BTFYA 4 - The happily ever after :).

Fate certainly had other plans :). At this particular time 5 years ago (it was about 5-6 PM in the evening when Sri and his parents came home to "see" me), I had no clue that my life was about to change in a very drastic manner. I was tired of seeing the same old guys who were hardly compatible and thought that this would be another re-telecast. There must have been a little hope somewhere, but I don't really remember that now. So I was looking forward more to the trip to my chikkappa's house (for the Deepawali Balipadyami celebrations) than to the guy-seeing ceremony. So to say that Sri was a pleasant surprise just doesn't seem enough - he was so much more than that :-D.

We talked lots and lots about ourselves (imagine we had to decide to commit to a person in a matter of about 2 hours alone in a room just an eavesdrop away from our parents :-D) and one of the things that impressed me was that he was encouraging about my so-called trekking adventures, sharing that he had done hang-gliding in Himachal Pradesh (albeit with an instructor). That part was certainly good - taking limited risks ;-). I am still a bit jealous that I haven't done it yet ;-). It was the most positive guy-seeing experience I ever had, but somehow I blocked off the decision making process. Maybe because it was so positive, something in me just didn't want to believe he was a great guy and wanted to confirm it by seeing him again. Some switch in my brain flipped to "meet-again" and refused to continue the signal to any sort of decision :-D.

I did learn a lot of things that day but I learnt more from then on as time went by and even now, each day is a revelation :). So here are my enlightenments -

• Next time we met, the first things I learnt were that Sri's height is greater than me in my platform shoes and that his dimples curled just the way I loved, hehehee :)).


• More importantly, I felt like a cave woman next to a very sophisticated modern man. We went to a pizza place for dinner and Sri actually used a fork and a knife to eat the damn thing, while I chewed away at the pizza holding it in my bare hands :-p. After that there was many a time where I have had the thought "Why does this guy even want to marry an uncouth like me?" ;-) :-D. But well, I have to admit he never really used a fork and knife to eat pizza after that, but he sure is always much cleaner than me even if he does eat with his hands ;-). Till today I tease him that he was showing off and he is nonchalant about it as if it came very naturally to him :-p.


• Some of the first things I asked of Sri seem a bit silly to me now :-D. I told him flatly that I didn't know how to cook, but that I'd learn (and I did learn :-D) - he said he cooks, so that was alright :-D. That I didn't really like to wear a saree (even now I am not very comfy) and would like my clothes to be my choice, he just said okay. That I'd call him by name (instead of the various Kannada hubby-addressing-mechanisms like "Ree", "Ivre" and "Enoondre" :-D) and "Neenu" instead of "Neevu" (in my defense, we have only 3 years of age difference between us and it felt like a generation gap to call him "neevu" :-D). He said he didn't have any problems with that. Many a time while saying such things I have felt that maybe he must have thought me foolish, but he took me seriously. He never laughed it all off as a girl's fanciful stuff or treat it with disdain. And in 5 years he has never brought it up and fussed about anything (despite the fact that I refer to him as "Avanu" or "Ivanu" i.e in a singular context in front of my in-laws too!). It kinda showed me that he listened to what I had to say and respected my choices :).


• One of the things we are totally opposite in is that Sri is hardly excited about anything - whilst I keep jumping up and down at every little thing. I guess most men are like that :-D. They are supposed to be the steady rocks when their wives are the rivers :-D. But I get frustrated even now about it, because sometimes its impossible to guess his reaction to some of the things I blurt out. I think the only time I've actually seen animated expressions on his face is when he is doing/talking about something related to technology :-p. I still haven't completely learnt to read into his expressions, so he is as enigmatic as he was 5 years ago :).


• I really appreciate that Sri never imposes his opinions and philosophies on anyone. For that matter I don't even know whether he has any philosophy at all, except to take life as it comes. My sweetheart's a smooth sailor ;-). He never acts like a know-it-all, never dictates things to me and is always willing to learn from me. I love that about him because I don't like being bossed around, thats usually my prerogative ;-) :-D.


• I have to mention something about Sri's forgetfulness. I'm not talking about him forgetting important dates/events (well, how can he do that? :-D), but more of a day-to-day stuff. For example, he may forget what I cooked the previous day :-D. I keep pulling his leg saying that if I'm not around for a few days, he'll not remember who I am :-p. Sometimes its a boon (he doesn't really remember any mistakes that I may have made ;-) :-D), but usually its a bane. I usually ask him to remind me something and usually end up regretting it. He's getting better, but I still haven't learnt from these types of mistakes ;-), hehehe :)).


• Once Snugli came into our lives, I started seeing Sri in a totally new light. I have always admired his patience but the word takes on a completely different meaning when it comes to Snugli. He never ever flares up on her, never gets frustrated no matter how frustrating she is or in turn I am and is always like a calm lull while I'm the raging hurricane. No wonder she never takes his scoldings seriously ;-) :-D. I love to watch them play silly games and I'm proud to see him take care of her without complaints. He even misses her fluttering around us when she is sleeping (while I heave a sigh of relief ;-) :-D)! As I see her grow up, I learn new inspiring things about him. He leads by example, making me a better mother and a better person :).

I feel very strange when I write these types of posts. Whereas you get to know me through my blog, you get to know Sri through only my version of him and the way I feel about him. Its as if you are not getting to know the person but someone's idea of a person. Weird :-\.

Anyways, as you can see, I found my tall, dimpled, sophisticated, ever-listening, respectful, enigmatic, non-preachy, forgetful, patient and wonderful-father-material man, 5 years ago on this very day and learnt the difference between infatuation and love :). I have many blessings in my life that I count daily and am very much grateful for and Sri is the greatest blessing of them all :). This is how Saturday the 13th actually turned out to be the luckiest day of my life :-D (coincidentally today's Friday the 13th :-D).

Happy 5th day-we-met anniversary my love :)