Will you be my valentine?

This is a topic that ought to have been written on 14th February, on the ever-green Valentine's day which is celebrated with a great craze all over the world.

But just like as I believe there is no one particular day to celebrate love, I chose to write my thoughts on this topic today. I happened to see the movie Baghban for the nth time and couldn't help rocking at the song, where Amitabh remembers his lady love, his wifey, Hema Malini. Seeing their bond on screen has always moved me. How can people be so much in love over a period of 40 years? They look like young couple, just fallen in love and share every thing, appreciate every small things in each other. They know when the other person is lying, crying, sad, even when they are away from each other. Whoaaa! I know it is too filmy, but I am sure there are such real life couples too!

What a feeling that is! I have seen many real life couples who have spent 50 yrs with each other and they know their partners inside out. They might have fought over trivial issues all their lives and even continue to do the same in the old age, but then the love and companionship is so evident in their eyes. At that time, love marriages were not common. Parents selected the groom and the girls got married. The unfolding of relations, habits, nature commenced only after starting the life together. They might not have gone for a movie together or held hands while seeing the sunset. Doing the duties and responsibilities towards each other and the family was love for them and more important than anything else. I do not think they had an idea of what romance was! But they were together in all situations, in all walks of life, without asking questions or expecting answers. Silence was not considered as something negative, non-expression of love was common. They seemed happy with each other and spent so many wholesome years together.

Cut to 2012.

1000's of girls and boys must have celebrated Valentine's day this year. Do they even know the meaning of love? Definition of love has now changed over the time. Now even a school going kid falls in "love". Love is now replaced with under-current meaning of lust, greed and enjoyment for the moment! Most of the people who celebrated valentine's day this year would have "broken off" from their so-called girl friend or boy friend and "moved on" and will get "hooked" with someone else next year. Why has love become so shallow and short-lived? Why has it changed so much over these years?

I am not saying the entire young generation has changed. There are many couples who might have decided to take things forward and might have got married. But then again how many such marriages have reached the 10 yr mark at least? Hardly.. Our patience has gone down, we are not ready to adjust day in, day out. If things don't work out, women walk out of the marriage very easily as many of them are financially independent now and can take good care of themselves. I am not blaming women entirely for this. Men are also equally at fault. Taking their wife for granted, spending less quality with them, running after money all the time are all men's domains.

I know that the initial years of any marriage, be it love or arranged are extremely slippery and require a lot of patience and understanding on both, husband's and wife's part. Both have to invest love, time, care, concern equally. Once the base is strong, then nothing else can shake their bond and I am sure even our grandchildren will have tales of our love-story to narrate.

I do not celebrate Valentine's day, nor does my hubby. We do not even wish each other that day. But we know in our hearts that we couldn't have got better partners. In 6 years of marriage, I have now come to realize that not expressing love, not buying fancy gifts does not mean that he is not concerned or loves me less. It is a mutual feeling and it definitely shows! I have now come to terms with it!

Rather than asking him if he will be my valentine (which is the usual trend), I will tell him, he better be!

:-)

   

Happy Birthday - Dear Blue Sky

It gives me immense pleasure to let you all know that it is exactly one year today that this blog, mine and your very own blog- The Blue Sky was created. On the same day, last year, I started penning my thoughts on this blog and penned down almost 77 write-ups. I could have made a century here, but then the thoughts behind the number are important, aren't they? I churned out write-ups, most of them were non-fiction, real incidents which were really close to my heart. I mostly wrote about people and then about my observations, my interpretations on such people and incidents. I thank you all, my readers and supporters to have spent some time on my blog by stopping by.

There are a few people due to whom I am still writing and without whose mention, this birthday celebration would be incomplete:

My first and foremost critic, first reader of my write-up, my friend, John, without whom, I would have never started writing this blog. He takes time from his busy schedule and comments on my posts whenever he can. He himself writes 2 blogs, loves cooking and reading is his favorite activity.

My friends from office, Aabha, Snehal, Tejaswini, Shilpa - Thank you gals for giving me the encouragement to continue writing on whatever I feel like. You have appreciated every little nonsense I have written on this blog.

My mavshi, based in US, Anjali Karandikar, who is a regular reader of my posts does not make herself visible on the blog though, but mails me her comments regularly and expresses her likes and dislikes regarding the same.

My parents, my mom-in-law, my buddies Milind Jog, Mandar Joshi, Koustubh, Sudhir, my buddies from HP and brother-in-law Shreyas, who have been the regular targets of everything I have written so far. Sorry people, you had no choice, but to read whatever I sent you. But yes, I know, whatever appreciation and comments, you gave me, have come directly from your heart.

Swati Apte, Dr. Prasad Akolkar, close friends of mine, who were once frequenters on my blog, have not been able to devote much time to read my blog off late. But then, I understand that everybody has a schedule and whenever they will have the time and inclination, they will come back and give their feedback to my write-ups.

A blogger by the name "We have a solution" - is a regular reader of my blog. If you read this write-up, please I would like to know who you are. I want to thank you for your candid comments and can't do it unless I know the name behind your blog name "We have a solution".

Dear Madhuri Dabke Kulkarni, who is my sister-in-law, but more like a friend. She has been regularly following my blog in her hectic schedule of office work and taking care of my cute little nephew, Anuraag at home.

Last and not the least, my dear, my dearest, my hubby, Atul. He quietly reads everything I write, but never expresses that he liked or disliked a particular thing. Anytime, I ask him, how he liked or hated a particular write-up, he never has anything negative to say! He always says that every write-up, I write is good! I wonder, if it is out of fear that I will get angry/sad if he says the truth or out of love that he never condemns whatever I write :D I choose to believe the second possibility.

All other people, who visit my blog, by chance or deliberately, who read an article or two and leave - Thank you all for taking time from your busy schedule to read something that might have interested you.

Looking back

I am not a person who cries over time that is gone, but I would definitely like to count all the good things that happened to me in the last 7 years that I am in Bangalore.

I came to Bangalore on 23rd January 2005 for a job offered to me by a multinational called Hewlett Packard. I had done post-graduation in German, had 1 year work experience in Mumbai, had taught German at the university, but this kind of job was a first time in my life. I was going to be away for the first time from my parents and Bangalore was a new city to me with no friends or relatives. But this company gave me 2 friends for a life-time. Koustubh and Sudhir. I owe the tenure which I spent in Bangalore to them. Because they were here too, we had a wonderful time, learning and exploring new things at job. Movies, shopping, dining was a weekly ritual. We gave each other strength in tough times and shared personal problems too. Eventually we all moved out of the company, but we are still going strong! Sudhir is happily married and Koustubh is in Germany on a deputation. I am very much in Bangalore and I often think of the good times we spent together.

On a personal and a professional front, there was lady luck smiling on me in the next 2 yrs to come. I got married to my sweetheart and also got a huge break in another MNC, where my talents were explored to the core. I had to change 3 projects in 5 years, but whatever work I did, I enjoyed it to the core. There again @ work - I got good friends in Shilpa, Merlyn, Ranjani, Sumali, Snehal, Aabha, Tejaswini, John. He was the person due to whom I got back to writing and he has encouraged from time to time. I shared so many good moments of my life with them that the very thought of it makes me wonder how and why did I meet each one of them. There was a lot of give and take of information, of love, of care and it brings me a smile whenever I think of these beautiful people. We do not meet each other personally now, but we are in touch electronically. Everybody has a family and their own routines, but we catch up on things when time permits.

I have a nature which always believes in helping people with whatever little means I have and this Bangalore chapter in my life gave me a chance to be of some or the other help to many known and unknown people. And I sincerely believe that this little help has come back to me in multiplied amount. I met a few bad people here too, but then that is a part and parcel of life. Bad experiences strengthen the belief in good things and good people. Somehow God sees to it that I am never alone, when I am in need. He sends his assistant in some form or the other. The help rendered by me is returned to me in some or the other form, sometimes by a complete stranger. Strange are the ways with which God manages this whole thing. Gets me goosebumps at the very thought of it!

My husband, my parents and in-laws have been the pillars of my strength and have been instrumental in making this stint in Bangalore a very successful one. They have always encouraged me to do things which I like and to help people. I thank all my friends, well wishers in Bangalore, known and unknown ones too in making my life enriched with their good wishes, experiences and learning. And I will continue to do whatever is possible from my side to make people coming in my contact happy!

Amen!