Thursday, February 17, 2005

Forward!

I hate getin forwarded mails....the ones which hav a moral or tend to tell me
what i have to do with my life or how is my life supposed to go and so on...

I got this one today morning.....and for once this one seened to fit :0....
It actually seems like someone's blog..............here goes!


It was not "someone" who called me a bachelor the first time. It was "something".
The brown official-looking envelope I received by registered post
that day had my degree certificate in it. 'Bachelor of...', it
announced in somewhat gaudy letters as I stood smiling. Bachelor!

Till then I was a boy, a brother, a student and whatnot -- but not a
bachelor. All of a sudden, that important piece of paper had given me a new identity.

I know you are dying to tell me things like 'this bachelor is not
that bachelor', but believe me, the very next day my phone rang. It was my real-estat
e agent, an uneasy reminder to the approaching expiration of the initial compa
ny accommodation. "Sir, you are a bachelor, are you not?

"Sure, I am," I said, almost adding, "and now I have proof of that, if you need."

"Sorry sir. The owner is not willing to give the house to bachelors.
But don't worry, sir, I have many other houses. You see.."


So that's how it is. No country for the people of Palestine. No food for starving
Somalis.No trees for migrating birds. And yes, no houses for poor bachelors.

They are not welcome in residential areas. Bachelors party and make
noise round the clock. They go after the neighborhood girls. They
don't respect the norms of the colony. They come in groups...

Anyway, I learnt my lesson: Bachelors don't have all the civil rights
that 'normal' citizens enjoy. But then, what do we have that makes
many a married guy cherish the memories of his long-lost bachelorhood?

Palestinians have to cling to their land. Migrating birds are bound
by directions. But a bachelor has few restrictions. Except for
renting an apartment and walking into one those stupid 'couples only'
clubs, he can have everything else.

He gets up at any time and sneaks into the office unnoticed when
others get ready for lunch. He sits to almost any time in front of
the computer without worrying about anxious where-are-you calls. He
stays away from the house for days and no questions are asked. He
does whatever he wants on the weekend, in the company of his friends...

Yes. Friends are the most important aspect of any bachelor's life.
Without them he practically has no existence, especially if he's
staying away from home.

But then one day, over the thundering music and the first round of
cold beer in a dimly lit pub, he announces his plans to get married
to this cute girl that someone else had found for him. Over the
double cheers, the naughty comments and laughter, I become aware of
something that hurts me somewhere.

My friend's getting married. Of course it's something to celebrate.
But then, that also means he's leaving the gang!

[ I can see this symptoms on few of you]

We attend his wedding, the most colorful function of his life, in
full spirits. All of us. We give him gifts, wish him good luck and
retreat to our good old world, one member less. It does not take much
time before we find him reduced to much-delayed replies to our bunch
of mails -- and as for phone calls, that comes only once in a blue moon.

For my part, I watch the pile of wedding invitations in the corner of
my desk grow at an amazing, alarming pace. Before I know it, most of
my cool buddies are gone. And the rest of us soon realize that we are
not always welcome to the new circle the married men have formed.
So we seek solace behind those office doors where the sun never sets.

I do meet my married friends occasionally. In the office, on a casual
walk, or in a busy restaurant. They are my friends still. And they
are still friendly as much as their new lifestyle and added
responsibilities permit.

But...

Oh heck, there's my telephone. I think it is my real-estate agent again.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Get rid of bachelorhood !! ;)