HAPPY ANIVERSARY.......

32 years ago, my mum said….in a marriage do not look for Him, to be the right person, first be the right person…Profound words which at 18 did not make sense to me, but always stayed with me. The journey of a new life that I took with Joe has grown step by step, and it is 32 years today……….Life indeed has come a long way…

We had an arranged marriage, but love blossomed with the years sometimes knowingly sometimes unknowingly…its been an adventure we set out on together, discovering each other, loosing one self, sounding like an enemy at times, we met with life’s incidents, some we turned into disasters, some we managed to take lessons from.

Sometimes we went our own separate ways, but realized that all the paths we took finally did lead to each other... We tried changing each other and over the years realized, that unknowingly we had adapted to each others way. Some times my ego took a bashing and sometimes his, but silently the ego was sacrificed…to each of us, our inner worth was visible, taken for granted at times, but at other times respected.

When did we stop asking each other for our best, to giving each other our best, speaking our mind…knowing the other will understand the feeling behind the harsh words? Words that shall not create tension or conflict but harmony, we have learnt to understand the unspoken behind the spoken. From feeling some days how can I live with him, he has become the person I can not live without.

The vows we took 32 years ago have matured slowly, the vows alone have not held us together for 32 years…it’s the little and big incidents, its standing together shoulder to shoulder when life gave the chills, yet giving each other space and independence. With eyes wide open and half shut at times we continue this journey of life………As somebody rightly said………. We have come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly

WE MOVED..............

We...Joe and Self moved to Gujarat, Ahmedabad. Moving for sure is no more simple. All my life when we were in the Defence,it was easy, every two years or so, very rarely less,we would set to do our share of Bharat Darshan, see new places, make new friends, making a home every where we went, leaving a part of our heart behind. Then changed countries, got back to where we felt we belonged.

This move from Bangalore to Ahmedabad has been tough more so with the heartaches the packer and movers gave us.Broken stuff, delayed delivery etc.it had it all.Aggarwal Packers and Movers never again.

Landing here the heat hurt, but the atitude of the people, warmed us. This city rocks.I get a pleasant surprise every day.Broad roads, no power cuts, running water and so very gracious people. After having lived in these so called cosmopolitan cities Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore....the 'Autorickshaw walas'were a compete NO, NO....I never had the will or energy to travel in them. Joe would always end up taking them to the Police Station, what with faulty meters, excessive fares, and Bad attitudes. Here they let you sit in the AutoRickshaw first, and even if one has to travel half a mile, they willingly take you and yes all through the meter reading. Not one Auto wala has said faulty meter...I salute this breed of Service Providers.
'Ben' [Behen, Sister]thats what everybody calls you, I am actually starting to forget my name......

I now understand what a good Govt. can do...From one BJP run state to another I have come.And what a difference,no half a day power cuts, no narrow roads, no traffic jams... if this is what India is capable of, if this is what Growing India is,....I am so proud to be Indian.I love this place already.