Check out 16 Return-To-Work Programs In India For Ambitious Women Like You!
Imagine often attracting only misers when you date! All these incidents from my life make me wonder why women are called gold diggers!
This goes out to all my sisters who have inadvertently been magnets that have attracted misers. We have often dialled M for Misers in our lives without meaning to!
Honey attracts bees. Men do call me ‘honey’ endearingly and maybe that’s why I attract makhichoos men every time I decide to give a man a chance.
Should I talk about the boyfriend who used to make me go dutch even on toll bridges every time we crossed the Worli Sea link? And even the waiter’s tip which we split so often that I started getting repelled by anything with the term ‘split.’ Even banana split ice-creams!
Or should I talk about the fukre millionaire who never spared a chance to boast about staying at Worli and being a ‘Townie.’ And yet, not only was I footing his share of food and drinks consumption, matters came to a head when I was made to foot his friend’s drinking bill too. This happened when the said friend joined us for dinner at a pub!
As if this wasn’t bad enough, after accepting expensive birthday gifts from me, he would often ask me to book his transport to drop him home. I wondered why he didn’t borrow from his parents with whom he lived. Or even how his conscience allowed him to borrow from a single girl! A girl who was living on her own, footing the sky high Mumbai rent. And didn’t even have a family living with her, from whom she could ever borrow money for her transport.
Or should I talk of the guy who asked me to at least pay the tip to the waiter, since his Sodexo coupons were being used to foot the bill at the restaurant. It was only fair, he said. And then we women are accused of being gold diggers? Funny, eh?
Then there was that guy whom I’d asked to get me band-aids while he was passing by, since I had accidentally cut my finger while chopping vegetables. He only bought one band-aid from the shop. So a few hours later, when my sole band-aid was peeling off, I had to step out to buy myself a stack of band-aids.
But…
The stinging stingy award should go to this bhalo chele (Bengali word for the quintessential good boy) who pleaded me to meet him on his birthday. Now I finish my meals by 7 pm. So, when I met him at a pub post 9pm, politely I refused to eat/drink. But he insisted.
So I ordered a hot toddy as an antidote to my sore throat and tasted a piece of chicken which was on his plate, upon his insistence. Who was to know this would come back and bite me later.
On date two, we went to a Spanish restaurant where he kept ordering wine glass after wine glass. I am a teetotaller and I ate little thanks to my workout regime while he had a very healthy appetite.
When the bill came, he made me go dutch. Then he made me pay for the transport to my place! On top of that, he self invited himself to my place.
He, obviously, didn’t get lucky but borrowed cash from me to pay for his auto that night. And it’s not like he was hard up on money. In fact, earlier in the day he had shown me his credit card. It accrues cash-back if he books Ola/Uber. Yet he decided to forgo these options and borrowed cash from me for his transport.
Later when I asked for the borrowed cash, he reminded me that I owed him money. Apparently, the tiny piece of chicken he coerced me to taste and the drink he compelled me to order, on his birthday, I was supposed to pay for them!
So rather than return me the money he owed me, he played the part of an extortionist well. And this was a guy who boasted about, how he was a wizard with money and bought himself an apartment in Goregaon East.
Yea well, my closing lines to such Scrooge like characters would be – read up ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens. Then maybe, we will see a change of heart, next time they ask a girl out.
Picture credits: Still from Dice Media’s series Adulting season 2
Editor’s Note: This article is not meant to be a commentary on all men, but on those who fit the bill, as described here.
read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
14 years after her last feature film Dhobi Ghat, storyteller extraordinaire comes up with her new film, Laapataa Ladies, a must watch.
*Some spoilers alert*
Every religion around the world dictates terms to women. The onus is always on women to be ‘modest’ and cover their faces and bodies so men can’t be “tempted”, rather than on men to keep their eyes where they belong and behave like civilized beings. So much so that even rape has been excused on the grounds of women eating chowmein or ‘men will be men’. I think the best Hindi movie retort to this unwanted advice on ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’ (an alone woman is like an open jewellery box) came from Geet in Jab We Met – Kya aap gyan dene ke paise lete hain kyonki chillar nahin hain mere paas.
The premise of Laapataa Ladies is beautifully simple – two brides clad in the ghunghat that covers their identity get mixed up on a train. Within this Russian Doll, you get a comedy of errors, a story of getting lost, a commentary on patriarchy’s attitude towards women, a mystery, and a tale of finding oneself, all in one. Done with a mostly light touch that has you laughing and nodding along.
Please enter your email address