Jab we met..

So today is our engagement anniversary. Yeah our relationship turned five years old today. My mind wandered back in time and I started reminiscing about how it all began five years ago… It is still fresh and vivid in my mind as if it all happened just yesterday! The excitement, the chaos, the apprehension is forever etched in my memory. I realized then that I was about to experience a life changing event and that it was a turning point in my life which will change the course of direction I was going till now, forever!

 It all started with my dad telling me casually, while in the car, that we are going to see a ‘boy’ who is from US and is in India currently on a short visit and might be in a hurry to marry and go back to US. For me, who was already so averse to going to US, and added to that fact rushing into a marriage with a complete stranger, it did not fly too well with me. So I was like “ Dad, please turn back the car. I’m not going anywhere and I’m least interested in meeting this guy coz I know what the answer is going be even now.. NO. So why bother! ” Little did I know then that I was wrong and destiny had other plans for me already! Not that I’m complaining, I’m glad that my destiny is much wiser than I’m and knows exactly what is best for me even if I don’t realize that at first!  So anyhow we did go to see the guy at their place, much to my dismay, with a huge crowd of people(from both our sides) gathered there for this meeting (You know how arrange marriages work in India, right?)  So yeah initially it was just our family doing the talk and we both were pretending to be coy, demure and graceful by not looking or talking to each other in front of everyone!  At last, our turn came to do the talking and we were ushered in a room for a private conversation. It went smooth and interesting (will spare you all the details here ;)) turning my dismay into excitement and to my surprise awaiting a green signal from their side the next day which did come(thankfully!) and before we could blink an eye or think of anything else we were facing each other for a second meeting, this time at my place! Phew! If you think this is all happening too fast for you to keep pace with wait till you read what happened next.. Even me and my family weren’t prepared for the chain of events that were about to happen that day.

So we were all gathered at my place (with an even bigger crowd this time around ;))  It started off just like the other day…our families talked,  then both of us talked and so forth.. So while we were trying to get to know each other better, our elders had already planned our engagement date and were talking about the wedding date!! We were in a state of complete shock and didn’t know what to do and what to say and we were convincingly ushered in the chain of events as well without it all sinking in, truly. It was utter chaos, both of us in shock, parents in excitement, rest of the people running helter skelter preparing for the ‘Gor-dhana’ ritual which was to take place there and then, again without any clue this time for me and my family as even they were not prepared for that! Well, someone finally realized that no one has asked our approval that whether even both of us want to go ahead with this engagement or not. So then in midst of all the chaos we were asked about our wishes and I guess we had no option left then to say yes at that point of time! Of course we don’t regret our decisions, it was what we both wanted too but just that it was going too fast for us to sink in what was happening then. Well, after all the chaotic confusions and finally with everyone’s approval we did have the ‘gordhana’ function and fixed on a date exactly a week after for the official ring ceremony. We would have been even married off at the same speed had it not been for the lack of ‘auspicious date’ better known as ‘kamurta’ in our language. 

But as they say ‘All’s well that ends well’. So even after five years of this event, whenever we think about our engagement or how we first met we can’t stop being amused at how things occurred rapidly and before we knew or could realize what was happening, we were bonded for life! And happily so.