The art of aging
Saturday, July 22, 2006 at 11:25PM Three friends meet after a gap of 6 years. The youngest(M1) is married and has a toddler and another one on the way. The older guy(M2) is married and has two kids (a school going kid and a toddler). The oldest guy(U) however is still unmarried ..
They are both visiting the youngest dude and he is driving them around, showing the two visitors the sights..
They are on the freeway and catching up on what has passed since their good old university days,
M2 : Sala, this place must be pretty expensive yaar !
M1 : Sale, 2000-me yehan tho garage karidhna bhi mushkil tha be (in 2000 it was difficult even to buy a garage here, leave alone buying a house)
M2 : Is traffic just like this or does it get worse during weekdays ?
all of a sudden :
U : Cute chick at 3:00
M1: (keeps driving) Yeah, traffic is bad here, get a break when you drop your kid at daycare though! Get to use the carpool lane !
M2 : You guys call the HOV lane "carpool lane " here ?
U : GUYS !!! GUYS !!! I just said "cute chick at 3:00".. what is wrong with you guys ? That chick was awesome and she was zipping past us in a convertible Mazda Miata man !! You guys didnt even look !!
M1 : What is the point in looking ? there are a million hot chicks out there !!
U : (looking back at M2 who is in the back seat) Sale, dont tell me you also didnt look !!
M2 : Nahi dheka yaar .. (didnt see either)
U : What the F&^* is wrong with you guys. The two of you could spot a babe a mile away and now look at you guys ! (shaking his head in disbelief)
M2 : (leans forward from the backseat and addresses M1 - who by now you have figured out is "yours truly")
Abe Sundari, tumhe bhi aisaa hi lagta hi kya ? Chokri jitna bhi koobsoorat ho, it goes through your brain without registering ! ( do you also feel it sundar ? No matter how gorgeous the woman who passes by, your brain somehow has learnt not to process that fact ?)
Mind you, we were all intellectuals who have honed our debating skills over many a glass of Tea under the Banarasi Banyan trees !! We do talk like that..
M1 : Haan be. Shaadhi ke baad aise ho gaya ! patha bhi nahi chala ki kaise our kyoon hota aisa ? ( yeah man, after marriage that is how it has been. Dont even know when and why that happened).
U : So what now, women dont turn you guys on anymore !!
M2 : Saale, we are married and have a family ! As long as you can love the woman at home, that is all that matters ! Where is the need to even notice these women ? Kuch hone waala hi kya ? Nahi Naa ? Tho kyoon ? (is something going to happen when we look at other women ? No right ? then why even look ?)
M1 : The brain is an amazing thing man. I can spot my wife in a crowd and I can sense that she is around but I can totally tune out other women. It is not that the ability to spot females a mile away is gone, it is just been shelved !
M2 : Well said man. I would have put it exactly like that ! You stole the words from my mouth !
U : (by now is sickened by the proceedings).. I cant believe how you guys have changed !!
M1 and M2 : Sudhar Jha beta !! (Change for the better son !! M2 hi-fi's M1 from the back seat) When you get married, you will also become like us and only then you will understand !!!
The brain is really an amazing thing. I have spoken to many guys and they have all agreed with me on this. Somehow they see women differently after marriage. More interesting is how they see their wives after they have become mothers !!
(for non hindi speaking folk, sorry for the Hind-Lish post. Saala is just a term of endearment among dorm buddies... This was a real conversation from a long time ago..)
For those of you who know M2 and U, please keep them anonymous. I didnt get their permission before posting this (Not that the two of you are ever going to read this blog!!)
Reader Comments (4)
i think U would call it the manipulation of marriage ;p heheh
maybe after a kid - but after marriage hummm im not so sure ;)
Quite frankly, I never thought men could stop looking at other women. I don't think anything really stops them..U might be an exception!
correct visithra, just immediately after marriage, you still look but somehow the guilt feeling is slowly fed to you like baby food to a baby and before you know it, you stop registering ..
anon, i hate anon comments.. looks like you are not gutsy enough to say it.. i am guessing you are a guy and you have a woman who was watching over you closely !!
see, look, observe, watch, stare, etc. etc.. varying degrees of it . what i am sayign is that you see them but it is like walking through a revolving door.. you dont really register the fact that this woman is beautiful.. (a fact that might have made you look again in your bachelor days !!)
Probably after few more years you may change Sundar. LOL.... (Please do not take it as experience). I do agree with your opinion. Quality men do behave as you said. Sometimes they behave differently... confusing.. eh...