Friendzoned- half girlfriend!

Half Girlfriend

The name itself is catchy and its trending plus the jokes being made on the name and its meanings. I read the name and as always wanted to know more about the book, being a bookaholic these thing s come naturally. And, yes pre –ordered it thanks to the amazing Flip kart. But, its been disturbing me since yesterday.

It’s about the rich lass from Delhi meeting a poor not so fluent in English boy from Bihar and then she agrees to be his half girlfriend! I know it will be an interesting read with his Chetan Bhagat’s unique style, his clear concise reflection on today’s society. But as a mother I find it bizarre.

Already the world has gotten compartmentalized into face book friends, whatsapp group, we chat buddies, and the latest snapchat craze along with instagram followers. On top of this s, he throws a googly at us poor mothers, half girlfriend. A mother of two boys, I wonder what will be the next term coined by the authors.

The pressure to be socially acceptable, to be with it and to have it all and to be successful and to be cool is immense. The number of times, I have been told to relax, to chill and not to take tension is uncountable. Chilling by the way is not the term we grew up with ‘ to lower the temperature and to cool the product. Here it means to take a chill pill and to leave them alone! I am actually living in sub- arctic temperature zone with them around.

Everyday , teaching the underprivileged kids, I try in a small way to bridge the gap between the have and havenots, religion  and the numerous lines we are divided into. Did you know, a balmiki cannot sit with an adharmi , a khatri sikh cannot sit with the balmiki and the adharmis. The Jat Sikhs they are superior to others, the kids from Bihar and UP don’t sit with each other , further away and mind you they all think they are one up on each other . Who taught them all this? Where one should be learning science, and brushing up maths , they worry more about castes and where not to sit . After, a long time they sit together and now in six months they will earn a new word’ half girlfriend’ thanks to a bolly wood movie made on this name. just imagine knowing English and being fluent in it will be the passport to having a full girlfriend.

The burden of a full girlfriend and the criteria thereof is increasing. I think , instead of degrees, boys should enroll in English speaking classes as that is the new divide of the caste barrier ! Even the cricket umpires have been directed to speak in English and with the UPSC aspirants also in arms in or against Englsih , I wonder if the hangover of the Colonials is emerging again. Till then, in sylvan rustic village of Punjab, I am safe .