Married to an Oriya

Well the title says it all but I am going to explain this more in detail.

I was born in Orissa but bought up in the Middle East. So Orissa (Odisha now!! Not then) was something very alien to me. Even though living in the Middle East with Oriya parents my Oriya was not great to begin with. I was eventually shipped to Orissa after my 10th Grade (as my parents said) to learn the ways of my ancestors and find myself (i.e. I was horrible at studies and my parents wanted to add a cool spin to it). It took me a year to adapt and after completing +2 … that’s right I had changed to the regular run of the mill “Toka”.

Arriving at KIIT in Bhubaneshwar after 2 years in Keonjhar, I was ragged like crazy even though “technically” ragging was not allowed.

Cut to the chase I eventually cleared my engineering. And was promptly shipped by Accenture to Bangalore.

Oh wait – Before this I met Suchsmita Bhagat – Long story short we were the perfect example of love over the internet (We would like to thank Hi5 , Orkut , Gtalk , Facebook and Skype) !!

So Soni(Suchismita Bhagat ) is the ultimate Oriya chick with the “Khatti’s” and “Cuttacki attitude” promptly embedded into her. She loves everything Orissa and not one day passes by when she doesn’t pine away for the dusty roads of Dolmundai Chakka on her trusty Scooty.

Well one thing led to another and here we are happily married almost a year and a half with my improved Oriya vocabulary and the craze for returning to Orissa keeping me awake at nights.

Even though none of my friends believed my marrying an Oriya girl, I would just like to say that marry an Oriya girl because here are a couple of things which you get:

1) Crash Course to the joys of Oriya Food
· Unlimited portions of Mutton Kasa
· Pakhal Bhaath made the right way
· Guided tour of Cuttack eventually leading to PPMC(Professor Pada Mutton Chop) and Royal Biriyani
· The joy of sitting behind your wife when she weaves in and out of traffic just to make sure you taste the perfect chuski.
· DAHI BAARA – ALOODAM – breakfast , lunch or dinner.
· GupChup a.k.a Panipuri for guys who don’t get it
· Love Fish my friend …. You will get a ton of it to eat!! And sea food will be delivered fresh. None of that frozen shit.
· Egg Roll – Egg Chicken Roll- Double Egg Chciken Roll ---- the list goes on.
· Eating is now a secondary hobby and my ever increasing waistline is proof of the same. Please for one second though don’t think that I have married my wife for the food (Subtle wink) That is just an added bonus.
2) Mother-In-Law who is crazy about you and treats you better than her daughter going to extent of forgetting her birthday but remembering yours instead.
3) Undying support of all the “bhai’s” your wife has accumulated over the years. These might be the rakhi brothers or even her brother who till the wedding looked at you with all the hate he could manage. (I am still scared of him )
4) The procedure of calling anyone Bhaina at the drop of a hat to diffuse a particularly tense situation. May it be the policeman, the politician or even the local waiter. And it does work outside Orissa. I have tried it at Burger King. They always respond.
5) Shopping – The best of ethnic wear found at a throw away price. Utkal textiles and few other places. And the Pipli hangings have been a craze with all my work colleagues and friends. Also while wearing a saree your wife will be exotic especially when you say Orissa.
6) YOU will be introduced to Akshaya Mohanty’s music. AND YOU BETTER LIKE IT ….
7) Orissa has a flag !! … YES IT DOES
8) Cursing in Oriya is an art and I have now mastered a certain aspect of it. This however you will pick up from the minute you get down at the airport and the driver is cut off by a bicycle driver.
9) There is a Buddhist Circuit in Orissa which is truly awesome !! Ratnagiri and Udaygiri and all that …. Wonderful …. And on a bike even better.
10) The art of bribing the havaldars when required. And the liberal use of “bhaina” does always help. And if someone younger you can always apply for te student discount !!
11) The beautiful Ring road at Cuttack. It has a certain riverside charm …. Cant be explained till experienced.
12) Bargaining for everything. You will learn it from your wife predominantly and it doesn’t help when you wife has an MBA in finance.

This list is ever endless but let me wind up by saying that even though I dated on and off with various girls I don’t know what dragged me back to finding the love of my life in an Oriya Girl. Maybe it’s the extra dose of love which an Oriya girl can shower over you without expecting much in return. Or maybe it’s just that Orissa holds a deeper meaning in every Oriya’s life. Whatever it might be it happened.

So my friends who do read this …. Marry an Oriya girl …. You cant imagine the new life you will be introduced to !!