Almost this day last year...

Yes, it has been a little over a year since I decided to take the plunge. In spite of S & me wanting to have a simple marriage, it turned out to be a not-so-simple wedding. I have also realized that one of the most dreaded things about marriage - the change it brings in one's life, is more of a myth. My life hasn't changed so much ... fortunately.

Before we knew it, it was already a year ...

The best way to treat Shopaholism..

.. is by making one go through wedding shopping twice in less than 1 year. Now that I have realized from experience - no wedding shopping lasts less than 2 months (I know of some which go on for 6 months or more). There are so many things to take care of that all your weekends turn out to be much more hectic than your work days. So much so that you wish for the work week to begin soon!

The other thing I have realized in the past few weeks is that there is no such thing as a simple wedding. All your resolve about having a simple wedding goes down the drain when things start happening to you mysteriously without you realizing that this is not what you wanted. And by the time you do realize, it is too late …

Image courtesy: http://www.mimifroufrou.com/

That Rainy Day...

It was a busy day at work. I had to leave earlier than usual in the evening to attend to something important. It was one of the days when I wasn't driving home myself. He was already on his way to pick me up. I was almost racing against time to wrap things up. So much so that I had to forgo my afternoon tea. He calls " I am ten minutes away from your office". "Gosh!", I swear under breath, I had not realized it was so late. "I'm on my way out", I gushed. The walk from my building to the gate takes over 10 mins!!

The sky was slightly overcast and there was a nice breeze when I left my building. I had walked only a few steps when it started raining ... not a light drizzle, but one with raindrops the size of ping-pong ball!! On a good day I absolutely love the rains, but not today. By the time I reached his car I was half-soaked in spite of the umbrella. His welcoming smile almost made be forget my misery. He started driving. I mumbled something like "I was so caught up today I didn't even get time for tea. I feel dead without it ". He gives one of his trademark smiles and says "Put your handbag in the backseat, there's something for you over there". I find a bag containing a flask of steaming hot tea, a coffee mug and a box of cookies!!

What I say out loud is "You are the best! I couldn't have asked for anything more" and I say to myself "I'm so lucky to have found him .. I'm glad he is the one .... "

Image courtesy: http://wiki.zope.org

Feast of Love

I watched this beautiful movie called Feast of Love this weekend. I had never heard of this movie before and had bought its DVD a week ago by just seeing Morgan Freeman on the cover :). A little bit of reading its back cover gave me an idea that it would be something on the lines of Love Actually. The film is directed by Robert Benton of The Human Stain and Twilight fame.

The film has many stories in it .. all on the theme of love. Each of them exploring a different dimension of love - be it between two youngsters who fall in love with each other the moment they lay their eyes on each other, between two women (one of them married and having no idea that she could get attracted to another woman), between two people who had been having an affair with each other only to realize later that they were actually in love all along and my favorite .. love and comfort between two older people .. the kind of love that comes from decades of togetherness. The film has been dealt with a lot of sensitivity and the characters are well developed and layereed. The film also managed to stay away from becoming the usual romantic chick-flick, which I do not have much liking for. It has elements of both happy and sad endings to love stories. Most of the actors have given good performances but I particularly liked those of Morgan Freeman and Alexa Davalos. Alexa's beauty and talent have shone through the whole film and she has managed to steal the attention away from more established names like Radha Mitchell and Selma Blair.

A good romantic film that also has depth to it. May not be suitable for family viewing as there are some explicit scenes in the film.

What would you take - life or divorce?

Today's Bangalore newspapers were splashed with the news of a software professional first killing his wife for allegedly having an extra marital affair and then committing suicide. They were married for just one year.

Few years ago - another software professional was killed while returning home after an evening out with his wife. It appeared that it was a case of mugging-turned-murder. After some months of investigation, it was found out that the newly wed wife and her boyfriend had plotted to kill the husband. When I last heard - verdict was pending for the accused.

Both cases involved educated, upper middle class, supposedly responsible people. I don't understand one thing - why did these people choose to take lives of their spouses instead of just divorcing them? Is murder less condemnable a crime than being divorced? Or does love turn you so blind that the life of the person you love becomes less important than your love for him or her?

Happiness & Memories Ahead ..

Two of my very close friends Rajesh & Renuka are getting married today (to each other :) ). Unfortunately I was not able to make it to their wedding. I wish them a blissful life ahead and many many years of happiness, togetherness and memories. Congrats both of you!

Something stupid like I love you ..

'And then I go and spoil it all by saying something stupid like I love you '. Every time I listen to this song, it brings a smile to my lips. I am not very sure why...

Today it was playing on the radio while I was having a late Sunday breakfast and reading the newspaper. The original song was sung by Frank and Nancy Sinatra but the one I heard today was a newer version by Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman (yes, the one with a saucy video .. especially towards the end :) ) . And until I heard this song some time ago, I had no idea that Kidman sings too!

Coming back to the lyrics of the song - do we really spoil things that are otherwise going great by saying 'I love you' too soon? Do we scare the other person by saying these words when he or she has only been testing waters and not really sure where things are headed? Have these words lost their true meaning in today's busy and stressful lives? Are these words really need to be spoken between two people to show that they love each other? Don't these words add an extra baggage and complexity to a relationship?

I don't have answers to these questions right now, but my quest is still on..

Birthdays

It's strange how we consider ourselves all grown up and mature in our daily life and still we are just like kids when it comes to certain things. Well, there must be many things about which I am still quite childish. But one of the things I am quite sure of is my birthday. By this age I should have grown out of thinking that birthdays are special days and your near and dear ones have better and more important things to do in life than wishing you on your b'day and making big plans for it.

But somehow, I have not managed to let go of this feeling that my birthday is a very speacial day for me and all my friends/family members should wish me, make plans for a great birthday bash - with a cake/candles and the works, give me flowers and gifts and above all make me feel really special on that day! Sounds really funny .. coming out of a person like me - who is not all that young anymore and has a reputation of being wise and intelligent :). I think at this age I should be cringing at the thought of another birthday round the corner - but no, this does not seem to reduce the charms of a birthday party or gifts for me. I start reminding people who matter to me about wishing me a week in advance so that they don't forget and I don't have to be unnecessarily mean to them later for being forgetful :)

Now with less than a month to go for my next birthday, I have already started the countdown and have started refering to dates as ' 2 days after my birthday' and the likes. All I can say is I am totally incorrigible when it comes to birthdays ;)