Of the candles, how to snuff them out and a global Ikea!

What with being the newly-wed couple, apart from trying to learn to cook and clean and be housewifely, atleast for a short while, there are pressures of 'setting up' your home. So, everyone calls asking 'Veedella set aacha?' and I go, err. well, hmm.. AB was living alone for quite sometime in this house before I came in (to make it a home, meaning, lived in and messy! - LOL) So, since we've been very ill ever since we got married ( Ahem!), we are finally setting up our 'home' now. After a month of our marriage. (Yes, after this point, you can try remember the date and leave best wishes comments too)

So, our favorite place to shop is Ikea. Guess why. Because buying furniture in Ikea means we can build something meaningful together. The togetherness, the teamwork that goes in assembling an Ikea piece of furniture makes the marriage so strong. Ya, right! Ikea is cheap and will not send you gaping at your CC bill the coming month. That is the reason why we go to Ikea. (Actually, I love Ikeaish stores. The colours, the variety, the marketing efforts, the set-up and yes, the building and the carpentry that Ikea gives an opportunity for, totally excites me and not AB!) Ya, as I was saying, our first Ikea purchase was a white dresser, a very pretty one and a cheap one, I must admit. This one took quite some assembling and a lot of effort. From AB. (I do not want to lie!) Then, he swore never to step into Ikea. But again, temptation called Adam and Eve and we ended up needing a TV stand and we bought one from Ikea! This ,we assembled together and all that. I stood and watched while he assembled it for 3 days! Finally, my husband thanks to him being a Madrasi had this brainwave that I'm going to share now.

What if Ikea opens a store in Chennai? Well, for one, we'd not go to Ikea without checking Rahu Kaalam and Yamagandam :P So, the assembling headache is half cured rightaway. We can find good quality, cheap stuff immediately in Ikea because we followed the Rahu Kaalam rules! And then, when it comes to assembling, you should set up a 'muhurtham' for it. Choose a time that is not Rahu Kaalam or Yamagandam, and is compatible with your stars and there you go, your assembling is full of togetherness and teamwork and happiness and all that jazz. Imagine those madisaar maamis setting up Ikeas with their maamas! Or, those diamond nose studs glistening as the maamis bend over to hit that nail at the right spot and the maamas in their veshtis and their typically checked shirts, the veebudi on their foreheads. Oh, we could even do a small Puja of the merchandise with some Naivedyam (milk and bananas will do!) and some 'mani-adichifying' and an arati ( after all, its an addition to the house, errr..home!) So much fun, so much togetherness and all that. Sigh, assembling Ikea furniture in the US seems so boring in comparison now :(

Oh, I have to tell this. We were generally looking around for stuff to decorate our home with/in. Like vases, decorative show pieces. You know what I mean? I saw this unique item at the Target Store. It was exquisitely shaped, very curvy, and in brass with some embellishments, and a small umbrella-like or a lamp shade kind of a top, and that too, in a pale colour to add to the effect and it was fairly short, and could be held in the hand or just hung over a wall. It was cheaply priced. Somewhere between $7-$10 for such a beautifully crafted piece (otherwise $7-$10 is fairly expensive ok?) I took it off the shelf and looked at it with reverence and felt it and wanted to immediately own it. I showed it to my husband who got equally curious and thought, finally, maybe, I was showing him something good! Well, we almost took it until we read the sign that described the product. A candle snuffer. I do not think I've ever laughed as much as I did that day! This country takes laziness and use of appliances to a new level with the candle snuffer. Do you really need a brass appliance/instrument/whatever to snuff out a candle? Whatever happened to the good ol' blowing and the cheeky singing of 'Happy Bday' with every candle you blow out? Sigh, sometimes, I wonder!

So, this was a fairly hilarious weekend, what with the Ikea assembling and the whole Ikea in Chennai imagination which totally set us off and we swore to ourselves that we will do the whole Naivedyam-puja thing for the next lucky Ikea product to be brought home! And the candle snuffer for a country where power cuts are fairly rare. Or, was it for those romantic dinners when you snuff out the candle and proceed to do other things..hmm...maybe... :P