Welcome change!

The place: New Delhi. The day: The past Saturday. My friend and his family have gone to the house of a prospective alliance (Lemme call them PA in short). Just an informal visit. Since it was very cold outside, my friend had been wearing a sweater. Once inside the house, he felt warm and after a while started to sweat a bit. So he took off his sweater. So, the mother of the PA immediately asked the PA to reduce the heater temperature, because my friend was feeling hot! My friend got surprised and couldnt control laughing! :) After a while, the PA's parents gave stuff to my friends' parents and prostrated before them (for people who dont know..this is part of the old traditional ways). My friend's parents were taken aback. My friend and his parents were treated very respectfully and after they came back home, they even got a follow-up phone call from the PA's house. So, what is news about this whole thing and why am I blogging about it? All of it seems like normal, old traditional practice. Yes it does...only, my friend happens to be the brother of a girl, for whom the alliance was being sought!!! Gone are the days of "ponnu-paathufying" (non-Tamil folks...this is the traditional practice in which the guy and his parents go to the house of a prospective alliance and formally have a look at the bride). Nowadays, the girls are in such a demand (am sorry if someone feels offended for me having used the term "demand"...for want of a better word, am using this), that they set the terms and conditions...for example, in my friend's case, his parents said that if the girl gets married to this PA, then she would have to quit her job in Bangalore and come to Delhi and look for one there. It was just an observation and she was not trying to ask anything. But, the prospective groom's dad immediately said "No problem. If she doesnt want to quit, my son can shift his business to Bangalore"!!! This is just one of the several such instances i have seen in the past 1-2 years, all indicating a shift in the trend. Nowadays, the girls have the upper hand in match-making, which is certainly welcome change! :) So..all those girls out there who dont have a boyfriend and are gonna get married through the arranged marriage way....u have lotsa fun time coming your way! :D

New Yorkil Alaipayuthey!

For those who dont understand Tamil, the title talks about "Alaipayuthey (Tamil movie) in New York".

I happened to watch a video on Yahoo News titled "Subway Love at First Sight". It is about a guy in New York, who found his love while travelling in the Subway (New York underground train)! :) Looks like he didnt have the guts to approach her right then and by the time courage got into him, his love got off the train! :D So, he created a website www.nygirlofmydreams.com, dedicated to the girl and drew a picture of her (cute one!) detailing her dress, hair style, etc. He mentioned his contact details and made an appeal for anyone to contact him with her details! And soon they got in touch and are happily in love with each other! :) Doesnt it sound like a New York adaptation of Alaipayuthey?! :D

For those who are interested to know more, apart from the site URL above, here's the Yahoo Video: Subway Love at First Sight and related Yahoo News article: New Yorkers rally to help online romeo.