Love in the air.... by Smitha Bhandare Kamat. December 25th has a special significance to the world and in particular to me. It has been a decade and a half when on that day I tied the knot with a man who was to transform my life. Fifteen years seems pretty long and yet the years have slipped by comfortably in his companionship. As this pleasant realization dawns on me, I watch my kids busying themselves with a crib at home in the village of Merces. The music, laughter. the aroma of bebinca floating in from the neighbour's kitchen, all accentuate the congenial atmosphere. It is such a beautiful time of the year that you wish you had a magic wand to freeze the moment and then play and replay it to it's minutest detail as and when the heart desires.
As my eyes sweep the scene to register every enchanting moment, they rest on a frame where a young couple smiles back. I recall distinctly the day when we were declared man and wife. It was an arranged marriage, and we were yet to get to know each other. We were yet to 'fall in love'. It seemed just yesterday that we had complied with all the Vedic rituals, followed by the social obligation. It was one of those long, never ending days, but the marriage ceremony was indeed special. But what struck me was that my husband had taken upon himself to relieve the driver and drive us to our new home. The sudden privacy with my palav still metaphorically knotted to his shawl was awkward yet strangely comforting. That close feeling still lingers on. I was to learn that making me fell secure and comfortable is an indelible part of his persona and the very reason that accentuated the natural process from 'like' to 'love'. The relationship has grown ever so subtly, ever so slowly yet steadfastly. Being a compulsive romantic, I feel truly gratified that time and destiny has bound me to my soul mate and in equal measure, fell thankful for finding my place, my homeland, where I could spread my roots. On that particular day of 25th Dec a good fifteen years ago, Merces was a picturesque, mesmerizing village, a fairy tale land with every house lit with stars. I realized as my husband drove me to my new home, I had tripped head over heels for the village much as I did for its special resident sitting next to me. And every dawn since then, the village church bells have rung in sync with my heart, making me indeed feel blessed. http://www.epaperoheraldo.in/Details.aspx?id=13141&boxid=165859921&uid=&dat=01/02/2014
