Addicted to Abhiwarya

Movie director Gurinder Chadha , of Bend-it-like-Beckham fame has proclaimed that she would christen her twins, ‘Aishwarya’ and ‘Abhishek’ after we know who. So this entrepreneur in our locality was not to be left behind. He's decided to pay his own tribute to the couple by doing this.

Beauty salons (or parlours as they are commonly known) carrying Ash’s million-dollar face on their signboards is a pretty familiar sight in Bangalore. But in this instance, even her beau has earned a spot beside her , helping market a men’s beauty salon! Yikes! The prices you pay for deciding to marry a beauty queen! Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing less macho about men frequenting these “beauty” salons, but it somehow creeps me out to see men getting manicures done!

Undeniably, they are the most celebrated couple in the country right now. The media never tires of chasing them. The engagement came as such a relief to the nation. A nation sick of watching news channels scream "Breaking News" even when they'd brush past each other. Well, it's a different matter altogether that they did Mani and themselves a huge favour by deciding to announce the engagement at the brink of "Guru"'s release. Never mind that the announcement set the cash registers ringing! What's commerce got to do with it? Yeah, right!

Ash being labelled a 'manglik' by the family priest has had the Bachchans go on an incessant temple hopping spree. And what's more, they've even had their bahu-to-be marry a tree to help her wash off her manglik induced misfortunes! And the worst part is that, the Miss World touting dignity and respect for womanhood in her speeches went ahead and did it How on earth are we supposed to make foreigners believe that India is not just about snake charmers and ridiculous superstitions, when our most recognized faces abroad resort to such ludicrous "rituals"?! Sigh.

And then, there's the beaten-to-death-by-the-media question of whether Ash's going to continue acting after marriage. And what better person to ask this question than the father in law himself right? The Big B was ready with a reply - "It ain't my prerogative to decide. It's Abhishek's". Hello sir? The question was about Ash's career, not your son's?!

Now that they've announced their marriage date, the media is back to their 'breaking news' ways. There's supposedly going to be none of the 'Liz-Arun'esque affair. Thank God! We've already had enough of the L-A wedding being forced down our throats, thank you very much! I mean, I'd rather watch my own wedding video over and over than watch two obscenely wealthy firangs who have absolutely nothing to do with my country, get hitched. Even if the wedding was the most spectacular event of the year. Whatever!

Alright, that’s enough vitriol.

In all fairness, the path to marriage hasn’t really been easy for them. They’ve had to deal with their share of angst over broken relationships. For poor Aishwarya, it’s been more than once. When things turned ugly with the perpetually shirtless guy and the second time with the one-hit-wonder guy flaunting their affair to the entire world, much to her resentment. As for Abhishek, he’s had to get over a broken engagement plus a string of flops before making a mark in the industry.
Here’s wishing that peace finds them at long last.

So the next time we hear about something breaking on TV, let’s hope it’s good news about their marriage and not the marriage itself.