3 minute read

LET YOUR MONEY TRAVEL FIRST CLASS AT ECONOMY RATES.

Next Article
Nature’s Rage

Nature’s Rage

Dear Auntyji

I have a terrible problem – we’ve been in Sydney for 10 years now and really building a good life here. The kids are in school and growing up like Indian Australians, just like my wife and I planned for them. But, she still insists that we go back to India for every single holiday. I really want to see other places and show my kids other cultures too. How do I approach this - she doesn’t want to listen to any arguments!

Travel Sick, Westmead

Dear Travel Sick

Besides pretending to go to India, drugging your wife before boarding the plan and when she wakes up in Disneyland you yell “surprise”, I might recommend a few other options. Firstly, no wife will ever, ever, respond well to “arguments” as you put it. Wives, like husbands, sometime need to think that it was their idea – that way half the battle is already won.

Personally, I prefer the Slow Brainwashing Method – this is a very indirect way to bring her over to the ‘dark side’. Pick the country you’d like to visit instead of India – let’s say it’s Thailand. Get the kids involved (although, don’t tell them the reason because kids are notorious for telling tales on dads!) and have a sudden interest in all things Thai. This might include taking your wife to a nice romantic Thai meal at the local Thai diner. Or treating her to a Thai massage at any one of the hundreds of Thai owned beauty and massage parlours in Sydney.

If you know anyone who have visited Thailand, invite them over and ask them to tell you about their trip – the women should be asked to emphasise the amazing

Seeking Brides

Australian citizen, Maratian Naidu Catholic, 6ft tall 31 years, born 22-05-78, never married, kind and loving nature. Seeking girl with good moral values, family oriented, kind, caring, honest and educated. Please contact # 0415 440 293.

Alliance invited for Australian citizen, 36 years, 5’10”, divorcee, Hindu male, from well established Sydney-based family. Working as Analyst in Sydney. Seeking good looking and qualified match from Australia or India, preferably Hindu with family values. Caste no bar. E-mail: madhurmilan@y7mail.com

Indian born Australian citizen, 31 years old, 5’5” working as a full time Government employer for the Railcorp in N.S.W non-smoker, non-drinker, never married, seeks bride 23 to 30 years old, with good cultural and family values. Only Muslims please, from any country. Please respond with details and photo to shafi_baig1977@yahoo.com.au

Well-settled Sikh family from Australia seeks beautiful, tall, slim, fair, educated match for their handsome, clean shaven, IT professional son; 29/6’2’’. Caste no bar. Send bio-data and photo to wahroongah@gmail.com shopping and pamper opportunities!

Sister seeks a suitable bride for her handsome Hindu Khatri brother, 28, 6’1” working as Service Manager, Sydney, and studying Masters of Accounting. Please respond with details and photo at rashi.sethi@hotmail.com or call 0433 059 618.

The Slow Brainwashing Method is only really effective if you have lots of time on your hands (and if you are the type who can be subtle). Excuse me for generalizing but husbands are not known for their subtlety. The other option you have, thanks to the marvel that is International Flight Routes, is to do both. Fly to India on Thai Airways (6 destinations in India, 3 flights a day from Sydney to Bangkok), spend two weeks in India with your family and friends, then on the way back to Sydney, stop in Thailand for a week’s holiday. Make sure that you plan that week’s holiday to within an inch of its life: I’m talking massages, personal shopping tours, cooking lessons, more pamper sessions. Your wife would never want that holiday to end. Make sure you say something like “this is only the beginning – I hear the shopping in Europe is even better!” Next India trip might only be 1 week and the “stopover” holiday two weeks.

Choose your first Stopover holiday with care – make sure your wife has an interest in that culture, food and shopping and then your imagination and budget the only limit. Of course, you could do the adult thing and just ask your wife to be reasonable and compromise, but I like my way better.

Dear Auntyji

My fiancé and I grew up in Australia – we are now both 24 years old and not very traditional at all. We just got engaged and want a quickie no-fuss wedding, but our folks want the whole shebang with a week long feast and everything that entails! What do we do?

Wedding Woes, Campsie

Looking at it that way, you should take it as a compliment that they want to arrange such a big ceremony for you – if they suggested a nice quiet intimate ceremony with just the immediate family, you should be worried!

I’ve been to a few community weddings recently – the ‘whole shebang’ variety (met both sets of your parents at most of them, by the way). And it has just occurred to me that your parents just want to do what’s ‘normal’ and ‘accepted’ in their peer group, by doing the big Bollywood wedding. Because that is what it is, isn’t it: today’s ‘traditional’ weddings are not so traditional – they are so Karan Johar!

Dear WW

I’m feeling your pain. When Uncleji and I got married my family arranged a lavish ceremony with 450 of our nearest and dearest attending. Of course, we didn’t even know 200 people but my parents had to invite everyone they knew! Somehow it’s a brag ceremony for them –look how well my daughter did!

This article is from: