Haldi-kunku for men
CAMIL PARKHE
Monday, February 14, 2011 AT 05:59 PM (IST)
Tags: Camil Parkhe, Haldi-kunku ceremony, Women
http://www.sakaaltimes.com/SakaalTimesBeta/20110214/5213164191992375760.htm
The door bell awoke me from my deep siesta in the late afternoon on January 26, one of the rare holidays for journalists. The caller, a neighbour, had come to invite my wife and daughter for the haldi-kunku function that evening. The door bell had woken me up at the right moment as I detest long siestas on a holiday. The delivery of the invitation message immediately had the desired effects among womenfolk on various floors of the building. Hectic preparations began to get ready for the event, although the function was to be held in the same building.
Around 7 pm, my wife and daughter went for the haldi-kunku function. I too went downstairs, wondering what to do for the next half an hour, or more. In the parking lot, my neighbour, whose wife was hosting the haldi-kunku, was all set to leave for the badminton court. I turned my search to another neighbour so that we could gossip for a while. He too had left home after learning that his wife would be busy with the haldi-kunku programme.
Then it struck me: haldi-kunku was not the only occasion that enabled the womenfolk in the building and the colony to have a get-together. Holi is a festival to be enjoyed by all but over the past years, I have found, that it is only the children -- boys and girls -- who participate in the festival of colours. Women too enjoy for about half an hour the joy of splashing colours on each other in their building. However, for most men -- the office-goers and also those having a holiday on that day -- Holi festivities are a taboo. The same is the case with Garba dances in which only young boys and women of all ages are seen in large numbers.
The last get-together of our housing society, although attended by men and women in equal numbers, had soon turned into an affair dominated entirely by women who chatted excitedly and incessantly and laughed merrily while the men sat or stood around quietly, not knowing what was to be done. They fared miserably at the antakshari, singing and all other contests. I began to wonder why we men are becoming dull and duller.
That night, three of us neighbours returned to the building at the same time. While we were in the lift together, I asked them: “Shall we have a haldi-kunku function exclusively for men?” “Hey, we really need something like that,” was the instant response. Now we are planning one. Hopefully, men lose their stiff upper lip during that function.
CAMIL PARKHE
Monday, February 14, 2011 AT 05:59 PM (IST)
Tags: Camil Parkhe, Haldi-kunku ceremony, Women
http://www.sakaaltimes.com/SakaalTimesBeta/20110214/5213164191992375760.htm
The door bell awoke me from my deep siesta in the late afternoon on January 26, one of the rare holidays for journalists. The caller, a neighbour, had come to invite my wife and daughter for the haldi-kunku function that evening. The door bell had woken me up at the right moment as I detest long siestas on a holiday. The delivery of the invitation message immediately had the desired effects among womenfolk on various floors of the building. Hectic preparations began to get ready for the event, although the function was to be held in the same building.
Around 7 pm, my wife and daughter went for the haldi-kunku function. I too went downstairs, wondering what to do for the next half an hour, or more. In the parking lot, my neighbour, whose wife was hosting the haldi-kunku, was all set to leave for the badminton court. I turned my search to another neighbour so that we could gossip for a while. He too had left home after learning that his wife would be busy with the haldi-kunku programme.
Then it struck me: haldi-kunku was not the only occasion that enabled the womenfolk in the building and the colony to have a get-together. Holi is a festival to be enjoyed by all but over the past years, I have found, that it is only the children -- boys and girls -- who participate in the festival of colours. Women too enjoy for about half an hour the joy of splashing colours on each other in their building. However, for most men -- the office-goers and also those having a holiday on that day -- Holi festivities are a taboo. The same is the case with Garba dances in which only young boys and women of all ages are seen in large numbers.
The last get-together of our housing society, although attended by men and women in equal numbers, had soon turned into an affair dominated entirely by women who chatted excitedly and incessantly and laughed merrily while the men sat or stood around quietly, not knowing what was to be done. They fared miserably at the antakshari, singing and all other contests. I began to wonder why we men are becoming dull and duller.
That night, three of us neighbours returned to the building at the same time. While we were in the lift together, I asked them: “Shall we have a haldi-kunku function exclusively for men?” “Hey, we really need something like that,” was the instant response. Now we are planning one. Hopefully, men lose their stiff upper lip during that function.
