Love in the Air

The NYT Weddings/Celebrations section makes me sigh in romantic bliss every time I read it.

It is only interesting because of the couples they pick- a lesbian one (both women looking very pretty.... if all gay men are incredibly good looking, are all lesbians very beautiful?), an Indian-Chinese pair (huh?! Not possible ANYwhere else in the world, but the US. What would they cook for dinner? Probably pasta), two Rabbis (I had no idea Jewish women, or Jewesses, as Sir Walter Scott might say, could become rabbis. And they were married by two other rabbis. That article, 365 words long, had the word "rabbi" 17 times in it... As an aside, I read "rabbi" as "rabbit", and so was very intrigued by the line "Two rabbits fall in love, although they didn't want to"), and an old white couple who had been together for nearly 40 years before deciding to get married. Wow. And they said the reason they finally did get married was financial- so they could take care of each other. Hmmm... very sweet, I suppose.

Do you know why I can guarantee that the NYT Weddings section would be a bust if they chose other conventional couples? Try reading the testimonials on a matrimonial site, like Shaadi.com or Bharat Matrimony. B-O-R-I-N-G!! Always accompanied by the picture the couple must have taken for the purposes of the marriage registration (passport size picture of groom in blue shirt and garland, bride in full wedding regalia also with garland, both looking serious, like they know what they are getting into), the text reads invariably as, "And so, since the horoscopes matched, my uncle got in touch with his father and the families met. We talked in the balcony for a full half an hour and after that, we both agreed. We have been married one week now and I think that he is my soul mate"

Or worse, "It felt like we were destined to meet and get married"

One can only take so much of this stuff.

Anyway, here's the link to the section: http://www.nytimes.com/pages/fashion/weddings/index.html

Oh, and as a joke, here's a link to Bharat Matrimony: http://www.bharatmatrimony.com/
Scroll down and click on Success Stories (they have changed this since the last time I was here, which, before you think that I regularly check this stuff, was about 4 years ago... before RK and I decided to get engaged, and when my mom still had my details up. Embarrassing to admit, but I am honest like that)

I wonder how the process of finding mates will change in the next 20 years. Perhaps we will have holograms that we can project of ourselves and which can interact with the holograms of our potential partners.

Things that make my baby cry

a) Tugging at his own hair too hard
b) Sticking his index and middle fingers down his throat during efforts to find thumb to suck on
c) Pausing while breastfeeding, and then looking for breast in the opposite direction

Babies are silly :)

The discovery of breast feeding

A long, plaintive wail brought Eve out of her slumber. At first, she didn't know what it was. Then, "Oh God, oh no... not again", she whispered.
She struggled out of her make shift bed and lifted her son up and gazed at him helplessly. She knew that this plaintive cry would only get worse, would transform into an unending, unrelenting shriek that shook the walls and echoed in the darkness.
And sure enough, it did.
Eve was frantic. She stared at Cain, willing him to stop. She closed her eyes, muttering prayer after prayer. When she opened them, her baby had been transformed. It seemed to her that no longer did the baby have any resemblance to her sweet Cain, his face had been mottled, distorted, eyes scrunched up, face a deep red. No longer was his mouth a lovely rosebud. Instead, it was a monster mouth, opened wide open, shrieking, shrieking and shrieking.

"Oh God, stop! Just shut up!" she screamed back in her own head. How to get him to shut up? She shoved a finger in his mouth- it had worked before. No dice. He merely spat it out and continued unabated. She needed something bigger. Something the approximate shape of his mouth, to shove in and plug that monstrous hole.
Then! She tore off her top and with trembling hands, brought the baby/monster to her chest and stuck her breast into Cain's wide open mouth.

Silence. Beautiful, tear inducing, awesome silence.

Gas issues- one of many probable parts

The boy lay, reclined in an indolent pose, his feet propped up, his hands behind his head, on his bed. He stared expressionlessly at the person looking at him so hopefully, beseechingly.
Then, slowly, thoughtfully, subtly, never shifting his gaze, he moved his left leg. And let out a fart. A loud, squelchy, long passage of wind.
There was a minute of electric silence.
Then, the person fell upon him, patted him and said, "Oh, my boy, my son, my champion! What a clever, clever boy! How perfectly ingenious of you!"


Yes.
The baby has farted.
Perhaps we can all go to sleep now.

Recent readings

A thought provoking and well reasoned article arguing for a ban against garments covering the face: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/05/opinion/05cope.html?hp
France is trying to pass a law that forbids people from wearing clothes that conceals their face. Critics argue that the French are discriminating against Muslim women who wear burqa. This author points out why it is not discrimination.

A book I've been reading recently is a collection of Guy de Maupassant's short stories. I don't think I've ever read Maupassant before, but his name is so familiar because my mom kept talking about him when I was younger. So it is surprising that I don't recall even a single book of his lying around at home. Anyway, the collection is called 'The Necklace and Other Short Stories", a book that seems to be present in every second hand bookstore in Pittsburgh. I'd picked this up nearly three years ago and only now got around to reading it. They are beautiful stories, heartrending, compassionate and honest. I can only get through one story a day, because each story makes me pause and reflect and brood.

Before my maternity leave gets over, I must get hold of short stories by Somerset Maugham and Saki and see which author fits what mood the best.