Weekend getaway

I'm completing two years of marriage this Sunday (still can't believe it!) and so have planned on a little weekend getaway with hubby. Really really itching to get out of Delhi and escape the drab, humid weather...ugh! We're going to Camp Potters' Hill in Himachal, just a few miles before Shimla. Looks interesting with its Swiss tents, tree houses, nature walks and bonfires, all in the lap of nature. Two nights and three days of pure bliss!

Will update when I'm back!

The next chapter

Like most of you predicted, I wasn't able to stay away too long! So here I am, beginning a new post, a new chapter of the second act of life. I hope I last this one out.

I celebrated my 1st wedding anniversary on July 18. Can you believe it has already been a whole year? I can't. It's as if it were only yesterday that I was getting jitters about marriage. Though time has zoomed by, it has left some very major impressions on my life. You see, married life is not the blissful journey I thought it to be, rather, wished it to be. It isn't bad, but it makes you grow up real fast, whether you like it or not.

Soon after the honeymoon, hubby and I were staying together, but not with my in-laws. Boy, what chaos! I didn't know the first thing about running a home! It was literally madness in the first couple of months - I couldn't cook so that added to the mess. Somehow, with help from my mum-in-law and mom, I got things going. But the loneliness killed me. I wasn't working at the time, so the empty walls of the house bored me to death.

During this time, my father-in-law's (Dad) health deteriorated. He was diagnosed with stomach cancer and his condition showed no sign of improvement. That is when we took a call to move back in with my in-laws. It turned out to be a life saver for me. Not only has it helped me learn the ropes, but has also given me a chance to get to know everyone better. There were times when I had to be at the hospital with Dad for hours. Cancer has a knack of taking a toll on everyone's lives. It sure did on me, because I felt connected to this new family, shared their sorrow as if it were my own.

Dad passed away in March this year. The house is suddenly quiet, devoid of any real joy. My happy-go-lucky mum-in-law puts up a brave face, but I know she misses him the most. I can't even imagine what hubby went through...he's without a father now. The thought itself makes me feel like something's died inside me. But the best thing about all this was that we were united in our grief.

Things have somewhat gone back to normal. I've quit my job and have started freelancing from home. This way I get to be with mum-in-law more often. When I look back at this one year, I realize it has changed me. I am no longer the dreamy-eyed girl I once was, but a more practical individual now. I'm still wishful at times, but try and remain grounded. I wonder what the years to come will bring in, but I know now, for cerain, that I won't be beaten.

Au Revoir

Hi folks! I'm back, and all married by now! Gosh that does feel strange! Had a blast on the wedding, and an even more amazing honeymoon! Oh btw, we decided to do Uttarakhand: Corbett, Ranikhet, Kausani, Binsar and Nainital. Mindblowing natural beauty. Binsar was my favorite, coz it wasn't like a typical honeymoon destination at all. It was in a resort right inside the forest, and we didnt have a 5 star luxury suite, but a treehouse cottage! The 13 km forest trek was the cherry on top! I never imagined i could find such serenity, so close to home. The other places were just as beautiful and romantic. And thank goodness, it wasn't raining. In fact, the weather was slightly chilly... just the way I like it! Had the best time ever, and I love my hubby for that! :)

Anyway, coming to point, I'm abandoning lifeheadon. After a month of being married, and living by yourself, I've realized it's not exactly cakewalk. There are suddenly less hours in a day and lots to be done. And trust me, it's an eye-opener for someone like me, who doesn't know the first thing about running a home! So my blog is one of the many things I will have to give up, also because I won't be able to do justice to it. Just wanna say it's been a wonderful experience being here, and whaddyuknow I might just decide to come back later, with more grown up posts maybe! :) Will miss you all, and of course my email ID is on my profile, so anyone of my blogger buddies can just drop in a mail, if you miss me too! ;) Take care you guys... love you all! Mwah!

Honeymoon Woes

Finally got time to pen down something! Whew!

Weddings are crazy. Seriously folks, the single ones and the ones in the process of tying the knot, always go for a court marriage, if you want to remain sane till the D-day. There's just so much to plan! Right from finding the right dates, to arranging for the venue, to making the guest list, to deciding what to put on the cards, to shopping, to packing, to deciding for the honeymoon... ah yes, that one still needs to be done. Aaargh!

This is probably the first time in my entire 22 years of existence, that I'm cursing the monsoons. I, rain-lover, don't want it to rain. That's because in the month of July, it's raining everywhere!!

Honeymoon planning isn't as easy as we thought it would be. Sure it's easy to say, hey go to Europe, or the States, or Scandinavia... but because both my fiance and I have a time constraint, we decided we don't want to waste half the day in traveling. so all of the above is ruled out, including Australia.

China... you must be kidding. Pakistan, Afghanistan, all the other 'stans'... maybe one day, but not for a honeymoon. Egypt, Dubai and other Middle Eastern places... too hot. Africa... um, no thank you.

That left us with Mauritius, Bhutan, Indonesia, Singapore, Maldives, Phillipines and the like. Oh did I mention, that it's gonna be RAINING?!

So, dejected, we come back to Mera Bhaarat Mahaan. Rajasthan... too hot and too boring. Maharashtra... nope. Gujrat... too hot. Kerala... RAINS! Darjeeling, Sikkim...very appealing, but rains again, and there's some political unrest there I believe. Coming to North India, Leh sounded great, but I don't know whether it's the best place for a honeymoon. Kashmir, again very appealing, but alas, unsafe. I don't want a 'Roja' happening. Himachal, I've practically lived there all my life, so no point going there. And Uttaranchal, umm, not exactly WOW, although the Ananda Spa did catch our attention. We also thought of Coorg and Kodaikanal, but my fiance's been there and seen all.

So now, I'm so frustrated that I've told him to do what he wants, and surprise me.

High hopes... sigh!

The Bride

She tips her face elegantly
And dusts her cheeks with pink
Widens her eyes, fluttering lashes
Darkening them with kohl
She then puckers her lips
And paints them a deep red
Her neck, ears and forehead
Laden with jewels
The subtle scent of henna
Floating through the air
The melody of her bangles echoes
As she slips them on
Her dress sparkles in the bright yellow lights
Like diamonds in the rough
The watery music of her trinkets reverberates
As she takes slow, uncertain steps
Downcast eyes,
Bearing a demure look
Taking on the beauty of the night
She reflects an eternal glow
All eyes on her,
Greeting her with smiles
The girl that she once was
Has turned into a woman
They now call her: The Bride

Mixed Emotions

This past month has rushed by, without me getting to know it. Just flew by. Life suddenly feels like a roller coaster ride- exciting, yet intimidating. Seen and felt so much… just hope the happiness encircling me now lasts forever.

In a matter of less than 31 days, I juggled so many roles, all at once. I now belong to two families, instead of one. And I fell in love, all over again. Gosh, it really did happen real fast. My heart skips a beat when I think of the uncertainty that lies before me. But I’m also getting the “butterflies-in-my-stomach” feeling that one gets before stepping into something new and exciting. A barrel of mixed emotions… that’s how I’d define the last few days.

Hope the future is as fulfilling as the present.

One fine day…

There are times when life gives you surprises. Big ones. This is one of them.

In my 22 years, I have seen several ups and downs, in terms of my career, friendships, relationships and life, in general. I thought, I had more or less experienced every phase of life, and could deal with just about anything that came my way. I was wrong.

It was an ordinary, boring Tuesday, and I was just lazing around. Mum returned from one of her get-togethers and shook me out of my daydream. “Wake up! I have news for you!” She proceeded to tell me there’s a ‘rishta’ that’s come for me, and what a great guy he is, and his family is even nicer, yada yada. I ignored most of it, and lashed out at her when it started to get annoying.

The rest of my family gathered together for a “meeting” in the evening, and ripped apart, the profile of the guy. After about 45 mins of discussion, they declared him, “the perfect guy”. The next thing I knew, my profile and pictures were emailed to the family, and phones were ringing off the hook. What followed was a whole week of frustration, screaming, shouting and lots of tears.

The same week, on Saturday, his parents came to meet me. I was cordial. Everything went ‘well’, and they decided to call the boy to Delhi for a meeting. The whole of next week went by, as if in a moment. At first, when I met him, I thought he was this really knowledgeable, intelligent, mature, worldly-wise individual. But when we actually got talking, I realized there really was a fun side to him, and he allayed my fears of “our mental wavelength” not matching. Though I’ve met him only twice, I can’t deny the fact, that I did like him. He has this ‘genuineness’ about him that is truly unique. Now of course I can’t testify for everything, but for a first meeting, he made a pretty good impression.

So, the surprise part is that I am getting married. Today is the betrothal ceremony. I still can’t believe it, as it’s all happened so fast. And on top of that, it’s an arranged marriage. The wedding, of course will happen much later. But then again, I can’t say, with the way things are going. I just hope, I’ve made the right decision. Through all this, I’ve learnt one thing: if something has to happen, it will. And that everything is OK in the end.

Why arranged marriage is best for me

Yea so I’m talking about marriage. I mean it’s not exactly me talking, but I’m forced to think about it. After all I am 22 years of age, “ripe and ready” for my relatives to start talking and my family to start looking.

So yea, coming back to the title of the post: why arranged marriage is best suited for me. Well there are a number of reasons. I’ve given this a lot of thought (since these days, I haven’t got much to do) and have arrived at this conclusion.

1) Men are beyond me. If commitment is what they want from a girl and if that’s what they get, they outgrow it. They slowly start wanting to have security, then maturity, then cooking skills, then understanding, then patience, then space and eventually, they want to be left alone. Too complicated.

2) Kisi ne sahi kaha tha. Kalyug aa gaya hai. It’s impossible to find a guy who will (forgive me for being wishful and orthodox) love you for who you are and not the body you have. Seriously guys, there IS more to love than making out the whole time. I thought I’d found Mr. Right but apparently it was all wrong. So again, too complicated.

3) I have this funda in life: I can’t just be with someone I barely know, just for the heck of being with him. I have to be friends with the guy for an eternity, know him in and out, develop feelings for him (non forcibly), fall in love, think about the future and then step into a relationship. And that’s going to take a LOT of time and effort, and frankly I don’t have faith in my own decisions now, and neither do I have the patience.

4) If, for instance, the guy I end up marrying is a moron, guess what? It’s not my fault! I can easily nag my folks and tell ‘em “hey you found him, not me”! So life would be somewhat simpler, with lesser things to feel guilty about.

Besides, come on, they’re my parents. They would want me to be happy. How wrong can they possibly be in finding the right match for me? And there are so many people out there who are pretty happy with each other. And love’s only been reduced to a myth, or rather, an unattainable treasure. Only the lucky ones get to experience it. I’ve been lucky, just not lucky enough. And that’s OK.

Oh by the way, it’s not like I’m getting married right now. I still have a considerable amount of time. And honestly, I don’t even think I’m ready for this thing. This was just thinking aloud- sorry, forced to think. Aloud.