17 years and counting !!!

“Sixteen going on Seventeen“ – the song from Sound of Music comes to my mind, the moment I see the number 17. The lyrics of the song state that Liesl is a young girl at the beginning of her womanhood, and that she can depend on Rolf for guidance, because he is a good year older. This blogpost is not about my age, or about womanhood but about the number of years Joe and I have travelled together and in that sense the lyrics make sense to both of us. 30th January is our 17th Wedding Anniversary.

From the day ( just before our marriage, after our engagement ) I asked him, ‘Do you Smoke?’ and he looked right into my eyes and said ‘I don’t, but if you want me to, I can start right away’ we both have come a long way. I don’t ask such foolish questions and he wouldn’t oblige me either !!!

While “happily married” and “wedded bliss” are all great exmaples of oxymorons, no one around us would consider our marriage anything less than those described by these words. Any sane human being reading this will also agree that there is no perfect marriage in this world. It hasn’t always been hunky-dory for us, we have had a fair share of our fights, difficulties and misunderstandings, but as you see, Love has always triumphed. Probably only Joe and I would know the efforts and the years that we have put together in making our marriage work. The best part is it has worked ( so far!!) and heart of hearts I know, it will continue. Please God Let it work.. pls..

For those who know only one of us, or the both us, or none of us, we are as different as Chalk and Cheese. Atleast Chalk and Cheese almost have the same colour, I would say we are like day and night. Different cultures though we are from the same community, different upbringing, different outlook to life and I still wonder how we both got together in the first place. While I can talk to even strangers at the speed of light, Joe would hesitate to take the first step to initiate a conversation even with someone known to him.  I love reading romantic fiction and he would prefer management books or worse still user manuals. If I like senti stuff in movies Joe is all for action.  ( just a few differences) That’s life and that’s what arranged marriages can do  to you occasionally. The point is we have survived it and with Gods grace look forward to so much more. ( ahem!!)

This Anniversary being our 17th one, I thought of listing down 17 stuff that I really admire about Joe.

1. HARDWORKING I wrote that purposely in Caps. If I have seen anyone in my life who does not shun work and works so hard, its him. I wouldn’t have to worry about my tomorrow as long he is fit. Infact, the moment he is free, he becomes restless and I keep telling him that he is mentally wired to be busy all the time.

2. From the initial days of my marriage to now, he has grown to become a very caring husband and I know I come first in his life.

3. He is an excellent driver – who can maneuver the car so well, drive it swift & fast and it is a pleasure to go on a drive with him. I still remember how he would make me sit pillion on his bike and does a 60 degree jump with his old TVS Suzuki before we go anywhere. I miss that now. He is a great bike rider too.

4. Speed and his pace is so fast that I literally am running most of the time to catch up with his pace. Be it simple walking or reading or talking or even cutting vegetables, he is pretty quick. At everything!!

5. Never ( never ever) complains about the food that is put on the table. Which is I think a great boon for someone like me who never knew the basics of cooking, when I got married. I owe him a lot for putting up with all those inedible stuff I used to make then. ( a note here though. I am a fairly good cook now)

6. He is fiercely independent, to an extent it sometimes gives me the creeps. I think to myself that this guy will live happily even without me. I have rarely seen him depend on others for anything.

7. Mostly a self made man, he is someone who can think on his feet, has a uncluttered, clear mind and can make fairly good decisions on his own.

8. Inspite of his decision making ability and his independence, he takes my inputs and I know he values it a lot.

9. In a world full of men who think getting into the kitchen is below their dignity (atleast amongst my family and clan), he is one who can put on the chef’s hat and do cooking and fine cooking at it. His team won the cookery show award when they did a competition at the place he works. What more can a woman ask for? And let me tell you a little secret – he taught me cooking in my initial days of marriage and he makes the softest chapattis in the world with absolutely no oil.

10. He has a cool head over his shoulders and does not let anything get to his head. He has no airs about himself, down to earth and is a man of few words.

11. A great role model and a good father for Dennu. I wish Dennu would grow up to be like him.

12. Very confident about himself and his abilities. I know as long as he is around I have great support system in him. I can live a carefree life.

13. Did I say he is a smart energetic fellow? I love the way he looks and I love the past face of his walk. Ah, I should tell this about him – I just love the hair he has on his hands.  Am I totally in love with him? You bet!

14. Very practical in his approach to life ( unlike me, I can day dream all through my life)

15. He accepts my family as his own and does not differentiate it for me or for them. Makes my life much easier when interacting with either side of the family.

16. The respect his siblings have for him – all his older siblings and his younger brother have a lot of respect for him.

17. His ability to fix anything and everything around the house. I keep telling him jokingly that when I married him, I married a plumber, carpenter, engineer, driver, mechanic and a husband. He is so good at these, for the last anniversary I gifted him a Bosch Power Tool kit and he absolutely loved it. The guys in the retail shop where I picked up this stuff wondered what my husband’s job was. I had to tell them he works in a decent organization and loves to do these stuff around home. And they told me that in all their years of running that place they have never seen a woman gift a Bosch tool kit to her husband. I got a Rs. 500 concession :-)

I actually realized I have a lot more good things to say about him, but let me stop here, lest my man may grow a halo around his head !!

And now to those who think what an angel this one is ( me, me ..) to list out so many good things about her husband, just give me a moment.

I just swapped my accessories – right now I have a couple of horns, a little black & red tail and a pitchfork. You know what, I can list atleast a hundred things that I hate about him and it wont need as much thinking as it needed for the above 17 entries. He he he

So, finally I am dedicating this blogpost to 17 years of togetherness and more to come... and closing with a picture of ours taken today.