The Courtship Period

Marriages are sure made in heaven, but what happens before that?

My family and I had a list of “Should Be” for the prospective groom.  He should be a post graduate by qualification and not just an engineer; the family should be working class and not into business; Chandigarh based family; and what not. To this I had added one more- the guy’s mother should also be working, so that she could understand and encourage me to work too.

One or more of these “Should Be” were struck out every time a guy was being considered unlike when we came across Anuj. He met all the “Should Be”(s). Yay!!!!

After everything was finalized and the Roka done (when I got “Booked”), did the “Should Be” end there? You know the answer, “NO”. (For Anuj, “Nhi”)

  

                                     

So now, new things came up. Will he talk to me? How often? What will we talk about? What does he expects from me? How should I react to his questions? What did he mean, when he said that? Is he offended? Can I say this to him? And what not…

Next came the wedding preparations. What, how, when, why started again.

And now as the D-day is approaching, new questions pop-up in my mind. That “Oh so perfect look”, how much to smile, where to look when I am there, how to sit, whose feet do I have to touch and many many many more.

Engulfed in these anxieties and excitements, the courtship period is a roller coaster ride that brings surprises, tickles you in the stomach, makes you scream, make you smile and in the end leave you yearning for more. It’s an experience in itself where you Expect the Unexpected.

Aditi's one-liners

Aditi is no less than a celebrity, atleast for me. She has her style which manifests in her conversations with me. Like a true fan, I follow my idol and offer unconditional affection. Sachin's fans put his posters in their rooms, Shahrukh's fans love to mimic his k..k..k..k..k...kiran, Salman's fan dance crazily on his hud hud dabangg dabangg dabangg dance steps, Kejriwal's fans wear the gandhi cap, Sunny Leone's fans watch all her online videos over and over again, and well, I keep collecting Aditi's one-liners :)))

So here goes a list of my idol's (some) one-liners, not necessarily in the order of their importance:

Tell me something I don't know: This is one line I have come to encounter very frequently these days. Ofcourse, this shows my complete lack of creativity to tell her something new, or her heightened curiosity about me, or better still, her majesty's omniscience! Whatever be the reason, I take relief in the fact that she  (seems to) knows everything about me. What more does a fan need than being known to his idol :)

Welcome to hell honey: Love is in the air when your spouse (or would-be-spouse) starts calling you Honey. It's my great luck that my beloved calls me Honey. Just that I'm waiting to be licked ;-)

Nahi: If I ask Aditi out, she always says a Yes. For everything else, every conceivable question that I have, she has a one word answer - Nahi. While my classmates would concur that they used to call me 'Question Mark', I must tell them I have found my answer in Aditi.... yay!!

Ab lagega pata bachu: No no, don't you think she threatens me by saying this line. Rather, she affectionately warns me about the unexpected twists of the married life. As stated above, her majesty is omniscient and naturally so, she would share her ocean of knowledge with me during the journey called 'married life'.

Kal ka kya plan hai?: I must admit I have never answered this query properly on every occasion she made the attempt to know if I am a romantic guy. I always reply to this question with some boring stuff about meetings and work and blah blah shit, while all she wanted to know was whether I was taking her out, and what time! Sadly, the outings we had were never planned ones, be it the new year lake walk, or the time we spent together in Sector 17's market last Sunday. But let me promise you darling, I do have a plan ;-)

Keep blessing us with your wishes and love. We are warming up to the month of Valentine's, and the countdown is now down to five weeks. Our friends and family members are invited to share interesting stuff about us (and I promise, your writeups/mails/letters will be posted unedited on this blog with your credentials) which would be featured on this blog. You can write to me on anuj.jindal.in@gmail.com. Love you all (special love for my Saalis) and keep reading!!

Liar Liar

Now here is the truth about "Was it a Date!"

I asked Anuj about his New Year Resolution. He didn't have any. And I DID tell him mine.

On Jan 1st, Anuj was leaving after the celebrations, with NO MOOD to go to work. We spent about 2 hours or maybe even more talking. As it was time for lunch, I invited him over for lunch. He agreed but only on a condition - I would go out with him. (Why didn't you mention this? Huh)
Just to make him have lunch at my place, I agreed.

We went out. Lake was not the obvious choice. It was the ONLY place he could think of. Although it was a good choice.
It was not only cold, it was DAMN cold. and its NOT OK ever again (hehe).

The precious moments that we spent together were all about him making fun of my nose which had turned red due to that DAMN cold.

Half lies in his last post, have all been revealed and Anuj will probably kill me for this.

Having said it all, the time spent was still great and thoroughly cherished.

Was it a Date?

With December coming to an end, Aditi was after me to tell her what's gonna be my new year resolution. Like a good boy, I told her mine, while the wait is still on to hear about her resolution :)

By all means, destiny had some plans for both of us on January 1st. It happens to be Aditi's mom's birthday and I gave my work a slip in the morning to visit her to celebrate her birthday along with Aditi at their place. We had the cake cutting and snacks and then I decided to move back to work. Aditi came along with me to my car to see me off, but.... hum dono wahin atak gaye :))

We chatted for some time and then decided to have lunch together at home. And as Aditi mentioned in the previous post, I never hesitate to ask her parents to take her out, so I asked her mom if we could go out with Aditi. Bulls Eye! Mom allowed us to go out :)

(Now you know I didn't go to work on Jan 1st)

Sukhna Lake was the obvious choice for the outing given the appropriateness of the location for the occasion :)

For the first time, we got some time together. It was cold at the lake, but you know, it's all ok... hehe. We strolled the length of the lake sharing some precious moments in each other's company. As we took the u-turn to return to the parking lot, I said something to her. I guess it's the most romantic sentence a guy could say to his girl :)

I still have no clue whether she liked it or not but I'm happy I got that chance :))

Coffee brought some warmth in the otherwise cold evening at the lake. It was a completely unplanned outing, but I loved spending time with her. It was definitely a great way to start the new year!

On Public Demand

Hey what are you doing? This can hurt .. put it down.. ok ok .. I am writing.. I am writing.

Phew… that was close! It was a gun pointed at me. People these days can do anything to make you write a Blog.

Writing about Anuj. Although he a nice guy, but he is…..hey why did u come back….alright only good things. Take it easy.

Now I have to think hard (hehehe). Ok as he knows and says he is a chatterbox, I agree. My first comment for him was “bolta bohot hai”. But one thing I think he doesn’t know is that he is a true “User Manual”. You ask him a thing and he will start from the very beginning. With all the intricate details and the obvious things, he will include the screenshots as well (which does help sometimes!!).

Despite all this, Anuj is a very straightforward person. He will say it all on your face (but never rude..huh!) He is also quite daring. I must say every time he has to take me out, he never hesitates even once in asking my parents for the permission.

I recently discovered a way to get things done by him. Just Provoke him. Which is very easy. The last time we went out for dinner, it was just a word that made him spend some half an hour more with me in the biting cold. And the word was “Darpok”. Yeah I know I know. But what an idea it gave me!

A workaholic, he says ‘work is his first wife’. He didn’t tell me this before….why…oh why. That’s not much of a problem, he will work and I will let him work (coz I love a huge, gigantic wardrobe…which is replenished every now and then….I am just a girl…remember?)

Now before that big guy comes back with his gun, I’ll wish Anuj ‘All the Best’ for he sure is going to face a hard time with me. May God bless him with all the strength and will power!

From my last post, I repeat “Welcome to Hell Honey!”

The first step together

I must admit I am a novice at the various rituals that happen for a hindu marriage and therefore I am a little bit more curious about everything that's happening for my marriage. The first step to confirm acceptance for a relationship between the two families starts off with the 'rokka' or 'rokna'. Quiet literally I have been stopped to think myself as being 'free' :)

In our case, we had this elaborate function a day before Aditi's birthday where relatives from both sides were invited to give their blessings. Aditi flew to Chandigarh a day before the function. I guess this was her last chance to run away, but by marking her attendance I guess she accepted the wishes of her destiny :)

Sometimes shopping can be a different experience, and this time I went out to shop a kurta for myself. I kept guessing what would Aditi be wearing for the occasion so that I could match her well, but in the absence of a solid clue, I went for something risk-free: a maroon kurta.

Aditi surprised me with her green saree, however she looked beautiful as always. For those who missed the action (Ankita ji you are being referred here), photographs of the event were shared in real time :)

Here's one photograph of the event to give you an idea.

Like the colours that we wore, we are very different personalities. What brings us together is an appreciation for this difference and the search for something common. More interesting stuff for you coming in the next blog. Stay tuned!

The First Challenge

Hmmmm….here comes the first challenge..the Pre-marital woes.

Anyway, now that I have been told to write, I will try to be as subtle and sympathetic as I can be. Ok ok, for those of you who know me, I know it’s hard for you to gulp, but let me tell you, I AM Compassionate (at times…hehe).

Marriage, the scariest word, synonymous to ‘balidaan’, ‘kurbani’, ‘umar kaid’, blah blah, was never meant for me, I thought. I always keep asking my married friends, how does it feel being “MARRIED”? But I could never get a convincing answer. Some say it’s for societal acceptance, some say it’s about companionship. I think nobody actually knows and neither do I. I always keep scaring people by saying “Welcome to Hell Honey!”

Well hell or heaven I don’t know. All I know is that I never thought much about it. And that is exactly why writing this blog is a challenge for me. Whole story in short, two people talking on phone for about an hour, then meeting for about half an hour and then badhai ho…badhai ho…. Voila….its done!!

You know, I have a theory for different stages of marriage:

Stage 1: Hooked: when that badhai ho badhai ho is done

Stage 2: Booked: roka/engagement

Stage 3: Cooked: Wedding

So now before I get ‘cooked’ the time is great and tiring sometimes (because of the never ending shopping). Exploring, understanding and judging each other is exciting and fun. Hope the same fun time continues and we enjoy our lives to the fullest….even after getting married…

Yes, I'm getting hitched

This is one decision I took so long to take. Everyone loves their bachelorhood days, the independence it gives you is immense. And yet, most of us, including ME, decide to give it away for the adventure called 'marriage'.

So yes, Anuj has decided to get married. This blog is my first joint effort with my fiancee to share how we feel about this experience.

I met Aditi for the first time a few days before last Dusshera. But before we met, we had spoken to each other over the phone once. We discussed about our work, our families, some priorities which we hold very close to our hearts and our expectations from the prospective life partner. And that's it. We again met after 2 days and yeah, we both agreed to take the plunge in companionship for a lifetime :)

Aditi is generally a silent person, while I am mostly a blabber. She's intelligent and understanding but speaks her mind only when required. I have quite openly expressed my love for her eyes. She does smile at some of my jokes, but 80% of the times she gives thumbs down to my crap :)

She's crazy about paneer and can virtually eat any combination of paneer (even my roasted brain with paneer toppings.... hahahaha). One thing that any husband hates to know is that there is another man in his wife's life, and sadly, I too have to bear with that fact. She is in love with John Abraham and I have no option but to suffer this heartbreaking news every day :(
She plans to watch all previous John Abraham movie with me during our honeymoon. What an idea sirjee!!

Her resolution for 2014 is to get her four-wheeler driving license before I could get mine. But you know who's gonna win this race!

On the career front, Aditi shares my passion for healthcare. She's done her BDS and MHA and works as a healthcare IT consultant. It's always great to discuss my office stuff with her, but once she slept away on the phone while I was talking about the future of healthcare in India.

Anyways, like all good things, even the bachelorhood comes to an end. I hope Aditi finds in me a decent life partner. But does she have a choice now? Poor girl :))

Marriage is a serious commitment and I am all game for it. The countdown has started, with just about 6 weeks remaining for the special day. More details about our wedding will be shared through this blog. Stay tuned and have a happy day!