Sudoku n Life

Ever since the Times Of India starting giving Sudoku in their edition, I have been solving the puzzle. Over the period I developed a sense of competitiveness to solve all the puzzles confronted by me. The easy level is far easier now. The medium and difficult level pose some sort of resistance.
During this learning phase with experience I developed this way of solving the medium rated puzzle. When all the obvious blanks are filled with numbers, usually I get a row, column or a 3 * 3 square with only 2 options left with a unique combination. Clearly one is right and the other is wrong. I fill the space with one of the options with a smaller letter than the rest and then move forward to solve the puzzle. If all goes well, my guess was right and I change all the smaller letters into normal font. If there is any ambiguity than I reverse the choice I made previously. In anyway I find the correct answer.

This Saturday while solving the medium level Sudoku I wondered if I could do the same with life. Decide on one thing and then live life with smaller font and in case of confrontation, I could just go back and reverse the choice. Solving the puzzle correctly this time.
How true it is when someone marking the difference between reel and real life said, “Life has No retakes”

Weddings

The last 2 months made me witness 3 marriages of close friends. I couldn’t help but notice some real big differences, which I thought to pen down.
Out of the 3 two were of South Indian friends and one of a North Indian. 1 was a Christian another a Brahmin and one a Punjabi. Well I m not trying to divide everything on lines of religion and area but the differences were evident and spoke a lot about the two.
Jan started off with a South Indian Christian of a dear friend and an ex – colleague. It was nothing like the Christian wedding, which we had pictured complete with wine, ball dance etc. The ceremony was simple, religious and with mass involvement. It took place in a chapel. The ceremony took around 3 hrs and every one was quite attentive to the sermons and hymns or whatever they are called by the Father and his group. People were actively participating in prayers with full enthusiasm. Though the whole ceremony took place in Malayalam, which for us was alien, but we could feel the presence of faith and serenity in the atmosphere. This followed by a community lunch, which to me was quite different than all I had witnessed in 26 years of my life. There was a big hall with table and chairs arranged and food already placed on the tables. Everyone was to sit and eat from the contents on his/her table. There were all sorts of delicacies ranging from chicken, mutton, beef, vegetables, something for everyone. Another thing that was odd was that after the marriage, the groom was supposed to leave for the brides place and not the other way round, as I had known till date.

February end we headed to Moradabad for another marriage. This time it seemed like home. So even the expectations grew. We hoped to have some drinks a tiring dance on the floor and a big Non Vegetarian meal. This is what most marriages in North comprise of, though the Non veg and the booze thing depends on individual family choices but dance is surely there with the upbeat Punjabi music. This wedding also started with dance in front of the horse the groom was riding. It followed with drinks from a cars boot. This is usually done when the booze is a no – no in marriage. Well drinks brought out the tireless dancer in us and we rocked the dance floor till past midnight. Had our dinner and were back to where we had to go.
March starting I had an invitation to attend another south Indian marriage in Bangalore. I was feeling quite lonely, as there were no friends to accompany me. I reached the reception hall and was welcomed with a rose from a very sweet little girl. The environment was filled with sound of shehnai. I met my friend, congratulated him and then sat among the guests to enjoy the proceedings. The dinner was in the same style. Tables laid down for small groups.

The differences in noticed in all the three weddings were:

1. The groom for some reason sits on the right of the bride in North Indian weddings and the reverse happens in South Indian weddings. I don’t know the funda behind the seating position but there is an evident difference.
2. The pomp and show in North Indian weddings is mush more than in South Indian. People in North feel that marriage is the only time to look best. The dresses are carefully chosen for the occasion and mark a strong show off. In Southern India, only the bride and groom are well dressed. Others don’t really believe in getting dressed for the occasion.
3. The ceremonies in Southern India are quite and religious. While in Northern India they are marked with loud music and a lot of people fanatically dancing. The religious rituals are carried out in seclusion or with only the near and dears present.

Summing up with one thing that is common is the grooms ever smiling face for the photographers. Each time a friend or relative comes to visit, all get together to have a pic with the couple. Both the bride and groom are constantly smiling throughout this display that lasts for more than a thousand photographs and some 3 hrs of video recording.