Kya apke ladke ko plumbing aati hai?

I am all for being tolerant and patient towards different belief systems that exist in this world. But once in a while, I am confronted with something that completely rattles the logical faculties of my brain and I am left wondering- Am I a dumb person who fails to see the enlightening truth in other person’s argument?

Let me take you through some incredible situations that I have been in or that I have come across:

#1 Kya Aapke ladke ko plumbing aati hai?

While a friend was being interviewed for arranged marriage, the guy’s parents asked her- “Kya aapko cooking aati hai? (Can you cook?)” My well-educated friend, with a high-paying job, gave them an incredulous look. She did not know what to say! The guy’s parents were probably clever enough to interpret this gesture and so the mother quickly corrected, “We are not going to ask you to cook daily but one should know how to cook in case there is some kind of emergency.”

I told my friend that the only reply to this question is another question- “Kya apke ladke ko plumbing aati hai? (Can your son do plumbing?) One should know in case there is some kind of emergency!”

What is this “emergency” that they were talking about? Unless the girl is a chef, asking her if she can cook is disrespecting her education. I mean, would anyone ask the boy the question that I mentioned above?

#2 Some unsolicited judgments

I got into Cummins College of Engineering in the year 2005. My father, who was very proud of me, mentioned it to a few people. One of his friends, who knew absolutely nothing about me, walked up to me and asked “How much did your father pay to get you into Cummins?”

I wonder how he arrived at the conclusion that my father had to pay! Did he think of it because my father was a business man who made decent amount of money or because my father was not very well educated? I don’t know but he left me puzzled.

I laughed at his statement. I had scored 174 out of 200 in Maharashtra State Entrance Exams in 2005 and I was eligible to get into COEP, which is rated as the best engineering college in Pune.

#3 Khoon ka karz!

I have a friend, who was detected with cancer two years ago. She is married and has a 5 year old kid. Neither her in-laws nor her husband were available for her treatment. It was her father who ran with her from pillar to post, from one hospital to another! And yet, when her father had a heart attacked, she was busy doing chores at her sasural! She visited her father only once in the hospital. Her mother-in-law’s wrath overshadowed the love she felt for her father.

Whenever I come across such stories, I fail to understand this world. I fail to understand “duniyadaari”. Am I the only one? Do share your stories.