Fashion travels faster than light. What with the world shrinking into a global village. But what could be fashion for one part of the world could be tradition for the other. A tradition that might have taken centuries to cross the oceans, and the mountains and the plains. Garments, traditional or contemporary, are more conveniently popularized vis-à-vis traditional jewellery and accessories.

The food business is obviously a good one to be in, in this new millennium. Restaurants are thriving across the country and even in conservative metros like Chennai, where even ten years ago home-cooked dinner ending with curd rice was the staple diet, diners in droves are seeking culinary frontiers like Mexican, Italian, or Chettinad or Dhaba food. What leads to a good dining experience? Today’s diners are looking for a chance to relax after a hard day at work. Eating out at dinnertime means not having to bother with the menu at home – the leftovers in the fridge, or the lack of ingredients! How can you get the most out of the time you spend in a restaurant?

The first time Sampath left his wife alone when he went on a work related trip six months after their wedding, he had no idea what would happen when he called home. A sobbing, hysterical Srividya told him that she had been unable to get anything done in the kitchen because there were two cockroaches clearly visible on the kitchen floor at night. “I went in at 11 o clock to get a glass of water,” sobbed Srividya. “I could clearly see them running on the floor! Since then, I have not been able to enter the kitchen in the morning.” A non-plussed Sampath calmed his wife down on the phone, asked her to wait for the maid’s arrival and have the offending insects killed either by spraying or wielding a broom, and then enter the kitchen. Srividya refused to be comforted, “What if we don’t find them at all?” she asked her husband. “Shall I go and stay in my aunt’s house till you return?”

For a young and upwardly mobile couple, life in the metros is not all rosy, but there is a great deal of convenience and comfort that cannot yet be found in the smaller towns of our country. This is one reason why, if one or both of the partners has family in the small towns, such relatives naturally look to getting encouragement and support from their family members to seek their own fortune in the big city.

Blame it on the fairytales we were told as children. The ones that spoke of princesses marrying princes, and then living ‘…happily ever after’. Perhaps it is this conditioning that makes us so convinced about the need for eternal happiness with our partner. However, it would be unfair to think that such a need is only the product of conditioning. Each one of us does need to feel that life will be secure and comfortable with our loved one, that we will continue to receive the understanding and support and love that we have always wanted from them…Stability, intimacy and trust, these are non-negotiable human needs.