The Truth
about
The Origin of Valentine’s Day

In spite of what you have been told by everyone, the truth is that Valentine’s Day originated hundreds of years ago, in India, and to top it all, in the state of Sind !!!

It is a well known fact that in the old times Sindhi men, specially the XYZ..ANI’S, continually mistreated and disrespected their wives…..(Zaloon)) .

One fine day, it happened to be the 14th day of February, one brave Sindhiyani, having had enough “torture” by her husband, finally chose to rebel by beating him up with a Velan (rolling pin to make chapattis or Papads).

Yes…..the same Velan which she used daily, to make chapattis for him…. only this time, instead of the dough, it was the husband who was flattened.

This was a momentous occasion for all Sindhi women and a revolt soon spread, like wild fire, with thousands of housewives beating up their husbands with the Velan. There was an outburst of moaning “chapatti-ed” husbands all over Karachi , Shikarpur and Hyderabad Sind .

The Sindhi men-folk quickly learnt their lesson and started to behave more respectfully with their Sindhiyanis.

Thereafter, on 14th February every year, the womenfolk of Sind would beat up their husbands, to commemorate that eventful day - the wives having the satisfaction of beating up their husbands with the Velan and the men having the supreme joy of submitting to the will of the women they loved.

Soon a smart Sindhi smelt a biz opportunity in all this and started advising the the Sindhi men that in order to avoid this ordeal they need to present gifts to their wives….they brought flowers, sweets and being rich this was notched up to gold and diamonds soon. Soon the biz prospered and all were happy in apna Sindh…This is how the tradition – VELAN TIME - began.

As Sind with the rest of India fell under the influence of Western culture, with Sindhis migrating world wide to HK, Las Pasmas in Spain, Singapore, Aden, London, America, the ritual soon spread to these and many other Western countries, specifically, the catch words ‘Velan time’ !!!

In course of time, their foreign tongues, this got anglicized to ‘Velantime’ and then to ‘Valentine’. And thereafter, 14th of February, came to be known as Valentine’s Day and now you know the true story of Valentine’s day…….all a smart biz idea when the Sindhi bizman was crossed with the liberated Sindhi woman

Be a Social Butterfly!

Bags are not just a thing to stuff your belongings, carrying the right bag adds to your personality.  If you don’t believe me ask the celebrities.

 

Here are some of the bags that you can carry with pride to make the right impact on the right people.

Clutch Bag: A rectangular shaped hand purse, carried more for style reasons than utility.  It is apt to be taken for parties, weddings etc.

 

 

Drawstring Bag: This bag comes in various sizes, the small embroidered ones goes very well with Indian outfits.  In India it’s also called Batwaa, I remember my granny had it.

Baguette Bag: This bag is again rectangular in shape but has attractive curves.

Bowling Bag: Inspired by bags used to carry sporting equipments, Bowling bag comes with a padded exterior and top zip; high on utility.

 

Bucket Bag: A very stylish looking bag, Bucket bags are called so because its bucket shaped.

 

Doctor’s Bag:  This bag’s design is inspired by Doctor’s bag and hence is spacious and things kept inside it, can be found easily.

 

Evening Bag: As the name suggests, this bag is to be used in evenings at parties. 

 

Flap Bag: This bag carries a flap over the opening area.

 

Cross-body Bag:  Cross-body bag is hung across the body, ideal for office, gym use.

 

Wristlet Bag:  Hang this rectangular purse type bag on your wrist, when your hands are full with something or even if you like your hands to be free.

 

These are some of the best bags people are using all over, but there are definitely more to the list, like Signature bag, Tote bag, Hobo bag, Sling bag etc.

 

And if you like to go out hanging one of those Designer labels but find it too expensive to buy, try renting a bag.  Earlier this service was in western countries but now even in India you can rent Designer bags. Designer labels in all colors, shapes and sizes are yours to keep, for a day and with Bagsutra.com if I am not wrong, it’s for a week.  The membership charges are around Rs. 10,000 and the rental charges varies, it can be anywhere between Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 2,000.

 

Personally, I thought it’s a bit overcharged but when you take into account the home delivery service, it is quite justified; after all we are talking about Designer Bags here. Be careful with the bag though, you may have to shell out heavy fine if the bag is damaged.

 

Taking bags on rent has more than just one advantage of saving money, you save space and time taking care of it.  If you don’t like to repeat bags often, this service is for you.  Let people keep guessing, how many Designer bags you have, while you enjoy all the attention.

 

Another option to avoid spending too much on bags is to have neutral color bags.  Along with a black and white get a multicolor bag which would go with most outfits. 

 

Be a Social Butterfly!

To know how much difference a belt can do to your style, take two similar outfits and pair up one dress with a good belt and another with a not so good one.

Belts have been around since centuries, we do not even know who invented the belt.  But belts are more than just a thing to hold your clothes tight… wearing the right type of belt makes you look chic.  I keep seeing young girls wearing low waist jeans with the wrong belt.  Why wrong? because they don’t hold the pants in place when you bend and that’s just so gross!

 

This doesn’t mean that if your jeans is already fitting well you don’t need a belt.  I wear some belts for style.  Especially, over short tops where the belt is easily visible and on long tops, I prefer to have the charms belts hanging loose around the waist.

When buying belts for jeans go in for the strong one, wear it to test it before you buy.  Wearing belts on dress looks super nice only if your color co-ordination is right.  On a dress it’s always a waist belt, the broad belt that steals attentions.  However, if you don’t like those broad ones then you can opt in for Double-Wrap Belt.  It looks nice too.

How many of you feel the huge corset belt is double purpose? It not only gives a good figure it also supports the back… ideal for people like me with back problem (chuckles).

Almost all of the Indian women community may be aware of Kamarband, the traditional Indian belt.  In the olden days, ladies wore it on their waist over a saree.  Tarun Tihalani has worked hard to replace it with a leather belt. 

 

 

 

 

I still prefer the kamarband on a saree than a leather belt as sported by Genelia in the below picture.  What next, belt on salwar??  You never know it may just create a new style statement!

Before we have something like that coming, take a look at this cool pocket belt.  It’s a little over-sized but you can use it to stuff your mobile, cosmetics etc.  With a belt like that, who needs a bag!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Be a Social Butterfly!

I always thought Matrimonial sites were doing a commendable job.  After all, marriage is a must-have experience of life.  But when I heard about what happened with Puri uncle’s daughter; I thought it was necessary for my Indian female friends to know about the dark side of marriage through Matrimonial portals. 

 

Shweta was in her early 30s and not getting married.  Hence, someone suggested she found her match through one of the leading matrimonial sites.  In a short while, Shweta found one suitable guy from Nepal.  Puri family was not looking so much for the caste and community similarity, but wanted guy’s family background and financial status to be sound. They did everything possible to check all is well with the guy and his family.  They even went to Nepal to check the family background, in spite of all that… Puri family got cheated.

 

Marriage took place last year and just few months back Shweta discovered the guy was already married.  Shweta has filed for divorce but because the law in Nepal is different to Indian law, they are having problem.  Shweta’s life is in a rut now, and if that was not enough, all her gold and other belongings are still there with them.

 

Here is where marriages within the community or known families earns the brownie points; if alliance is from the community you can get all required details and avoid such unnecessary hassles later on. 

 

There have been numerous successful marriages through matrimonial sites and the sites will only tell you about them, but what happened with Shweta is also the harsh reality. This is not to discourage people from finding life partners through matrimonial sites, just a small piece of advice to be extra careful.  Play safe and in case your prospective match is not from your country, know the existing laws of that country,

 

Sometimes, a social networking site does the job of a matrimonial site.  One of my friends found someone like that but after hearing about all the kind of unpleasant things that happens on networking site, she was not sure.  So this girl befriended one of his online female friends, who used to message him often.  Eventually, found out all about her guy and was convinced that there is nothing to fear about.  Now they are together and happy… smart move!

Skeletons in the Closet