My parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on 05 Sep 2013. This piece was penned then, as a tribute.
On
the wonderful occasion to mark the golden anniversary of my dear Achan (Dad) and
Amma (Mom), as they celebrate 50 years of marital relation, I raise a toast of
congratulations on this milestone event, and wish them all the very best for
their diamond, platinum and other anniversaries to follow. Cheers!
I
don't intend to hold forth and pontificate on this grand occasion, but I guess,
I would be pardoned if I take the liberty of a few words, on my personal
experience of the wonderful bond that the two persons who brought me into this
world, share.
'Ideal
couple' is a phrase that is often used to depict a husband-wife pair if you
have to extol them. In my very humble opinion, that phrase (ideal couple), is a
myth, an oxymoron. Having been married for close to two decades, I would know,
and I have Manju's (my wife’s) permission to say so! In the case of my parents,
I guess they are more of a complement of each other. What one misses out or
lacks, is more than made up for, by the other. Thus, while Achan is solid on
the outside, and can be grimness personified, inside, he's the proverbial
putty. And I, Aju (my brother) and Mol (my sister) had long unravelled that,
well before the man in question himself realised that we had. Amma, on the
other hand, hides a gutsy interior inside that compassionate and delicate
exterior. In matters of temperament too, they are poles apart. Amma could run
up a fiery temper, at the drop of a hat, while Achan's outbursts, during my lifetime,
can be counted on my fingers.
They
have this uncanny ability to perceive each other rather well. Guess it comes
with staying with each other for so long. For instance, when Amma is cross,
Achan is sensitive enough to understand the gravity, and let matters cool,
before attempting to normalise the situation. In the reverse case, Amma would
keep up her relentless pressure, and it won't be long, before her hubby
acquiesces. Long story short, not for them the cloying idea of a Ram-Sita
existence; rather I would put it closer to the more mercurial Shiva-Parvati
kind of a relationship.
Despite
all that, what strikes you in the relation, is the constant endeavour to chase
happiness for each other. It's almost as if, the happiness of the other, is the
sole reason of ones existence. Blessed indeed is their association.
Before I
end, I once again propose a toast of good health and happiness to two souls who
live by the dictum, "Ek duje ke liye". May your beautiful association
be divinely blessed.
