This Time That Year

Today, we're leaving from Porbandar and heading back home to Kerala. Today also happens to be our two-year anniversary. We didn't have a traditional Indian wedding, we don't really have a traditional Indian marriage either. We exchanged our vows in a registrar's office, and celebrated the occasion with an intimate party followed by a large reception in Mumbai. 

Did I mention we got married in Goa? By Goan law, I now own half of everything that N has! I don't think it works the other way around though.

Why this picture you ask? It's been quite the proverbial ride, these past two years. We've moved four houses, 2 states, travelled to yet another one, camped in a hotel room for four months, and visited two beautiful countries. Not to mention the countless trips from wherever I was to Bombay. We've moaned about the weight gain after marriage, walked kilometers along beaches, talked about the mundane, the interesting, and pretty much everything in between. Experimented with diets, attempted to recreate classic cuisines, made to-do, to-buy and to-gift lists. Run amok in malls (we've lived in tiny hamlets for a while now), exclaimed at the rising prices of milk and eggs, given up on saree shopping for the mothers since we're both clueless there and discovered the joys of online shopping. Who doesn't love stuff arriving in brown packages that can be ripped open?

There have been a few downs too, sneaking up suddenly. Just like you come down on the Ferris Wheel and think you're going to crash to the ground. Why are they called Ferris Wheels? In India we call them Giant Wheels, yes, even the little ones are called that. And Indians love their Giant Wheels. They're a rarity in the cities, just like the dwindling population of sparrows. That is something to talk about in another post though. The downs, well, while they last they also hold the promise of an upcoming high. So we've mostly managed to get by.

We've rationalised how we can't have a dog if we move around so much, and yet melted into a puddle every time one of us finds a picture of a cute pup-we-must-have. I've coaxed N out of his digital dinosaur phase and he's given me tips on driving. I will soon qualify as a woman navigator who's as good as a man navigator (yeah, apparently there is a bar to rise up to there). Meanwhile he's learnt to toss omlettes into the air like a chef at a breakfast counter.

I've discovered that the secret to marital bliss is lots of ice cream in the freezer and he knows that a morning without a cup of tea can bring out the grizzly in me! (That rhymes, I think I'll make it into a poster. What say?) And he's also realised that all those art projects I begin are not always going to get finished. While horror movies are his thing, crime series are my thang. When I say "You're my lobster," he just shakes his head and smiles.

It's been a mad two years. Am grateful for them and for the love of two families instead of one. I think I may have grown up a little bit too, against my own will. Maybe it's not such a bad thing after all. This business of growing up and growing old together. I look forward to it now.