Chintito

A commencement of wars

Chintito

They say a bachelor is the only man who has never told his wife a lie, and that a bride is a woman with a fine prospect of happiness behind her. The adages shall go in vain and the twain shall meet many a time, specially this coming winter.

Have we not wondered why people wait months for the cold weather to set in before tying the knot, however hot may the relationship be? One possible reason is that neither in the couple wants to risk any heated furore rising above normal in the early years.

Who would argue that married life is full of excitement leading to frustration in many cases? Under normal circumstances in the first year of marriage, the man speaks and the woman listens. In the second year, the woman speaks and the man listens. In the third year, they both speak and the neighbours listen. In the fourth year, their parents, relatives, and friends speak as counsellors, and the couple listens.

So here follows some lines that I nicked from the Net (www.ahajokes.com), with the fond hope that they bring some relief amidst the rise in crime and price. But wait! The two words bring to mid two separate stories.

One is about Rid Pharma, whose product Temset, has been the cause of death (as reported in newspapers) of nearly thirty children who were administered the syrup as medication for their illness. The court has sent the owner to jail, and rightfully so. Our judiciary must take the responsibility of putting criminals behind bars and inflicting appropriate punishment to the guilty, more so by gauging the spirit of the matter, rather than being compelled to provide text book judgements based on the wily defence lawyers' efforts to find loopholes in the system, such as the filing of a case, the framing of a complaint, and the double meaning of words in the FIR. In doing so, they shall be commencing the second war of liberation, and this one is against crime. Please, manoniyo adalat, let not the death of those innocent children go in vain.

The other is about the depleting buying power of the low- and middle-income people. May I urge our telly journalists to stop interviewing the shopkeepers in our bazaars day in day out? Their response is no less than the parroting of the trained bird who narrates from how much Taka to how much the price of a product has increased. They have readymade causes. For instance: bus strike, bad weather, Olympics, student unrest, and Nobel prize. The journalists should go to the source of the matter and unearth a syndicate member or two. In doing so, they too shall be commencing the second war of liberation, and this one is against hunger. It is alarming to be told that more percentiles are sinking below the poverty line. That is the result of years of corruption by all and sundry, led of course by a section of our politicians, bureaucrats, and businesspeople.

Now, back to marriage matters

It is true that love is blind but marriage is definitely an eye-opener.

It's true that all men are born free and equal, but some of them get married!

There was this man who muttered a few words and found himself married. A year later he muttered something in his sleep and found himself divorced.

A happy marriage is a matter of giving and taking; the husband gives and the wife takes.

Son: How much does it cost to get married, Dad? Father: I don't know son, I'm still paying for it.

Son: Is it true Dad that in ancient China a man doesn't know his wife until he marries. Father: That happens everywhere, son, everywhere!

Love is one long sweet dream, and marriage is the alarm clock.

They say when a man holds a woman's hand before marriage, it is love; after marriage, it is self-defence.

When a newly married man looks happy, we know why. But when a ten-year married man looks happy, we wonder why.

There was this lover who said that he would go through hell for her. They got married, and now he is going through hell.

There was a man who said, "I never knew what happiness was until I got married...and then it was too late!"

And top of today's list is the one that says that a husband is living proof that a wife can take a joke.

But, for the intending couples, let not the above or anything else deter you. And I conclude this week's mayhem with a sane thought from Socrates, who said, 'By all means marry. If you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher'.

I have always wondered why Socrates, a male chauvinist pig as he was, never had any advice for our women folk. So here is one from Yours Truly. 'By all means marry, ladies. If you get a good husband, your parents will be happy. If you get a bad one, let them know for God's sake; and the sooner the better.’

Cartoon by Tanmoy