How I stumbled upon your Daddy!

Now, there are too many versions of this story floating around, and no, this is not an attempt to get the story straight. In reality, after almost 7 years of wedlock, we have successfully been molded into Mommy & Daddy! No more Boy meets Girl, Girl meets Boy, struck with lightening, Love’s first bite…and the sorts-You get the picture. Until, one day, our bundle of joy comes galloping, and invariably utters those few words: “Daddy, how did you meet Mommy…?” And, trust me, it is only second worse to, “Mommy, where do babies come from”???

A strategy has to be in place to tackle these “tit-bits” of childish candor and innocence. Some of the more prudent ones, I mean couples, would probably have their “stories” ready for just this moment; and without further adieu leap into the intricate & finely tuned  fairy-tale “Picture” that was their “Wedding”. They have their Albums neatly stacked, the family portraits all glittering with Joy and Happiness; and the minds of the little ones aptly put to rest; or, in some cases, fueled with adorable fantasies of a glorious “Love Story” building its course…; and, suddenly the Boy in her class, with a chipped tooth but cute smile, who decided to grab her hand merely to push, has a “crush” on my little girl.

Is this how it all begins? Or, do we unscrupulously build its course ourselves? I can still recall the first time when a boy grabbed my hand and blurted those 3 big words during a friendly game of “hide and go seek” with our neighborhood kids. I was 10 at the time, and the only response he could scrunch out of me was me jerking him off. But, alas, the seeds had been sown; the land had been ploughed; the sun was shining bright, the streams were gushing through the ditches, the air filled with cherubic scents of the willow woods; and, for a long time, it seemed the world was festooned with “seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness…*”; until many years later, I find myself reticently reciting “our story" to our latest set of acquaintances!

It was not until a few days ago that I was struck with this daunting paradigm of shifting behavior. I stumbled upon a book I had read sometime in my teens, and feeling ‘more than ordinarily dull this morning’ decided to replenish the memories with a fresh dose of cynicism inevitable at my age- the title of the book, “The Convenient Marriage”* (go figure!). A few pages into it, and I was really enjoying myself; the plot was simple, the dialogues witty, the characters jumped to life with their funny anomalies: the heroine, 17, with eye-brows that refuse to arch and relinquished hopes of getting any taller or hiding her stammer, valiantly 'deals' her way into a prosperous marriage to a wealthy Earl*, who, at age 35, is a man of the world in business and with ‘such wanton pieces of pretty femininity’.

 In short, a classic tale of how, despite the glaring ineptitude, the “marriage of true minds” inevitably results in the fresh blooms of the spring; and the gold mine called Love is struck! But, was I struck as well? At 16, I remember gushing pages of my journal with ideals about love and marriage, and the whole deal. It did not, for one moment, feel preposterous or fallible to conspire such romantic notions for someone eighteen years my senior! May be husbands were meant to be mature, or how else will they indulge in your petty faults? At 20, however, the very same notion was not without chagrin. I was forced to harp on such entreaties from my parents for they were all about finding the “right guy”. And, may be, they would have succeeded to an extent. But only, if I let them! 

And, thus, began my journey to my present. So it wasn’t a charade; it wasn’t the “union” to guff about; there weren’t any foreboding or speculations as to whose royal blood (or “commoner”) will grace the country of its future heirloom; no circus of paparazzi adorned the Spanish steps of Rome; nor there were “millions” to be made. ( I mean, who could but the Kardashians!!) Nevertheless, a journey well besought with a few funny notes, stories to be told, and laughs to be had…of how the groom went chasing his missing luggage on his wedding day; or how everyone scattered about  not knowing what to say in a tongue spoken by all, but the family of the Groom!

                                                                                                                                To be continued....

• John Keats’ The Autumn, composed in 1819.
• A Georgian romantic novel set in 1776, written by Georgette Heyer; published in 1934.
• An Earl is a member of the nobility. For further reading, look up http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl