From this moment life has begun, From this moment you are the one.
Right beside you is where I belong. From this moment on.
Wondering why am I talking about love at the time of this brewing summer heat of April? Well, it's 'coz I've been seeing this one love story blooming and growing for a very long time now. And so I thought of penning it down. Here it goes.
In Kerala, there was a tall, fair and handsome lanky guy with thick dark locks who lived with his parents and went to a nearby school. A 'lil away from his home, somewhere lived a dark, slim and beautiful girl who was blessed with the typical long, dark, thick black curly Keralite hair. She went to the same school as the he. But, they never met! She passed by his home daily on her way to school. But, they never met! And in summers I guess she may have stopped at his doorstep for a glass of water. But they never met!
Both he and she came from very poor families and so had to leave Kerala immediately after their schooling to fend for themselves. He went to Madras first and then to Bhopal and then to Jhansi and then later to Bombay. She came to Bombay. But, they never met! In an unknown place they tried real hard learning the language and the people. Later they got a job and got very busy with the work and everything else. But, they never met! How could they meet? But, God had some wonderfully beautiful plans in His mind for them. When they were of marriageable age, their parents who were still in Kerala started looking out for them.
She knew what she wanted : A tall guy! He didn't know what he wanted! Finally the families met. She said, "He's tall, but too thin". He said, hmmm well I don't know what he said! But I bet it must have been love at first sight for him. She was such a beauty after all! And then? And then, they got married. It was a typical arranged marriage. It was on Sunday, the 14th of April 1985.
It's been 25 years today. I am seeing this couple daily for the last 23 and a half years of my life. And I still see love in their eyes. So much love! He's still tall, fair and handsome, but not lanky anymore! His salt and pepper hair are thinning slowly revealing a nice round football ground right there in the middle of his head. She is still dark, thin and beautiful, just like yesterday. Her locks have a soft glow of gold in them. He and she are still so much in love, even after all this time. And together, they paint a picture of where I want to be tomorrow. They have been together in sickness and in health, in joys and sorrows, in the ups and the downs, she was always there for him; and he for her.
The Bible says, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)
I see this verse personified in their eyes and their lives.
He and she are my beautiful parents. And today they have turned silver together, hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder; sharing their life, sharing their thoughts, sharing their emotions, sharing their dreams, sharing their fears, sharing one another. I love you mom and dad. God bless you this day and always.
Every now and then, I tease my dad for having married a karathe penne (dark girl) when all the matrimonials scream "...wanted a FAIR girl..." But I know that their union was never a mistake or foolishness or anything else, it is the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen. My mom and dad were meant to be... Thank you Jesus for my beautiful parents. I could never thank God enough for them, no never!
