HAPPY WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!

                                         
I just completed 11 blissful (not entirely,let's just say for the sake of propriety!) years of marriage. The story of my marriage is very weird to comprehend not only for me but also for many people around me.

It so happened that after my parents and also my would-be husband's parents had been privy to our relationship for a few months, a new proposition dawned on them. They decided to get us MARRIED!

It was actually a very rude shock for us love-birds! We were just twenty-three that time and had no inclination to get married for some time. However much to our consternation things moved on quickly, schedules timed out perfectly and the relatives too bonded amicably!

However this marriage was unacceptable to the both of us. It was a match between our parents on one side and us on the other. While the former were playing to get us married; the latter were scheming to get out of the bond!
Who in the world wants to get married to his/her Best Buddy?
Even if one has decided like us, Who in the world wants to get married  so young?
It almost felt like child marriage!

Besides my husband and I knew that we were like chalk and cheese with not a single common agenda.
We both were just bidding time, till we got over our fixation for each other and parted ways forever. But that was not to be so.....

We got married, much to our surprise and of those around us.

Till date I get queries from old acquaintances about who I married and then How's it going!
I distinctly remember once I was in a shop with my mother-in-law, a group of my old teachers happened to meet me there(my husband and I studied in the same school).

"So Suditi, we heard that you got married to that XYZ boy?Is it true?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Oh poor you two! How is the marriage going then?"
"Oh it is going great ma'am!"
"See marriage teaches everybody to lie!"
And I turned crimson! My mother-in-law was in an ear-shot distance. I hoped she hadn't heard the condolences!

My husband too was not spared!
My younger brother-in-law's closest friend too had remarked about my quirkiness.
"When I saw you with bhabhi, I was so unsure if she's really the one! She is so unlike your type!!"


Well the crux of the matter is: Despite the apprehension of our match in the minds of not only the mob around us but also us: We have survived!

I believe to get married is not an achievement, rather to remain married while making a healthy contribution to each other's life is a feat worth applauding.

So on this anniversary of our wedding my husband and I celebrated our SPIRIT to REMAIN TOGETHER
                                                     COME WHAT MAY!

The QUEER DELIVERY BOY

Now there is a special incident I need to share with all of you here. It is the case of a very INTRIGUING and DIFFERENT Delivery Boy!

I was staying as a paying guest during the final year of my graduation. My PG aunty, Sud Aunty was a lovable soul(may she rest in peace). One evening it so happened that she decided to pay a brief visit to her distant cousin in the nearby neighbourhood.. So Sud Aunty left all of us five girls and a maid younger than us in-charge of her home, before going out for her social excursion.

The PG had a very convenient arrangement for both Aunty and us girls. She would lock her room only before leaving and the rest of the house was open to us. However our rooms were towards the south-end of the house. Whenever Aunty was away we would sit in the drawing-room from where we could see the main gate and the main door of the house. The room just had a television and a sofa. the only telephone of the house was locked inside Aunty's room.

As the evening was progressing accompanied by our mirth and languor, there was heard a door-bell at around 5 in the evening. All of us pushed aside the curtains and saw a strange sight.

There at the gate was a young boy in a decent three-piece suit, holding a huge human-sized flower arrangement!

All the other girls turned around and gave a suspicious look to my friend Sheena and me. We were the ones who got such unwanted suitors at our door.

"I don't know, who he is!" said Sheena vehemently.
I too feigned ignorance but I knew that boy to be one from my gang at school.
'What's happening? ' I thought.
'Just day before I met him with the others. He was fine then. He never looked besotted or so much in love.' I was quickly sifting through my thoughts because I had to handle this or else if Sud Aunty walked in on this, I would be DEAD MEAT!
I decided to go out and confront Mr G, my friend.
"Relax everybody I'll handle this." saying this I quickly exited the room.

"Hey G! What the hell are you doing here?" I demanded.
"Hey don't fret Suditi, I have got a delivery for Sheena."
"Sheena! Who sent it?"
"Chill buddy, just send her outside" said Mr G, nonchalantly.
"Are you Crazy? If Aunty sees you outside and then Sheena too, then both of you have had it!"
"Look you know us and our methods. Aunty is NOT at home, we both know!"
'We, BOTH!', so the other one has to be Mr V. In my group only these two people knew where I stayed as a paying guest.

Meanwhile my friends were getting impatient and nervous inside the house. Ritu the sole fire-brand feminist amongst us decided to take matters into her hands.

I saw  her rushing outside, towards us.
"Now you've had it Mr G! If you utter a word of knowing me..." I threatened him.
"What's the matter here?" demanded Ritu.
"I don't know. This guy's not leaving!"
"I have a delivery for Ms Sheena." said Mr G. I wanted to kill him then and there.
"Let's go Ritu, we don't have to get involved. He'll leave on his own." said I, almost down on my knees.
"No wait!"
"How do you know Sheena?" demanded Ritu.
"I am not the one giving her these flowers. Some customer had ordered them to be delivered only to her."
"Give them to me!"
"NO. Only her."
Oh my God, I did not like where all that was going!
"What kind of a delivery boy are you, anyway? Wearing a three-piece suit?"
"I am the owner." said Mr G without batting an eyelid.
My heart sank!
"What is the name of your shop?"
"Khoobsurat Florists, Sector 34. You can see the card."
"I think we should not stand outside and talk to him for so long." I quickly interjected."Let's go inside Ritu."
"No! You go inside and I'll keep an eye on him. Tell Pooja to call the police."
'Oh great! This was what I needed.'
I left with nothing else to do. I showed Mr G my clenched fist and signaled him to leave.
Mr G on the other hand smiled and winked at me!
That was the last straw for Ritu. She jumped over the wall to our neighbours' house and banged their front door.
Mr G and I looked puzzled. She shouted for the police to be called at once, as soon as Mrs Smita our lovely doe-eyed neighbour opened the door.
Mr G left the flower arrangement standing at our gate and ran for his life!
I was all the more worried!

The police came to our PG  after a few minutes made inquiries in the neighbourhood. It scoured the area for the miscreants but there was no sign of them. They told us that they had decided to look up the florist and would get back to us.
Sud Aunty had returned in the meanwhile. She was all praises for Ritu and me after hearing of the whole incident. I on the other hand was dying a death with every moment that passed!
'What if the police trace Mr G and Mr V to me in the PG?! What shall I do?!'
I appealed to the Almighty with every religious bone and muscle in my body, to SAVE ME!

The police returned after excruciatingly long two hours to report that there did exist a Khoobsurat Florist in Sector 34. Its owner did have a young son whom they had brought along!
'Oh no!' thought I ready to sprint.

He was to my relief, not Mr G!
However the owner's son did say that two boys had purchased the huge flower arrangement from him in the evening but he could not recall their names or faces.

'Thank You God!' was all I could to think.

Hence the case of the QUEER DELIVERY BOY was dropped.

Those who know me, they know who Mr G and Mr V are.

For others: The sensitive content of the post does not allow me to name any names!;)

Valentine's Day!

Oh well so that day of LOVE is here!

"Okay Moonz be ready, I'll pick you up at noon sharp!" This was Vipul my husband now but not then.

Then we were eighteen year old love-birds. Vipul was more in love with me than I was with him then. This is true probably even now.

 He had celebrated umpteen number of V-days with a variety of girls and I poor soul had had not even one such experience in my dull, dreary and practical life.

I was happy to meet my best friend who had convinced me to be his beloved somehow. However I suffered from flashes of amnesia where I forgot that I had finally accepted Vipul's proposal.


In the most appropriate of manners, Vipul picked me up from the street behind my paying guest accommodation. He got off the car, opened the door for me, got me seated and took off. It had not escaped my eye that he was dressed for the occasion in his best.

"Oh God! This does not look well!"  I had a sinking feeling in my heart. I would always lose my beans whenever I was out of my comfort zone in the past. The rage started building up within me.

Vipul ignorant of my inner turmoil, began the ritual of impressing me. I can still put a wager on the fact that the poor guy must have tried and succeeded  with every single girl in his life through  the very same method that he tried with me that day!

 However I was possessed!!

"Here darling, I love you!" saying this he handed me a big bunch of red roses.
"Thanks" said I grimacing as if in acute pain.
"My Valentine's Day card... " said he picking up the card from the backseat.
I too gave him my meager token of love, a very basic Valentine day card.

"I hope he hasn't got any teddys or chocolates for me.....I am not a kid!" I had a crushing feeling with that pile of love already on my lap.

Suddenly Vipul stopped driving the car and halted at a secluded spot.
"Oh God! Don't tell me now that he wants to get intimate with me.......in his car!!" It had to end!
Vipul leaned over to my side.....and that was that!
I opened the door, bolted out of the car and started stomping in the opposite direction.

"Moooonz....Moonz!" Vipul came running up to me. "What's wrong darling?"

First things first, I hated the word 'Darling', couldn't he call me 'babe(I looked like one!)' or 'love'?

"Why did you lean over to my side?"
"I needed something from the dash board and you wouldn't have found it! Let's get back to the car everyone's looking."
"If you are so damned scared of everybody then why are you with me?"
"Alright I am sorry! Let's go, PLEASE!"

After driving around for a while Vipul again  got back in to action. He sang some stupid, mushy Hindi romantic song for me. He told me to close my eyes and bring my hands forward.

Oh no! That crushing feeling had returned again and with it my anger.

I felt him slipping something on to my ring finger.
"Moonz will you...."
"What the hell is this?" said I opening my eyes."I am just testing waters here and not committing!"
I took out the ring and threw it out of the window!
Vipul was flabbergasted and speechless. He stopped the car and got out to look for the ring. It was after 40-odd minutes that the ring was found.
I sat in the car all the time and he was out of it all the time.

After two hours of convincing me I finally accepted the ring but refused the commitment.

But as you can see I still have the ring and I uphold the uncommitted commitment even after 12 years!

My Debut

So finally I have taken the plunge.......and began BLOGGING!
Well this was after much convincing and cajoling by my peers....
I asked who would want to read what I want to write and why?

Somehow my writing they saw strikes a chord with people, as is the case with my Debut Novel
                                                     GROW UP MOON!
By the way that too took a lot of pushing, keeping in mind my National Award for Writing as early as in 1995.

Well that is that and now what prompted me to blog was a very emotional event in my life.

I reunited with a friend after a no-contact battle of seven months. I am not the one to prolong a tiff but it was more than a slight disagreement....it felt like a stab in the back to both of us.There were initial and later efforts of reconciliation from both ends but as they say, Time is the biggest healer.....and so it healed.
It healed my soul though, the latter is not completely healthy but on the road to recovery. The road to recovery I feel should be never-ending for a Soul. But we shall come to it in another blog..

As I was saying, there is the surface now on a gashing wound of yesterday. As I decided to chuck away all the negativity between my friend and me, and took the first step to re-friendship, I felt a liberation!

Our talk was awkward with minimal eye contact. There were no words of apology because they had been texted and genuinely felt long time ago. However there was a long look into the soul of the other and it showed pain, respect and camaraderie. There was the apprehension of being a friend again and may be being hurt again. The two sentences spoken to each other, washed away all the hurt and the guilt and hopefully we were at 0,0 on our graph again.

What I learnt during the sabbatical is valuable, which no school and no up-bringing taught me. It was another of my life experiences and lessons that has made me a better person(I hope!).

I learnt that my actions and words in the social sphere are not mine alone, they belong as much to the others who are a part of the sphere. I can never be unmindful of the people in my life. My opinions matter a lot to others, so I have to word them carefully.

I also learnt that I have a great set of Friends who are willing to forgive me and remain with me. Thank you to them and I CHERISH all my friends.

Thank You God for blessing me so incessantly everyday with Your grace!

Love
Suditi