but honestly how many women will do something similar for their grooms? I think it's not about man Vs woman, sorry to stand out in this remark but we Indians are filled with vanity(atleast the ones in bigger cities), it's just not in us to 'stoop' down to help/facilitate/mitigate....kill me if you want for this observation but we are mortgaged to only 'ourselves'
Well I have received two emails from Shobhaa.
So it would be unfair to say that she doesnt care
i agree that a guy would immediately be tagged as a 'jorru ka ghulam...' ....
but there are many, who wont care...
@ rehaan...
If you don't care, then may be you should include your contact number in your comment. ha ha. kidding.
may be we are judging dis guy too soon
after he has just got married. give him time!!!
may be end up being the same as the so called "rest of the lot."
Hieee......
Sad.... poverty is a curse ......and as u said why blame thy child....for being born poor........ths so much of it in our own land...its crazy but 60 years down the line v can find humans living the most terrible conditions .......
Puri is beautifull......been thr once......try it out.....
Luv
Kris
sorry got the wrong commet on this one...........hahahaha have a laugh....
luv
kris
love and its colours................luv the pic and hats of to the guy........forget any guy hear to do it.......
luv kris...
all the best for orissa.
@introspection
what was put up was just an example...
now what would you say to a guy who'd let his gal drive while he sits by her side....
@ridima
...'rest of the lot ..'....
firstly , hahhahah...
n secondly, there are always some exceptions...
Just that the pic reminds me of similar incident during my college days.
It was the final day of our annual fest, so there was a music group performing and lot of rush in the venue.As we all were dancing, suddenly a girl stumbled and one of our junior boy helped the girl, took her to a place, messaged her legs just the same way shown in the above pic.Then onwards, we would see them very frequently and later come to know they were dating, they were unknown at the time of the incident happened, though.
It was after 2-3 years that i got to know that they broke up, not only that the girl took some 50k-1L rupees from the guy citing her mother's illness and the boy could never see the girl again.
I wish i had the photo of that boy messaging that girl's leg, i would have put up here and let the people comment just like Shobha Dey did.
N.B.: This is just an incident, not to hurt any one, not to disrespect any particular gender, just thinking whether we are wasting too much of space,time,energy on a single pic.
I can't help thinking whether you would still have written such pleasant stuff, if it had been the bride helping the groom with his shoes rather than vice-versa.
I suspect that this blog-post would've been full of invective in that case.
:D
honestly i really appreciate you as a writer, a model and everything that you have become. though i cant help but to dislike two aspects of yours: your feminism(pro-women + anti-man) and your generalisation. there's is a saying that " dimag wohi dekhta hain jo dekhna chahta hain." i know of many indian husbands that happily admit that " i will have to ask about this to my home minister" and willingly showcase their uxorious nature. and many indian wives honestly dont deserve this treatment. they always destroy thier husband's confidence about their ability to provide.(they put on lipstick but not soft-spoken what's the point of that?)
what about this prague guy? who knows that this western guy will be sleeping with some other hotties some nights later? what you show in the photo is a part of marriage formality. even in indian marriages husband is asked to take 7 around following her wife. this prague thing is pretty much like that. as for the egos well hellya!! that is important to us. as love is important to women, ego is important to men. by ego i mean a heathy ego. ofcourse the husband who wouldnt help her wife this way would be insecure in his ego. it was this ego that made revoulutionary changes in the world remember? ghandhiji's ego was hurt the night he was compelled to get off the train in africa. he before that knew of slavery of india. but that day his ego got hurt and the rest of the story we know. i could give a plenty of such examples all day. but dont connect man's ego issues only to the opposite sex. many have ego issue's with everyone.
So happy to be given a privilege to post a comment here.
www.joeydavila.net
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