Double Dee

Dear Dee,

Following your suggestion, I watched 'Khosla Ka Ghosla' this weekend along with Mum and Dad. Allow me to thank you for motivating me to watch the movie. KKG turned out to be one of the funniest movies that I have seen for a long time. All of us were in splits. It also brought back some old memories. KKG rightly depicts the attitude of the babu class in Delhi. The way they speak, their propensity to sniff a bribe from a mile's distance and the general notion that all of the people in Delhi suffer from: your bigger your bark, the less is the need to bite.

I loved the scene where Khosla encounters a Jat chowkidar guarding the property that Khurana has dishonestly taken from him. The guard speaks with the confidence that only one Delhite (i know how much we hate that term) can speak to another. I love the political connections and the pehlwans from the aakhra that Khosla's son gathers to get what is rightfully theirs. Not so long ago, people I know ran into a spot of trouble and we had to make similar moves (no, we did not need pehlwans, the matter was solved much earlier than that). Watching the movie made me recall how helpless we had felt that day....just the way Mr. Khosla felt. I aslo loved Cherry ( er..more because the character was played by the irresisitable Praveen Dabas) and his "I-don't-know-anything-beyond-my-IT-job" attitude and his father's pride in his computer engineer son. Now, I could relate to that!!!!

Anupam Kher as the gullible Mr. Kamal Kishore Khosla is believable, but Boman Irani as Khurana the dishonest property dealer is too good to be true. I watched 'Don' on video the night before and watching Boman Irani slip into a totally different skin in KKG was as much a pleasure as a delight. It was also good to see Kiran Juneja on screen after so long. Ranveer Shourey and Tara Sharma were also good as was Navin Nishchol. I hope and wonder that I will see a day in Delhi where the girlfriend drives her guy on a scooter. I thought Delhites were too snooty for that!!!!

To, the other Dee,

I spent the last weekend at your place attending your wedding. Dear as you are to me, I was excited about your wedding for a long long time. But what I saw, rather put me off as far as Bengali weddings are concerned. They made you get up at 3:00 am in the morning, to eat curd and beaten rice ("Dodhi Mongol"). Then you had to fetch water from the Ganges. Then you had to go to a bangle shop early in the morning to buy the "shakha". Then when like anybody else who hasn't eaten food since 3:00 am, you were supposed to feel hungry, I's sisters brought turmeric for you and so began the 'haldi' ceremony. Even when that was over, there was a puja that you had to sit through and all this was before the sun was overhead. While the rest of us lunched, you had to skip the meal. I had decided earlier, that I would fast with you, but somehow, seeing so many friends around, I got carried away and forgot about my intentions. They took three hours to get you ready for the wedding. I have never seen you look more beautiful. You still had to wait without food till 10pm at night, when they started the wedding ceremony. All this while, you had to smile and greet people who had come to attend your wedding. Your wedding was over a little after 3:00 the next day. For one whole day, you had to go without food and yet kept on smiling for the guests and the photographer.

The rituals and ceremonies will go on. Its been eight days since your wedding and tomorrow you will observe the oshtomongola...Really, these rituals will now keep coming on and on, for as long as you are married. I know it isn't exactly a frightfully welcome way to usher in a new life, but I hope you enjoy a long and happy married life. I consider myself lucky to call you a friend, and for you, I wish nothing short of the very best of everything!!!!