Wedding scene is officially coming to a close and I was attending one of the classiest Page 3 weddings and all I could think was a story that I used to shrug off as a younger kid - The Town Mouse and The Country Mouse . The ambience , the feel and the wedding were al beautiful and everything was done with the highest level of sophistication and extravagance and no expense was spared with the decor , food and flowers and the band and the spillage of jewels of the women , trust me we could have cleared the debts of Punjab and the eighbouring states with loose change to spare and education wouldn’t have suffered just like its happening at one of our esteemed universities but that rant and sadness is for another day on another page.
Of course every Punjabi fat wedding is not complete without alcohol and drinking away to oblivion , its like the coffers are opened and the cave of Ali Baba is open . So along the festivities , and hobnobbing and socialising with everyone and talking politely and then talking about them when we all moved to the next set of people , slowly and slowly I realised that everyone was getting drunk ! Vodka was the flavour of the evening and the behaviour changed, they all became more and more relaxed and friendly and bubbly and the inhibitions were gone . Some who otherwise would not say anything , had an opinion about everything or were so vocal , and some were looking for food to assuage the light headiness.
The pallu of the saree kept on slipping and more was on display than how they had come .
I am not a prude nor do I have anything against drinking , drink , don’t drink , your wish ; provided you can hold your liquor . The intoxication and the ready availability, the abundance ,and the wish to be more sophisticated , modern , western , hep any of the adjectives has made the women a confused lot .
Maybe , this is the Biji in me talking . A lot will attack me that it’s their right , feminism, equality and why can’t they drink and will feel that I am being harsh . Im not being harsh Im wondering how we have changed from loosing ourselves in this rat race to prove we are modern. A country mouse like me who lives in a village and far from the town lights gets bedazzled with this change in ethics or the lifestyle . the bright lights are so seductive ,and entrap me in their lure and its a siren call but remember the siren call was given to lure the fishermen to kill them by the mermaids aka Pirates of Caribbean . I want these women to be modern and outgoing in their outlook and making a change in the pulse of Punjab, there is so much potential in them . All of them are educated , smart , wise and can make such a positive impact if they just changed a bit . They have money ,power at their disposal and also the freedom to do this . The key which I think divides us from advanced countries is freedom to implement and to translate and to take charge and be impactful to change it for the next generation ( that does include their kids and grandkid’s ) . A temporary fix doesn’t remove the harshness of life and at best would make the town mouse happy in his /her environment , but can you remain cocooned forever?
Make a change and remove the moniker of town / country forever.
Do remember that as a state we are going through our darkest periods of drug abuse , alcoholism and the downfall of the society . We cant remain excluded while Rome burns .
