How to survive different species of venus aliens ;)

Okay I was about to write some of those horrible experiences in this article on the whole non-compatibility issue. But what bothers me the most is so many women won't even admit they fight. Come on, they are like ohh he is so sweet, ohh i am so perfect we never argue at all. Yeah if you are a zombie and you are into meat  you surely will never have issues biatch. I am so angry at myself for going over to my neighbors and talking to them. They are like this typical countryside people, my husband did warn me and now as i write this, I know they are evaluating judging me, may be even laughing at how I mortified myself. AAhhhh, why did i go over, why did i sit there for so much time, why did i make jokes on how i don't cook, how lazy i am, conversations should be like people you are talking to, not like you would want them to. Its humiliating on some level. They didn't say a bad word to me. For first meeting, i did act like a self loathing dork. Or may be I didn't. I am just overthinking now. But I needed someone to vent out all my jokes. Yes i was that desperate. 

But at the same time I realized how profoundly my husband can judge a person's character by looking at the guy. He told me they are orthodox, they are. He told me they wouldn't like me, I am sure they don't. He also said they are different and live different lives, aahh he is so bang on right. They are not bad, just different. I should listen more to him. He is actually good at this whole personality stuff. 

Now that I am sitting, contemplating what all i said, what all i just blurted out its getting even more to the nerves. Got to keep filling page to get it out of system. Hmmm okay now i am pacified after having this oats tasting like strawberry. You have to filter what you say. With the lack of social contact, it just gets worse and worse everyday. When you don't have a job, you got to have friends who have or a nice friend circle. May be i should get a job.

Why can't people joke about normal things like ohh yeah my husband says this to me, ohh he is so mean ,you know the real stuff. Why do they have to take everything literally? I am kidding about how my husband cooks, and the old lady says ask him if he even wants to ? Come on, with a mother in law on side you don't even know if the daughter-in-law is faking or she is that villager. I am getting mean now. I have to have a friend. Its kind of sad and depressing how i can't find one. 

All my life, I have made fun of these small town people who come from small cities with all the fasts for gods,  knowing all the pickle recipes but i guess karma is a fucking bitch. Its come on to me by giving me just one option of either talking or living alone. 

Hmm anyways I have to talk again to rebuild my smart image. Its time to show them what they can't do. Noooooo...they are good, I will find more friends at the gym. I might need them someday. You can't have bad relations with a family living next door. I will just leave them with their world and seek out mine. They are perfect in the world they live, i am still looking for grounds. In a way, they are better for themselves. Still keep looking. 

But at the end, I just get what my husband is always warning me about. He is scared for me to get out because he doesn't trust me enough also because he knows its difficult to find second love with proper training included. I can never be a good home maker, all I can do is be good at public relations and get a job. JOB is the answer to every question now. Still you gotta be independent , you gotta be free and confident even without job. Its a personality trait not resume trait. 

So now you are like what species what venus, this was the countryside venus. I will write more about gym venus tomorrow. 

Chennai isn't that bad I guess

I have been so pessimist about the whole chennai episode that i forgot to explore within city. Chennai is not like a metro city, posh shops are in different directions. You have to run around to catch up with different events. But if you live in right locality among friends, it isn't that bad. First of all, there are a lot of shops, small supermarkets, big malls, kirana shops, more, heritage, nilgiris etc etc. If you want it all, go to nilgiris store in a prominent location where they have huge space.

We never noticed with our north indian gogs what chennai specialises in. Here are some of the highlights of chennai :

1) You will never ever be hungry in chennai : Seriously there are shops in every nook and corner of chennai, I can't guarantee oil they use but still there are options from hot chips to sangeetha, i have seen audi bmws parked outside adyar anand bhavan, hot chips. Their outlets at velachery are really big and spacious. I am not saying they are serving good north indian food, they are good at south indian dishes, have them. If you are in chennai and you can't eat dosa, you will starve or chew on rubber naan.

2) Malls are less but once you are in, every brand is in house : Malls are few here, really few. Just express avenue and Inox citi centre. But they have most of the brands, again obviously you will find better clothes in mumbai, delhi.

3) Beaches : One of the reasons why there are so many foreigners in chennai is beach and the whole coast line with mahabalipuram, pondicherry etc. Its nice to sit on beach, look out at the waves, i could literally sit staring at the waves and the families, lovers, dogs. Worst thing is dog poop, horse poop, camel poop, human poop and all clutter from the shops on beach. There are hill stations nearby like yercaud, ooty, kodaikanal too.

4) Chennai Trade Center : There are so many exhibitions in this place. Furniture expo, auto expo, home center expo, property fair, career fair. Its actually good to be near it.

5) Zoo zoo zoo:  If you have kids or your heart sometimes is like a kid, you have got to go the zoo. There are so many, one in guindy one is crocodile park another one is dolphin city then there is anna zoological park. I love seeing animals so for me this is another added option. To some people, this could be bizarre. Also they have circus shows in local theatres.

6) Sowcarpet : Sowcarpet is the mini north india, there you have all the famous eatery shops. Its a feast to north indians. Go there and you will forget you are in chennai. Love the marwaris and their business spirit. Only problem is its too far from where i live.

I can't think of more. I do hate traffic here and all the u turns but still every city has some flaws, you have got to overlook to be happy with your life. In my husband's sad words, i can't change my wife how can i expect the world to change for me, so from now on to be happy and content, i will make peace within my mind and heart to have a cheerful life ahead, it doesn't matter if i keep blaming others unless i decide to accept the flaws and move on. He is still coping and gets angry sometimes but it will lessen over time. 

Shifting house is a nightmare :(

First of all, What services we chose finally, what do we have right now is what i am just going to sum up before i write things to keep in mind before shifting.

First of all we booked indian packers and movers for shifting, they are pretty local in chennai so the charges were minimal. But never ever have them if you have the most delicate items in the world. They handle things like crazy, makes your heart sink a little. On the upside, very very fast packing, they pack, they unpack and you are in your new home in a few hours.

Then we bought bean bags from cozy bean bags, velacheri. They delivered within 2 days, the guy who handles all the work is awesome, they had some offer with one you get another one for all most half price. We got 2 jumbo bean bags, the biggest ones and two other kids bean bags for foot rest. All of it came around to 7,200 rs. They are good to play games, watch tv. Take care that he fills beans equally in all the bean bags. 

Now moving on to the points to keep in mind before you shift :

1) TV, Internet provisions : I called the airtel guys and they came too to fix dish too. But as it turned out, they had a single dish for all in building so you have to get it configured by some engineer from airtel. If only our landlord told us or my husband enquired, i wouldn't be sulking without tv for 4 days and still more as they go by now. Without tv, this void is just irritating. With the stupid internet dongle, youtube videos play like a picture slideshow. All my husband had to do was just ask the office, so next time you shift make sure you get all the details on this.

2) Make sure you have stool or something to climb on so that air conditioner guys or home theatre folk can install, we didn't have any and fortunately our neighbors had one. But there are a lot of things to fix usually and its important that you have one.

3) See which network provider has the strongest hold their. Our flat has no vodafone network, most of the people tried to call and went back. Whatever network works best, buy the sim.

4) Come along with groceries, as soon as you shift you might feel hungry enough to munch on chips, milk, juice,curd,cornflakes. Just stock up the ready to eat things for at least next 5 days.

5) In India, house maid is a must. The apartments are big, there's more dust and webs. So better enquire before moving. Maid that you keep for a day will charge 300 bucks just for simple brooming cleaning. Maid interview process, the whole language problems have to be addressed. One of the maids kept saying 3000 rs for a month and we thought in tamil it meant 300. The best way to do this is to leave your husband aside and make at least four five visits before moving in.

6) Bring in the equipments : Its my ritual to buy everything that I clean with  brand new. Go to bigbazaar or any other store and buy these for sure
1) bathroom broom
2)normal broom or vaccum cleaner
3) kitchen clothes a lot of them
4) mop
5) whatever cleaning agents you need- colin, harpic, bang, washing powder, bleach,  etc etc
6) washbasin brush
7) toilet brush
8) bucket
9) 2 mugs
10) vim, soap dispenser
11) liquid soap packets
12) loofah for u
13) shower curtains

7) Curtains for the house, extra bedsheets for keeping dirty things : Make sure you buy enough curtains and also check curtain rods, first time we visited the house, we completely forgot to check the mechanism so now our curtains hang with the help of clips. Its ugly.

8) Rugs, carpets : Again, I kept on saying get the carpet but my sweet guy won't listen. He was like ohh we can always get it, but now that we are 30 kms away from mall, its kind of impossible to pay a visit. With carpets, make sure you have a vaccum cleaner.

9) Another important thing is pillows for the living room, we bought these huge pillows and they are a blessing. Get pillow covers too, 4 if you need 2. It is not important, just adds to the comfort till your bean bags or sofas arrive.

10)  Make sure you have alternate arrangements with the mattress people. Like if they are not able to deliver it on time, they can get you a temporary one. We booked with not just brown and these people are amazing. They got us the mattress which is super comfortable. Stand by mattress is a must. Of course if you already have one, you don't need it.

11) Its okk if the bed gets late. I wish I could cancel the bed booking and get my money back. It is so comfortable sleeping at a lesser height with no wood . Its better if you don't buy one. If you buy one, get teak wood bed with some furniture shop who can amend according to your requirements, they can change the height of head board for you, they can change the bed sides. 

12) Also get these three things without thinking- shoe rack, tv stand, foldable storage stool to keep remote or other spare things. Its space saving.

13) When you visit your house first time, take all these notes:
    a) curtain measurements
    b) rug space measurement
    c) No of bath mats you will need, you will need one for balcony  and kitchen too.
    d) see how much space is there for cartons used for packing tv, refrigerator
    e) bed room measurement
    f)  washing machine attachment
    g)  air conditioner fitting where and if you will need handle or angle etc things, get confirmations from neighbors too how they fitted the whole equipment. if there is an existing air conditioner, get it serviced.
   h)  see if you will need extra wooden cabinets in kitchen or for dressing table.
   i)  check space for drying clothes
   j) And the most important thing, get your flat cleaned before you enter. 


14)  Also, check out the nearby locality for stores, restaurants, newspaper vendor, milk etc etc. 

More Furniture Shops Visited: Quest to Perfect Living Room

New day, New shops, new fights arguments, this furniture hunt is getting to nerves and we are exhausted of running to the stores situated at far off locations in the city. I still don't know how my husband is surviving this torment day after day. He comes from office, we run to the store, we get back at 9, end up having maggi. Its so troublesome. If only someone could say go to this shop at this place, u will get every freaking thing there. Anyways, there is no use whining, lets start with next range of shops. 

1) Majestic Furniture, Royapettah : On our way to Damro furniture in Royapettah we passed this store. It looked quite fancy so we thought we might as well have a look. 

Models : Okay so they had fair price, quite comfortable recliners, seriously the best ones. We were so happy that we finally found a shop that had something close to quality, price but as usual i googled and people had written worst reviews on the products, consumer respect here. For them warranty or customer service is the last priority. Sometimes they have even taken the amount and not delivered until some lady went in with police. Scared of losing money, not belonging to tamil society, i outwardly rejected the shop.Even the bed designs were good there, we wished it had a lot of positive reviews.

Price : As I said, the prices were good, it wasn't expensive. They seemed pretty flexible with the models and said could deliver them next day. The prices weren't high but the shop seemed local so we won't be able to deal with them if something goes wrong.

My Verdict : No way I am not good at fighting and my husband ain't better unless he's against me. It could turn out the best furniture too but these people had pretty bad experiences. 
http://www.asklaila.com/listing/Chennai/Royapettah/The+Majestic+Furniture/BncRdCgn/

2) JFA : In hopes of finding something new designs or recliners, we entered this showroom. Same recliners, same beds, same prices as in adyar showroom, although they had more sofa options. But what we were looking for wasn't there. Its actually good if my mom dad wanted to buy furniture. Their prices are slightly more than other shops but thats because they have 5 year warranty and their furniture lasts long as the old folks say.

Models : Recliners were the same blanket feel and at 50k for two. Bed designs were okk for my mom dad looking for reliability in brand. So not for us. We were ready to settle for bed with big headboard at 25 k with our without storage. Sadly, even head boards are not in jfa. 

Prices : Prices are worth the brand.

My Verdict : No for right now, besides beds in demand are compressed wood furniture products which kind of gives up to water exposure. No for recliners absolutely.

3) Damro Furniture : Just opposite to JFA is Damro Furniture. This is the shop we actually had in mind. The recliners that they didn't had in velachery were supposed to be here.

Models : So recliners had the same blanket fabric feel, I didn't like it. Even the best one isn't good. The beds were okk, yeah the headboard thing is stuck in mind. No to recliners, beds here too. But there was good shoe rack and tv cabinet at 1ooo rs and 3000rs. 

Prices : Prices were moderate. Furniture is worth price, they also had cane furniture in the upper floor which was good but limited designs. 

My Verdict : No if only they had something besides compressed wood. The salesman told us compressed wood lasts not more than 3 years, solid wood or teak is better. They are giving 3 years warranty. Everyone is going for compressed one, it looks good,  polished, shiny and expensive. 

4) Jayabharatham Furniture, JBF, Royapettah : This one is different from JFA, the name is similar, the acronym isn't. So we enter and this nice old chap starts showing us around. 

Models : He showed us beds, we entered with least expectations but it was nice. The beds had big headboards, prices seemed transparent. He told us compressed wood isn't good, even opened up a bed and explained why it gets weary after time. So finally appeared the bed of teak wood with storage with a big head board. Just what we were asking for. Anyways you just don't book, u google and then analyze. Another good option was storage where you don't have to take it out, just slide it over. We don't have the space to take out racks. 

Prices : Price is actually good. He said 24k for bed, extra 7000 for storage. He even showed us the upper storey where they carved furniture. They had wonderful cane jhoola at 2000, storage stool for 1500. I liked the store.

My Verdict : With no reviews on google, we felt confused. But the shop is good, it has fair amount of designs and people look genuine. Who are we to judge them unless of course they cheat us or rob us forcing us to write another horrible experience. There are no modern designs, don't expect much. Teak took our heart. It was set in 1937. 

5) MoDFurn, Royapettah : ModFurn is the one people keep raving about. As we entered this one, some old guy came and he was pretty arrogant. Mostly old guys buy expensive furniture. He thought we were just looking around on some planned date. It was awful. He wouldn't even listen to us when we enquired about bed, thickness,storage etc. Even when we were leaving, he didn't tell us the price for the 2 seater recliner priced at 75k if it was modified. 

Models : Recliners had the same blanket feel or leather feel. None was like really comfortable. We went to the upper floor and they had this 3 seater recliner with place to keep remotes, coke etc. It was good priced at around 1 lac. This was the one we asked if he could get for us as two seater. He lost us when he kind of didn't care enough. The beds were good too, i liked the designs. This one is a must visit for people looking for somehow modern furniture. I am not saying it fits, it just is better than its peers. 

Prices : It was a little overpriced but with the whole hype its kind of expected. 

My Verdict : Its good with modern designs and somehow better lot than other shops. You can surely find better furniture at stanley and not just brown at slightly higher prices. 

6) Not Just Brown : Not just brown had the best person ever to show us around the shop. We were there for snoozer. They had four varieties- beauty sleep,posture care, presidential suite and louis xvi. They had 3 there. We tried and louis fit our needs. You can calculate at home how much these will cost you.

http://www.snoozerbedding.com/step1.html

We decided to go for louis one and booked it after returning from lifestyle. 

Models : We tried their recliners too. They were okk. He told us too comfortable leads to back pain. Besides people don't want to sink in to the furniture so they normally don't keep soft comfortable cushiony things. The whole range was good. It was a bit pricey. Its an ultra rich affair. The bed designs were new, even seating options were good. A must visit for people with budget from 1 lac and above for a single product.  

Final Advice 

1) Choosing wood : Compressed wood is bad with water. It swells up. But it looks nicer than others. It has most designs than ever. IF you go for this, you can buy it from lifestyle store. They have the best designs right now. And if you are rich, go for not just brown. Theirs is classy collection. 

        If you want to go for teak wood or solid wood, get a carpenter or some local shop who make beds with teak wood. There are several teak wood stores in chennai. 

2) Collection : As I said, collection is more at lifestyle store. Better at Stanley, modfurn and not just brown stores. Damro woodpecker Jfa are the same. 

3) Prices : Prices are almost same at damro, woodpecker, Jfa. I think a simple bed with storage would cost around 20k for compressed wood, 24k for teak wood. More designs, more prices. At stanley, sofa set could cost around 2 lac, at not just brown sofa set is around 1.5 lac, bed is around 1 lac. Best compressed wood with headboard at 20k was at damro. We are more like into teak wood now. 

4) After Sales Customer service : JFA, stanley, not just brown leads the band. All others have bad history.

What we are going with

We are getting mattress from not just brown, snoozer louis at 24k with cover. 

We are getting teak bed from jayabharatham furniture, jbf at 22k with storage hopefully.

We are getting shoe rack from damro at 1000 with 3 racks.

We are not having recliners right now, there are better at delhi stores. So we decided to buy big cushions from lifestyle and will stack them up for comfort.

Hmmm.....last stop today is bean bags shop. 

Furniture Hunt in Chennai : Recliners, Beds, TV Cabinet etc etc

Yeah we are young, we have a lot of ps3 games and we finally got an apartment with exclusive hall where we could place recliners, bask in happiness. So we started looking around for bed and recliners in extended village called chennai. We looked through websites, went through extensive research network, here is the summed up experience from over a dozen furniture stores. 

What we were looking for

1) Bed, Cot : We were looking for bed with modern designs less height, a big headboard, snoozer mattress  of about 10 inch thickness, ultra soft mattress like the ones in hotels, storage in bed was optional. Our room isn't that big so a cute queen size bed could fit well. Of course durability warranty matter here. More concerns for the mattress, less for the bed. 

2) Recliners : Super comfortable recliners, leather or fabric or price or brand doesn't matter. The kind of lazy boy rocking recliners which hug you, like you are sleeping in a ball of fur. The joined ones are not preferred because then we have to move it if my husband wants. So still recliners with a long warranty service brand comfort etc etc. We are kind of neurotic over this.

Here is the list of furniture shops we went to:


1) Woodpecker Furniture, Besant Nagar : This being the closest was the first one we visited. I must say justdial is kind of misleading on the whole ratings thing.

Models : The bed models were okk. Like the normal designs you see in any shop. Nothing out of ordinary catches the eye. It wasn't bad, I mean for sure if someone enters with no whatsoever website in mind, they will probably book from here. But we are paranoids and we didn't quite love it. The bean bags were fine, not super comfortable, just bean bags. 

Kurl on angelica is okk mattress if you are into lower budget, it comes at around 20k. We already have snoozer in plans, so it didn't seem like saving 10 k and enter kurl on band. 

We also saw sofa cum beds, which were pretty hard to sleep on, not even a penny worth spending on these. 

There were no recliners here, so on to next shop. 

Price : Prices were somehow more for what they were offering. Especially the bed prices. Bean bag prices were as expected, may be indians don't get to sit, sleep on comfortable stuff unless they enter the amitabh brand which can ship at an instant or just live there for 3 months. 

My Verdict : Nooooo, I didn't like the furniture, may be its good trustworthy durable blah blah, i want my room to look pretty too. So nah. Onto next shop.

2) Saagar Furnishings, Alwarpet: Our hunt for snoozer mattress took us to the shop. Its located on  a pretty convenient location. Obviously they are more courteous, dealing with huge clients etc blends that in. 

There were two mattresses there. Both of them were great, one of them was super comfortable other one was less than that, but heyy they say you shouldn't sleep on neither too soft nor too hard bed. So we settled on medium firm posture care diwan bed with 8 inch thickness. It costs around 33 k for one. If you want the bed with wheels to fit the mattress which is of low height, it costs around 35 k. AAhhh head board is missing. Sad sad. Anyways the mattress's pre order time is 15 days, their service is good, they will come to house, keep it properly. This is all for 6 by 5 bed. It can be custom made. The options are more.

Its just the second shop so we didn't place order. Snoozer mattress it is, bed we are not sure of yet. In hot humid places, they have a special mattress that mostly locals get custom made. That is another option too.

They are professional and know their world. They can also send tailors to come to your house and measure for curtains, provide for them. Its pretty awesome. I even matched a few curtains but my husband was like, there is just one curtain place so yeah may be i will wait till he buys me a mansion. 

My Verdict : Yes yes yes i think we are going to order mattress from them, may be bed too if we don't get any with head board.  They sound rich, they act rich, they smell rich but thats because they deal with rich. I like them. Courteous rich. They are giving lifetime warranty on everything. The after sales service is the best i hear. 

3) Lifestyle Home Center : This one is an exclusive 2 storey showroom in teynapet. There was major sale going on so it was crowded.

Models : Well bed designs for sure were different and good. There were the ones with head boards, without cushiony head boards, with storage space, with mattresss, without mattress. We even zeroed on two of them, the cute bed with headboard and it was for 20 k. One year warranty is what takes the thunder away. But what they say is what they will stand by. Most of the wood was compressed wood, solid wood and rubber wood. You can even find beds at 10 k if you want. 

Then we went to the recliners, the recliners were comfortable too. The one with red cloth fabric took my heart away. I sat in it and got hugged just like i dreamed. It was the best till now. The leather recliners were really comfortable too. The one with the cloth was rocking recliner and cost around 18k with just one year warranty. The other ones were in different price ranges. There was a joined one which was priced at 44k, the single leather one the best the most comfortable one at 35k. The major problem was one year warranty. With others offering at least 3 year warranty. The comfort level was awesome. I still can't get over the red one. My husband won't buy it seeing no whatsoever credibility lifestyle people want to bear. 

We also read some lifestyle reviews, some of them were awfully pissed at their after sales service. 

My Verdict : No for right now, still looking for comfort plus warranty. Why won't they give warranty why why why ? Hooked on the red one and leather one. Huh search goes on. Do you know lazy boy gives 10 year warranty. Wonder what lifestyle puts into their products. Although red one did have less cushion but at 17k you won't find better options.

3) Stanley Boutique : After lifestyle, stanley boutique was the next destination. It is in some ultra posh locality with espirit showrooms and other major luxury brands around. So we went in with the expectations of not being able to afford the comfort they will provide.

Models : I don't know why but they had less models available. Is it just the chennai store or they have done the same thing to bangalore. There was just one model that i pretty much liked. A single one at 75k with 10 year warranty. But to my amazement, their fabric rocking recliner couldn't compete with my 17 k lifestyle recliner. And this 75k was as comfortable as the 35k recliner in lifestyle. So comfort is same, warranty is more. What would you rather do, buy a two lac joined love seat and use warranty for 10 years or just go for 44k lifestyle with one year warranty. Hmm still confused. There was one more black super comfortable recliner, my husband tried it , it was simply awesome but then he told us it was custom made for some 6 foot foreigner. Okay, comfort is for them huh. Anyways we looked for sofas too and they were not good for comfort. What is it with the whole leather hype. I don't care about your stupid expensive leather dude. Why don't they keep all products as in US. Checking the websites is pretty disappointing. Chennai truly sucks even for rich.  They had really good designs for sofa, pretty rich looking and good to show off. 

My Verdict : No I don't care for leather warranty. I will get mine shipped if I have to. You still don't have the massage headphones stuff here. What is it with chennai? I am ready to pay, just show me a nice recliner for god's sake. Why can't i have at least 20 options to choose from?

4) JFA : With major recommendations from our landlord, we went to JFA. The person who showed us the models was well spoken and polite. The recliners were actually good for someone who wants a homely moma feel. You know they use the fabric stuff that is blankety like the sofas at middle class home. They were comfortable too. 22 k for single one, 50 k for double rocking recliner one. The home memore doesn't fascinate us that much, we don't want our parents to come and say ohh this is like the sofa at home, it rocks and provides leg space. 

The beds were good. Like woodpecker, family orthodox boring designs. No innovation from their side. Why can't they just go to other country websites and copy the designs. Anyways they were priced around 23 k without head board. As soon as the head board came, it was around 35k.  We didn't like the beds. 

My Verdict : No for me for lack of modern touch. The simple designs didn't quite attract me. Its okk for families, the middle class ones. Not for us. But with 5 year warranty and overly praised after sales services, it should be taken as an option just in case you might stumble upon the lucky one. Recliners are homely, not for us looking for psychotic alien features to chennai furniture traders. 


5) SimplySofas : There was this love chair at 90 k just one option, one color. The others weren't good. So not good for recliners. There were some chairs, especially the blue one but it didn't hug. Again for the rich show off kinds not looking for luxury comfort, we want more options chennai. 

Verdict : NO....no variety with so many brands listed in the shop. They had just 3 models for recliners. There was one year warranty on mechanism, 3 year warranty on fabric, after sales service is obviously good. 

6) Damro Furniture Store, Velachery : With all the bad experiences less options, we went with minimal hopes to damro furniture. Surprisingly, their recliners weren't that bad at about 60 k for two. The same homely feel surfaces. They have no leather ones available in the velachery store. So looking forward to kodambakkam store to test the most comfortable one. They can customize according to color, size, join the chairs provide space for cold drinks etc etc. So next destination is kodambakkam store. 5 year warranty on fabric, 1 year warranty on mechanism, but their after sales service is not good according to some sources on internet. 

The bed options were good, designs were similar to other ones. The one with the head board cost around 20k , the one with the hydraulic storage was 20k too. The bed with the storage cabinets was for 15k, 2500 for one cabinet extra. Their mattress was soft but the salesmen confessed kurl on was better. This is the only bed we have liked in a long time but the vertical shafts to support it were just two. Huh furniture hunting ain't for us.  

My Verdict : We could finalize the bed from here or recliner if they had more positive responses in some places. Still confused hung over. If someone could just say damro is good, we had it for 20 years. They give 3 years warranty on beds. For recliner, more options have to be looked at in kodambakkam store.

By now, the best recliner in comfort terms was in lifestyle with less warranty at 17k  with red  cloth kind fabric Or 75k single seater at stanley. 
By now, the best bed design was in damro with less hopes of lasting long at 20k.

We are going to look at kodambakkam today and may be cozy bean bags and not just brown and sarada agencies too. Verdict on these tomorrow. I am so hung up that even when i sleep, i find myself wandering around furniture shops in dreams. And those shops have all the ideal furniture at ideal prices with best warranty. 

More reviews coming up tomorrow. 

Love Marriage vs Arrange Marriage: Are they even different????

There is a new serial starting in india, the land of arranged marriages where they will be exploring the differences between love marriage and arrange marriage. Most of us know what's gonna happen eventually in storyline, its another way of proving how indian culture of arranging matrimony on basis of job and height is so correct, probably they will show the guy in love marriage irresponsible and negligent. Its just how indians would love to see it happening. Anyways is there even a difference in love marriage and arranged marriage???

If we see it from relationships view point, both go through the same emotions. The parameters and people involved in initial stages is slightly different. 

Someone introduce me to my future husband

First stage is introduction stage where they meet or parents leave them alone in the room to talk. In love, its all a matter of chance of bumping into the right friend or  getting enough time around to fall in attraction phase. In arranged one, there is no choice, you have to meet the guy and his family, they judge you, you judge him, whole resumes are seen, the guy's family decides and gives the verdict. They come, they eat, they meet. Its more about family compatibility not the ones getting married. The perfect guy is out there but the family isn't good enough for yours. But wait I am not against arranged marriage, I think its more practical approach, you know its more refined way of meeting the right family with right guy. Anyways in love you could outwardly reject the nicest guy in first meeting because of his nervousness or maybe even accept after knowing him all years as a friend. Same is the case in arranged marriage, if parents give 2 or 3 meetings you could be marrying the soulmate. Unless they are wicked or pretending or setting up traps to lure more dowry which happens rarely.  See they are not different, its somehow the same. Landing on the awesome guy is a matter of chance not love or arrange versions.

LOVE is in the air

The couple in arranged marriage gets engaged right after if they like each other after two or three dates. Their conversations on mobile don't see days, nights. They start planning wedding which could be in four to six months. All the while having super loved birthday surprises, family visits etc etc all the crazy stuff you do in start of love chemical eruption. Anyways most of my friends met the guy just once and talked barely before getting engaged. So first you are engaged then you talk on phone then you get married after falling in love within some months. Most of them get minimum 6 months because of auspicious dates in hindu calendar. 

Our couple in love marriage dates for a pretty long time or may be months or years, depends on the couple. The only difference is parents don't know yet. No interference from family sounds pretty good. They do the same thing, long time calls love letters chats etc etc. the same love chemical eruption thing goes on for some months. Same huh love arrange till now. None of them has seen the differences problems yet. Its all rosy.

First come S then comes E

So its been six months now. Hmm the arranged marriage people are way too excited to get married and do it finally. Its customary in indian tradition to make it sure they do it on first night of marriage. They decorate the room, they kind of worship the bed and then ask the bride to sit like this in the middle of bed. Its your choice anyways. The whole marriage takes 5 to 6 days so both of them are pretty tired after the reception night before and early morning wedding and ritual where you show face to elders and get gifts in gold. You haven't slept the night before. You just get through the whole family meeting day of receiving more gifts by cooking or wearing saree or etc etc. The whole gist is both of them are fucking exhausted. So finally comes time to do it and the whole enthu is back, its what they have been waiting for. In india till now, most of them were virgins, times are changing pretty quickly so its not expected anymore from the young by the young. The bridegroom enters the room where bride waits with milk and almonds to boost his strength and have super powerful superman sex. Anyways this is how they finally accomplish it. The next morning the bride wakes up early and mingles with other guests shying coying away all day. Besides its awkwardly uncomfortable environment with the whole new family members. Its frustrating and irritating, you simply cry and want to run away to parents.

Our couple in love marriage can do it whenever both of them feel its right, in hotel or house or anywhere they want, whenever they want. Its in their hands, no pressure at all. Either they wait till marriage or they simply don't.  They could be doing it after the whole understanding phase or just for fun before that. 

LIVING Together

Living together is the tricky part. Its always difficult to adjust with the new person in comfort zone. The whole routine habits matter. When does he wake up, when he takes tea coffee, does he go to gym etc etc. Our couple in arrange marriage is already in rosy love and had sex hopefully, so now they live together. At first its all sweet, every situation seems perfect, they are all over each other for first few months. After that come the tricky part, more arguments more fights even worse if both of them are hot headed. One of my cousin brother's marriage couldn't last even an year, she ran off to her parents saying he wasn't romantic and his parents wanted her to be traditional indian daughter-in-law. She was a good person, its just that the whole talk before marriage wasn't taken seriously when she said i can't cook. Its not me, I am still married.  But who says it doesn't happen in love marriage.

The only part that differs is whey they start living together it could be live-in relationship or marriage. If its marriage, they obviously thought they were in love and compatible enough to make the relationship last forever. They asked their parents, if they said no they fought back, if it was yes they had a lavish wedding just like our arrange marriage couple. OOOOOR they went for live-in which is better, no parents in picture still, same tricky adjusting to habits part comes. They fight, get through financial emotional problems together as the arranged one does. Unless of course one of them just isn't strong enough to walk out. In arrange marriage too, people could walk out like many couples i have seen. After live-in, couple could either get married or just stay happy or separate. Still choice remains. 

Why do they keep comparing both love, arrange when they are all most same. Different if the guy is in a joint family and now the girl has to live with all of them, here its totally unpredictable. I couldn't survive in that scenario like my brother's wife. 

So the people involved in relationship are the deciding factor, not arrange or love keywords. If any of them break, there are hurt emotions and broken hearts. With arrange, there are so many hearts broken and whole judging society, with love its the same. Both of the men in these have to pay alimony. Its all same. With love, the blame is on you, with arrange the blame is on parents. 

Either love or arranged, you end up sitting like this.