An Old Acquaintance

Something happened today while I was shopping. A guy approached me and politely asked me, "Excuse me, are you Sapna?"

I looked at him curiously and replied in the affirmative, a confused look very perceptive on my face.

He immediately continued, "You remember Sanjay Punjabi from Junior college?"

I answered an embarrassed "No". I added, "I'm so sorry but I don't remember."

He kind of expected this from me. After all I was the kinds who hardly spoke much to others all through my school and college.

Blatantly ignoring my poor memory, he continued "I'm Sanjay. So, howz life? What are u doing nowadays"

"I'm a doctor"

"Wow", he interrupted. And here I was wondering what was so 'wow' about it. I didn't think there was anything great about it.

Courtesy demanded I ask him about his life too.

"I have a job at one of these nearby shops."

"Great", I concluded.

He said he had seen me even before but was confused if it was me or someone else. "I do come shopping here once in a while" was all I could say.

He left with a good-bye and I turned around with all my bags.

I realised his condition - obviously not very well-to-do, his clothes (I noticed the unduly old and a bit tattered shirt) said it. Yet he had a smile on his face. May not be having the best kind of job too... Being a salesman at a garments market isn't really a 'dream job'. Yet he seemed happy. Contented.

I walked away wondering what makes me crib about my work sometimes. Why do I crib about life at all? Can't I just be happy like him and go and say 'Hello' when I spot an old acquaintance?

Voila... Retail Therapy!

Stress is the talk-of-the-town and what better stress-buster than shopping. Na na na… don’t get me wrong… I’m not jumping to any conclusions but merely stating something that has been substantiated completely by research scientists who I’m sure are not shopaholics! On the contrary, they may be dedicated husbands to women who are shopping maniacs (aesthetically termed as ‘compulsive shoppers’) to an extent that they have got their husbands’ credit cards blocked due to non-payment of charges that are well beyond the assigned credit limit. So what makes shopping a mood-lifter after all?

The simplest explanation would be that when we are feeling low, we need to experience ‘something’ that lifts our mood. It may be chocolates or sweets for some, a nice game for others and shopping for most of the fairer sex. Shopping is likened to ‘rewarding oneself’ and who does not feel better when rewarded?? It triggers women out of their gloomy state and launches them straight into the air-conditioned, sweet-smelling interiors of a big store in the nearest shopping mall. At the end of all the My-God-I-bought-so-many-things experience, a wonderful mood emerges that lasts quite a while :)

I don’t think I should even wander into areas that touch the point about the credit card bills that are awaiting you in the coming month… didn’t I say I was discussing only stress-busters today??

I am The Boss of the house!

I was enlightened by the supreme wisdom of the Lord the other day when I accidentally landed upon a brilliant saying that went ‘My wife allows me to say that I am the Boss of the house!’ If you are laughing at the deep insight that this quote offers, you are either the man who has been through this (even if it is not literally!!) or the woman who is possessed with the ultimate authority over her husband and proudly acclaims the same!! If you are none of the above, pardon me for saying that you are possessed with a ruthless mind that makes fun of the agony that married men go through!

Coming back to the point of the quote, it drives home the essence of the lives of married men that no matter how authoritative you are outside your home, it’s the woman who rules the roost at home! The reason simply being that she is the one with the unfathomable mind! This reminds me of a parable about an old sage who was once asked by one of his followers “Oh Master, how should I to lead a life that brings lasting happiness to my better half, my soul mate?” The sage nodded as if in deep thought, then looked up to the disciple and uttered just one line: “If I had known the answer to this eternal question, do you think I would have been in this place today?”

The story does not end here; some proclaim that even God has never got a complete insight into the mind of the woman though he was the one who created her. It’s said that after He created the World, He rested. Thereafter, He created man and then rested again. But the turning point in even God’s life came when He created the woman. After that neither God, nor man rested!! (Some intelligent dude furthered this story by adding that God was smart enough to create ‘Shopping’ after this so that both He and man could get some rest!!)

So my dear folks, the assured way to be happy is to let your wife be the boss (and it’s not as if she isn’t already!). If she is kind enough, she will allow you to say that ‘You’ are the boss and you can enjoy this liberty as long as you keep her happy. And now if you ask me how to keep her happy, I have another secret coming your way. I shall reveal the same to you for the benefit of mankind and it goes thus: ‘To keep a woman happy, you must love her a lot and never ever try to understand her’. An off-the-track suggestion for the woman out there “To keep a man happy, you must love him little but understand a lot.”