Raghu

Was just chilling out and passing time and a thought just came by about “ Marriage ”. Then felt it would be good to pen down what I went through and that too at a time when we would be on the verge of completing 5 years of married life. This would not be about what all happened during the marriage but about what happened even before I came to a point where I was sure of saying “I am going to get married”. I will break this down into stages for better understanding; my profile intro on the blog “ A Brahmin Boy ” itself is a good indication of what would the process be like, Then why should I write about it? Just because the times have changed and the way people see an individual also changed during this period of time. Stage 1: For us matching of horoscope is a must and I cannot even tell the number of prospects my parents looked at, this is one hell of a tedious task. Even after horoscopes match, if boy did not like girl or vice versa happens then you are back to stage 1...

Every Day!! Yes everyday “I see you” and one question I ask is “Enduku chudaley nenu ninnu?” every time I say this to her and then there is a big smile on my face and I feel happy. I could not share these experiences with my wife, as I fear our equation after all these years would change…. Strangely enough my Wife introduced me to her and I instantly found ……………………….. Few days later I get a photo of her and it still is in my phone. I changed to a new phone, had 5 years’ worth of photos, everything gets deleted or saved but she is the only one that stays steady till date. There are strange ways you are tested in life and in my case one day, I and my wife along with my elder sister were out for shopping, and for the lack of parking place at GPO, I parked my vehicle at an opposite shopping mall. I along with my sister went into shopping mall as if we wanted to shop and my Wife went for the real work at GPO. Few minutes into the shopping, my sister was checking out dresses which we ...

The moment one says the word “Shopping” women will surely will come into picture, numerous jokes on it etc... etc... I am not going to tell you about the regular stuff that goes around with shopping along with your beloved…..the shopping routines, buying, bargaining and excitement all these are as usual as any other. For me the more funny part of all this shopping is waiting outside the “ Trial Room ”. First and fore most I must thank my “ BEST ” half for taking me through one of a kind shopping experience. With her it is more calculated and planned shopping, yes we do have those mood-off or irritated days while shopping but all in all it’s been exciting. Will go in length some other time but let’s get back to the agenda…. Men around Here!!! Talking about men, when the main topic is about woman, is little disturbing but none the less we men are un-separable part of this shopping festival. Okie now picture these situations …. While my lady is in the trial room, I am waitin...

Raghu Babu, Raghu Babu, where have you been? I've been studying married couples, to get a look at the aftermath scene. Raghu Babu, Raghu Babu, what will, you do now? I will frighten the unmarried ones with my blogs!!! Wanted to use the word “Enlighten” in place of “Frighten”, I was sure that, I would end up frightening a lot of people with my limited expertise. So Instead came with an exam concept, and within few minutes began the battle of sexes, should this be for both or should I contribute something towards the male community. This brought me to the below questionnaire for my fellow men and see how prepared is an individual for the celestial blessing called “Marriage”. I will call this D-MAT – 69 (Beta Version). It is going to be hard for the individual to convince himself for his marriage-readiness, but I will try making it easier for you to evaluate yourself with this test: Points to remember: 1. All questions are mandatory. 2. Separate instructions...

Now after all the writing I have done after marriage, this title itself should be enough indication about what I am going to talk ….Yes Yes Yes…..Looks like you got it!!! You are eager to read more about it!!! BUT I am sure that I will leave you guys disappointed by the time you read the last line. Me and My Wife were on a recent trip to a temple town (What you guys in temple town also???), if that was the question in your mind then my answer is “ This can happen to anyone at any time ” We guys just finished our pooja and were going for the darshan, we were in the general queue for the darshan. I was behind my wife, covering her from the overcrowded line. And then…. A guy behind me kept pushing me forward....Initially I thought it was the general rush to reach god!!! But then the way he kept pushing was not something normal. I swear if ever I read this blog again, I will avoid reading these next words…..I could literally feel his penis on my ass…. The first time I felt like ...

Chat/IM, SMS has become so prevalent a medium of communication and my primary means with most of my friends and clients abroad. At times we may have to remind ourselves how the real world works. The advent of mobile phone and SMS did play a part in killing the “Half Knowledge” I had of English. At a time where every letter and word counts and directly has an impact on your money, we end up inventing a more convenient form of English. There are downsides to this, I tend to make typos (might sound simple but not really). Some typos end up being innocent but some promote profound misunderstanding of my character. I would like to justify myself for some of the unflattering impressions I may have created and also try to comment on few chat notations that can be tried in real life but at your own expense. Speedster Mistakes: Chatting with a female and you type (Go tit), now that might sound like you may have rooted for a specific body part, but yeah we know, you just meant to ...

I (i) was just going through my marriage album and there was one pose that made me stop and think for a while, it is the eternal pose where the boy is pointing towards sky and girl is smilingly looking along with him into the unknown skies. Yes, both of them looking at “Arundhati Nakshatram” (Star). Most of the south Indian marriages I know have this tradition. Truly I never understood what this is all about; I have seen so many marriages in and around my family, every time it was more on poking fun and disturbing the couple. Just got to learn some meaning of all this but before that, let me go about my way of reading it all this while. Imagine all the people around you who have meticulously been pestering you for marriage, this is the moment of truth for most of them. For all the struggle and pain they have taken all this while for pushing you into this thing called “marriage”, this star gazing moment is when they start telling you the real side of it. Ever heard the Telugu phras...

I have been listening about "Valentine’s Day" for past 10 years (May be!!) but the concept still feels new to me. Now I might look like an alien to you but before you categorize me or make me a part of some groups who are not pleased with this concept in India, you must read the below experience. On the way to celebrate  the day with my wife and express my love, I went running around shops to get something new and different for her…..and while doing so I came across a person holding on to a big box neatly packed and decorated. He was sending them to his friend and asked some questions. I will ask you to answer those same questions for yourself, rather simple ones  •Can you name the last year’s beauty pageant winners in India?  •Can you name the last five winners of the Miss World contest winners?  •Can you name 10 people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize?  •Can you tell the number of Oscars your favorite Actor has received? ...

Hey wait…..after a topic like “The Night” about first night, did you think I will go more into it? What were you thinking? Common take it out!!!! (ooops sorry spelling mistake, I meant “say it out”). Hmm what all I was going to tell was about “frustration” and what I did with that. With the way I started out and the people I messed up with eventually will be a good combination but will deal with it some other day. I travel through military area and just yesterday I got into a situation with them and in their area. I was coming back from office and in the late night they were slowing down and diverting the traffic as they were painting newly built speed breakers (literally mountains, anybody traveling through AOC center can confirm on that). I was very much upset with what all happened around me that day and was very irritated with that, while entering that area I saw three people at 5-6 feet distance from each other who were diverting the traffic, by the time I realized what was...

Anybody who has grown up in India, or watched our Bolly, Tolly, Kolly - Wood (or whichever “wood” you belong to) movies, knows about the much hyped “First Night”. If you “STILL” act like you don’t know what it is, it is the night a married couple, even if they have known each other only for a few days, consummate their day old marriage. More so our marriages are very well known for their lengthy procedures and rituals. These rituals have taken a new avatar along with the time; backed with “Wood” guys playing around with it, every one wants these to make it more and more special in their own way. It is quite obvious that you are not expecting me to go all the way in telling how my night went about like….but will let you some insight of what happened a couple of years ago (eee I was a bachelor back then :) ) Few years back I was invited to a Bachelor Party of some old friends office colleague (henceforth known as X), as he was getting married in next few days. We had a good mix...

Starting last April, I started an 8 month long expedition to fill in the “ Empty Seat ” and find a bride for me and attain marital bliss. Carried on with lots of “ Hope ” and here I am back at the blog reliving those moments and few experiences I have had. April; initially thought all that was happening was just an April fool joke. May; Indications were like, this May or May not happen, was just living on “HOPE”. June; we both were in tune and awaiting bliss. July; our hopes were sky high and we let ourselves fly. August; on the very day India got Independence, I attained “In-Dependence” status. September; nothing much to remember October; said “you guys need to wait till November” November; Noooovemberrrrrrrrrrrr was something to reeeememberrrrrr OK Before I say that I got married this November, the feel of being married did not sink into me so quickly, there were some instances that reminded me and said “ Hello...

In the pool of insufficiency, everyone is equal and therefore content; this is what came to my mind with the word recession. Recession!!! Possibly was greatest slogan for past few years and getting to hear it again now. Some of my friends were having a discussion on this last week and were gauging the effect it would have on us. The problem of recession; your company is not individually responsible for this. But it feels cheated, robbed of the comfort zone of a promising economy. Now an organization is a person because it is run by people. This is why it reacts to upsetting situations in much the same way we would. How would you react where you are not in control of your external environment? You would feel insecure, lonely and act irrationally. I’m sure most of you would have seen strange new rules being implemented in your company; rules that probably had no relation to cost-cutting. India is not actually in ‘recession’, as we have been told in figures, with a growth rat...

As per the dictionary version; “ HOPE ” is the emotional state, which promotes the belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. I always had confusion between HOPE and POSITIVE THINKING , now as per the experts; Hope is distinct from positive thinking, which refers to a systematic process used in psychology for reversing pessimism. Basically for a person like me, who is not well educated, getting the difference or the fine line between those two is very difficult. For me this “ HOPE ” has been like a romance for the past 15 years (just for a time frame) and continuing. The feeling that, what is wanted can be had or looking forward to it with desire, and with reasonable amount of confidence so that events will turn out for the best has indeed been a romance for me. I have pursued and persisted with many things (Humans included), and here by including humans as things, I don’t want to sound like a materialistic or a utilitarian kind of perso...

I have no subject matter expertise on “ Married Life ”, but when a close friend with considerable amount of married life experience, puts a mail in response to chain that was going around, it did have a good effect. I do not know how will my blog help his cause but surely this needs a mention. Thank you “Juice Baron”…..Below is the mail: I have few things to say to all innocent wives out there who are so tired managing and training their respective husbands: 1. Don't treat us like a project and try to fix us. You girls knew what you were getting into. 2. In an argument we use logic and you use emotions as weapon. You girls start crying or get emotional (ex: I left my family for U) the moment you know you are reaching nowhere. If we try to put forward our point we are bullies and if we lose we are weak. 3. Kindly do not ask us what we are thinking, the answer would be nothing and believe us “it’s true". We can spend the whole day doing nothing like how you wives can spend...

Yes it happened!!! No I am not talking about my Love life here. It is just a feel good factor that all my friends replied to my crazy mail after a really long time. And that feel was a short lived one... as my main aim and agenda was completely lost after the 3rd or 4th mail and then on the subject matter went on to surprise few of them, troubled some, excited few of them. And ONE in particular had a joy ride of sorts. Husband, Wife & Married life ; precisely that was the matter going around in mails, currently the minority in the group "Bachelors" enjoyed it well while the majority "Married" ones were exchanging their experiences so far. The ONE lady who is "on the cusp" of entering the world of marital bliss, was the one who was having the joy ride. Initially it started out as a "KT" for this lady and she was welcomed and inducted into the world of Marriage and she mentally prepared herself by saying "I am prepared for the disaster n...

In a car, where four people can fit in comfortably and when only three people are travelling there will be an empty seat; that is common sense. When that very empty seat is a subject of discussion then it is nonsense. The three people in the car are me and my parents and the discussion is about my parents going to be daughter in law. Usually I do not like my dad sitting in the front seat because he gets a little tensed with the way I drive. Personally, I believe that when you have a person who knows how to drive in the car, they just cannot handle the way the driver is handling the car. Be it me driving or my dad, it is like, the way I do it is the best way, until unless something goes wrong. So the above being the situation, I at times ask him to sit back royally in the back seat and enjoy the ride. Now they (Mom & Dad) take up this situation to the best use and have their little fun of their own. Now as they know that I already have a “ Daughter ”, they start of saying “how m...

Long back, one of my friends asked me WHY I write. Immediately I gave him an answer through one more blog . Now someone asked HOW do I write? Felt that was a valid enough question; need to answer that for myself first, because I am not known to talk in English (apart from official communication) so much nor am I a fluent orator in that language. So equipped with the elementary knowledge in English and with an outdated education base I have, how come I end up surprising people. After a good analysis, the only reason I could find out is that, my brain thinks in Telugu. As strange as it might sound, that is the process that happens with me. Whenever I set out to write something, initially I narrate it to myself in Telugu and then sit down and collect words in English for it. This might sound like a tedious process but I am working on more effective methods to write. My basic idea of fun starts with Telugu, a language that I am more used to and also being a language that is more captiva...

The feel of claiming a victim with a small gesture you make is awesome. I do not go around killing people but just last week while walking in the mall I made a fellow shopper completely freeze in his tracks and look at me in disbelief. I didn’t do anything fanatical. I just smiled at him. An early morning shopper, in his pajamas and holding energy drink his hand, with a disgusted look on his face. We meet face to face and I Just give him a smile, he must have concluded I was an ET with extra face muscles enabling me to exert a smile. What followed was more intriguing to me, the moment I smiled and he gave those strange look, the man immediately looked down. Now do not ask where but I was Laughing Out Loud (in silent mode). May be I should have told him, Sir there is some more shopping left for you this morning. Surely a smile can bring the best and worst out of a person. Some will be dead shocked and some give quizzed looks and few do smile back. It is more like we approach one an...

Bike ride on a weekend made me realize that, when driving a car, the shouting and cursing I do on bike riders are very much applicable to me also. Came to realize that the speed at which I travel, has got nothing to do with the rules I follow (Speed in my case because after two near fatal accidents, I have slowed down a lot). I know this is not a new discovery to most of us but what amazes me is we still have a dynamic approach to traffic. This must partly explain the traffic conditions around you. We keep making new rules as we go along and dynamically develop a new approach to traffic. I will be a true believer if you happen to say that there will be people who will break rules even if they are in place for their own good. Now I will give a modest try to do a little reverse engineering gimmick and put forward few rules for the “drivers” in general. 1 . First of all, please undermine the white lines on the road those are Just meant to be Modern Art. 2 . If you happen to see “ STO...

That was title of a book I was checking as a part of my work recently, "SIMPLE PAIN RELIEVERS". It was all about the pain relieving technique’s to the day to day problems you might have. What interested me more were the chapter headings? Now in an attempt to make my usual work day bit more interesting I just added few more comments to those chapter heading and had a little fun of my own. Keeping, all those lovely woman in mind, below are the chapter headings and some comments in brackets...enjoy!!! 1. WOMEN AND PAIN ( are Similar ) 2. PAIN IN THE HEAD (is the Early Indicator ) 3. BACK PAIN, SPINE PAIN AND HIP PAIN (will follow one after the other ) 4. MANAGING PAIN WITH FOOD, DRINK, HERBS AND SUPPLEMENTS ( please think again ) 5. MANAGING PAIN NATURALLY ( is not an option ) 6. HAND PAIN, SHOULDER PAIN AND ELBOW PAIN (these will be the after effects ) Wait…this was not all, few days later I got another book to be reviewed and that title of the book was “All Time Best ...