The Suitable Groom

26. Dec 2011

Everyone wishes to sleep late on Sundays, covered in blanket, especially on a winter morning, and then some have to attend the office. As I had missed my office earlier for a short tour to Sunabeda (Koraput), I had to attend office today.

Our office has one of those weird timing resembling factory shifts. It’s pretty much the same like that of H.A.L factory in Sunabeda, where the siren goes loud at 6 a.m. and the other comes at 2 marking the end of one shift, except for the fact that we don’t have any siren over here in my office.

In the front of my office there is a beautiful park called the Buddha Park or Buddha Jayanti Park for people who don’t like short names :P .



Buddha Park is pretty famous as a video shooting location, for serials, album songs and films.

What interests me are not the long walkways, but the bird watching space (hey ain’t talking about the girls who jog there :P, but the beautiful 2 legged creatures.

I reached my office and hurried for the finger recognition attendance device, “Beep - Thank You “said the Automated Lady Voice from the weird looking box at the time read 6:10 A.M there. From there I slowly made way to my chamber.

My office has one of those entrances like in Ghost Bungalows of Tulsi Ramsay’s Horror Movies. Here the device is placed exactly near the Dungeon Door where our creepy monster lies with a Trishul holding it like an Oscar award. Inside our very own office dungeons, there is a Data Library where I spot the I.T. guys occasionally giving the same look like Tulsi Ramsay’s Saamri.

I had this plan set on every morning shift of mine, 1and half hour of birding with a Nikon D90 and 70-300mm lens, and the rest 30 mins for breakfast and tea :D . Don’t blame me, every guy in the morning shift starts his work at 8 :D.

Thus without wasting any time I went inside the Buddha Park jumping over the fence. The main gate is a bit far away so I prefer saving my energy :D.

It has been 2 months since I’m doing my rounds in Buddha park and I got some very good shots of the purple rumped Sunbird , the Asian koel , sparrow , The White Throated- Kingfisher , Red Whiskered Bulbul , Indian Roller (my favorite which I got recently), shikra , Indian Robin, Oriental Magpie Robin, Red-vented Bulbul , The little green Bee Eater and many more.

After a 30mins walk up the nearby uphill, I felt a little uncomfortable to continue. I thought of getting back to one of the park benches to rest.
While coming back I saw many Green Bee eaters sitting on the wires. The place I was standing is an incomplete pathway and I have never seen people coming this way to walk or jog. Generally I don’t click the birds on an unnatural perch like wire but since I was close I thought of trying the full frame portrait shot of the Green Bee eater. I walked up very slowly towards the Green Bee Eater, sometimes standing still. Finally I crawled near enough to get the shot I wanted.

The jogging members were watching me, probably my action’s aroused their curiosity of why am I behaving like a circus clown. A father and daughter duo came up to me, making the birdie fly. Damn! My 15mins just flew away with the bird. The gentleman asked me the very obvious question that he came up for “Photography karucha nai ?? (So you’re doing photography huh ?? ).
“No I was just making the tree grow by simply watching it through the camera view finder “I muttered myself. “Agyaan (yes) I said with a forced Colgate smile on my face.

And then came the very obvious second question with a sarcastic laugh “arre ... aeithi kano uthaucha ??? What are you clicking here?? “I said “BIRDS “... Oh birds ... That's right. Said the gentleman while her daughter was smiling at me as if I was talking about the girl’s hostel next door

After they went away I waited for some more time for the bee eater to return. This Lil bird has a tendency to perch on the same branch/wire again. And there it was, back on the wires close enough for me get the body shot and again.

I clown walked close to the bird, praying not to be interfered again. I saw a man with a brown monkey cap coming towards me; I hurriedly clicked a few shots of the bee eater before it flies away. The man was making weird noises while rotating his hands like a merry go around. “wouut … wOu ..w Ou ..“.

What in the name of god was that sound, whatever, it was very irritating!
Before I could get more shots the birdie, the shot of the day for me, I got intervened again. Damn it! I missed again. The merry go around man did his job. His long hands were propelling himself forward as he walked, weird enough to make people disperse from his way, so how could a Lil birdie sit quietly???.

The man got passed me and made a U-turn after walking 10 steps. When I thought he would be leaving now, he halted like that of the bus with a power brake caution sticker at the bumpers.

I was expecting the obvious questions again.

The man here was around 5’8” height, with a pot belly, short trousers of light blue color, rainy shoes of black color, cream color shirt with a half sweater of light brown color with white borders at the shoulders. He had a broad face with a little beard, small eyes, relatively bigger chin and short neck with the brown folded monkey cap I mentioned earlier. I shall call him merry go uncle (MgU) for our following conversation:

Mgu : Are you a photographer?
Me: Yes
Mgu: Are a professional one?
Me: Ahh... No more like hobbyist
Mug: So what are you clicking here?
Me: Birds sir... These are called the bee-eaters... I’m trying to click them.
Mgu: So you get paid for this? Or for what are you doing this?
Me: Sir, I said I'm a hobbyist photographer. I do it, because I like it.
Mgu: Hey, click a photograph of me; I want to see how photographers of Odisha click. I live in Delhi, so I want to check out what u guys have got.

I had seriously no interest in clicking him. I might click him may be after 10-15 years when he would have enough wrinkles on his face :P. Yeah photographers are shameless people as my buddy Tanuja says :D. Irony is... She is also one of them :D.

Me: Oh sir I would love to, but I won’t get a decent portrait shot with this lens of mine. May be later.

I know that was the dumbest answer ever. If I get the portraits of the birds then why not humans. Anyways as I told, I had no interest in clicking him.


While I was over with finishing my sentence, Mg Uncle came near me.

Mgu: Are u college student ??
Me: No, I work at Tarang Television.
Mgu: what work?
Me: I work as a motion graphics artist
Mgu: ohh... goood goooood ..

I knew he dint got any of it on what I said, from his face.

“Actually, I’m a textile engineer. I live in Noida. I did ma textile engineering from Madras. As u know kid there were no such institutions back then in Odisha so I went to Madras” he said.

I thought “But why are u saying this to me uncle, go away I want to Bee Eaters in my desktop wallpaper today.” He continued to say more. “I came here to search a groom for my daughter. She passed her engineering from KIST College and works at TCS Delhi. It has been a week and I’m still searching for the right groom. The suitable candidate that I came to see said to his father that he is not getting a day leave from his office to meet us. But then I saw that guy here in Bhubaneswar. ‘mu bhabuchi sie love marriage kariba, nahele emiti kahinki karithanta?? (I think he is willing for a love marriage or else he wouldn’t have done such kind of thing) “mu jaiki kahili mahapatra babunku, apanaka pua ta buluchi aeithi, gharaku asuni. Dekhantu sie kauthi love marriage kariba. (I said to Mohapatra babu, that his son would go for love marriage or else he would have come home)

Ahh uncle, gimme a break! What can I do if that boy wants to go for a love marriage?? (I thought to myself)

And merry go around uncle was generous enough to continue without hearing anything from me. I said “Why don’t u search online in matrimony sites”.

Mgu: I have done all but I can’t find anyone.

|

|
Mgu : and your salary??

**k (censored here for the blog :P)

Mgu: Oh that’s great! Why don’t u get married now?
ME: Uncle, I don’t think I’m well settled enough.
Mgu : What are u talking about? The salary you get is well enough to sustain in Bhubaneswar. You must be having you house here right??
Me: Yes.
Mgu: Oh good! How many brothers and sisters are you??
Me: Four! 2 brothers, 2 sisters
Mgu: And you are the youngest?
Me: Yes
Mgu: Au bhauni mane sabu baha hei sarileni ? (And you sisters are all married)
Me: Yes
Mgu: Then why are you waiting to get married.
I asked my daughter to search her own groom, but she says “nai daddy, mu love marriage karibini” (typically like of the opera dialogs huh :P)

She is 26yrs, works in a good company, but she is pretty much against this love marriage. aji kali love marriage re north re jou jhia manaku mariki pack kariki pakeidaucanti, sei bahut dari jaichi “ (Nowadays there so much of murders happening in love marriage where the wife gets packed in a polythene to be thrown outside)

I was like, WTF... I wanted to pierce a dagger into ma chest hearing these things. Moreover I was thinking even the Bee eater won’t perch here for the next month after hearing this.

MgU continued: Hey how old are you??
Me: I’m 25yrs old.

After hearing me, Ohh .. 25yrs .. hmmm … aammm .. you get married soon boy. Do u believe in love marriages?

Me: Sir ain’t thinking of any marriage right now at this age, but may be in 2-3 years.
Mgu: I think you are suitable enough to get married now. I have a younger daughter too. She is around 23yrs old, reading at KIST too.

So what did u say your name was??

Me: It’s Udayan.

Udayan Sarathi Behera (in James bond style)

Mgu: And where is your village??
Me: Salepur, Cuttack.
Mgu: Ohh SALIPUR … Rasogolla’s
Me: Yeah ..
Mgu: and what’s you caste??
I was like what, why do u wanna know my caste??

“Scheduled caste, Chamar”, I said.

Mgu: “Ohh .. chamar! .. (after a long pause)

No problems, I have no problems with caste. All castes are equal. I treat them equally.

Okay, you carry on with your photography” he said as he walked away.

Good Riddance I said to myself.

Mg u was searching a suitable candidate in me. All went well and agreeable about me and my background. I was almost selected to be the would-be groom for his youngest daughter until he found out about my caste.

Poor man had a probable heart break hearing about ma caste.

Ain’t saying I wanted to marry his daughters :P but sadly yes caste-ism still exists I said to myself as I jumped off from the fence again to make ma way to office .

P.S :- The shot of the Day that i was talking about :) The Little Green Bee Eater


got this shot during my next visit :) .