Skip to main content

My Wedding Anniversary

Courtesy: The Hindu


My wife and I are celebrating our 17th Wedding Anniversary today with sambar.  Sambar is a good dish when Chicken Manchurian is outlawed by the institution in which we are working.  We are law-abiders. 

I liked Rahul Gandhi’s speech at the Congress Chintan shibir or whatever it is called.  Poor fellow, I thought.  He has a vision.  He wants to take the power from the wicked old people who have amassed enough and hand it over to the youth who are struggling to make both ends meet. 

I wanted to thank my wife for tolerating me for 17 years.  She would have enjoyed a chicken dish.  I donned the senile turban of worn out traditions and said, “My love, thank you for bearing with me for 17 years.   Please bear with our institution for a few more years.  I’ll feed you karimeen (a fish that is likely to become extinct) to your heart’s content …”

Rahul Gandhi came in between.  With his tears.  His past.  I felt sad.  So much feeling, so many emotions.  How do you deal with life with all that burden of the past?

“Forget the past,” said Maggie (that’s my wife).  “Why not look at the future?”

Give the power to the powerless, said Rahul Gandhi.  And he had travelled much in India before he said that. 
I’m waiting for that promised power.

“Aren’t you the dictator here?” asks my wife.

“Ok, let’s have a sambar dinner, dear.  Who dictated chicken out?”

Mrs Sonia Gandhi cried on the shoulders of Rahul Gandhi. 

Labels

Labels:

Comments

  1. Easwar ArumugamJanuary 22, 2013 at 10:01 PM

    Wonderful read. All said and done, I, too, was greatly moved by the emotion displayed by Rahul. He has good intentions. But will he be able to have his own course? That's million dollar question.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJanuary 22, 2013 at 10:07 PM

      Rahul has a good heart. I'm sure of that. I know nothing more than that.

      Except this: a good heart is bad in politics and religion.

      Delete
  2. MakJanuary 22, 2013 at 10:48 PM

    happy anniversary sir

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownJanuary 23, 2013 at 12:10 AM

    Oops...am late here...happy anniversary!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJanuary 23, 2013 at 2:54 PM

      No, Priti, you're not late. The blog is about things other than the Anniversary.

      Delete
  4. provoqdJanuary 23, 2013 at 2:23 AM

    Hi Sir,

    Firstly, a very Happy Anniversary to both of you, may you see lots of anniversaries in the future as well (I know you'll say that you don't want to see any more but you'll have to see more anniversaries)

    As far as Rahul Gandhi is concerned, he's got star power and a very caring mother who wants him to get a direct entry into the history books to keep the flame of the Gandhi family burning bright. I agree, he's a good person with good intentions but then again the promises which he makes are based on the poor foundation of Indian Bureaucracy. Let's see where he takes this country.

    P.S. Do check out & vote for my entry for Get Published.

    Regards

    Jay
    My Blog | My Entry to Indiblogger Get Published

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJanuary 23, 2013 at 2:56 PM

      Yes, Jay, Rahul has good intentions. Our system is such that he won't be able to deliver much!

      Delete
  5. BGTJanuary 23, 2013 at 9:34 AM

    Happy Anniversary :) God Bless!

    ReplyDelete
  6. AmitAagJanuary 23, 2013 at 11:52 AM

    Ha ha ha:)
    A very happy anniversary, Matheikal and Maggie ma'am!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJanuary 23, 2013 at 2:59 PM

      Thank you, Amit, and thanks for sharing my sense of humour.

      Delete
  7. DebopamJanuary 23, 2013 at 12:24 PM

    Many many happy returns of the day..........

    http://debnature.blogspot.in

    ReplyDelete
  8. BhavanaJanuary 23, 2013 at 1:01 PM

    hahahaha! What a neat post--love the juxtapositions! Don't care too much for the institution of marriage...but definitely salute you both for making it this far...:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJanuary 23, 2013 at 3:02 PM

      Thanks, Bhavana. We are more of friends to each other than the traditional couple!

      Delete
  9. umashankarJanuary 23, 2013 at 2:05 PM

    That Has a Kafkaesqe feel! Loved the intertwining.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJanuary 23, 2013 at 3:01 PM

      I was in a light mood thinking of the years past and suddenly Raghul Gandhi made his entry! Our life is not all that independent of what happens in our society, country... and, yes, there is indeed something very Kafkaesque about our life whether we like it or not.

      Delete
  10. AnonymousJanuary 23, 2013 at 4:11 PM

    Congratulations, sir. You're far too kind.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJanuary 23, 2013 at 4:50 PM

      Thanks, Shovon.

      It was a very small gesture on my part and you're most welcome.

      Delete
  11. VetirmagalJanuary 23, 2013 at 8:47 PM

    Wish you many more Anniversaries together. !

    We have to give a chance to Rahul Gandhi, as we have given to thousands of others.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJanuary 24, 2013 at 6:23 PM

      Pattu, Rahul took too long to prove his credentials. Given his background, if he had any political skill, he would have been the king today in India. I don't think he will make it. Otherwise whe will be another Gandhi, the Mahatma. And I must say he shows something in that line. There is something of the Mahatma in him.

      But does India want another Mahatma?

      Delete
  12. Woman'n'BeyondJanuary 23, 2013 at 8:56 PM

    Wish you many happy returns of the day! Let's see if Rahul is able to rise above promises!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJanuary 24, 2013 at 6:24 PM

      Meenakshi, Rahul may be far above the ordinary. But promises? Who cares in politics?

      Delete
  13. PanchaliJanuary 24, 2013 at 12:07 AM

    LOL...Many more wonderful returns!Coronation over...now let's wait and watch! :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. mandakolathurJanuary 24, 2013 at 8:29 AM

    I am going to Washington, D.C for your wedding anniversary, not just the local Jaipur (may be you both should go there next year).

    Just the day before your wedding anniversary, Obama too gave what is tagged a challenging speech, challenging the opposition, the Republicans,that is. So, who among the two of you is the Democrat and who the Republican?

    Have Chicken Manchurian on me for your next anniversary!

    RE

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJanuary 24, 2013 at 6:37 PM

      Raghuram, best wishes for the trip to the land of dreams which is not strange to you. My dreams are destined to be lived out in India, a country I love for various reasons.

      I'll, however, have chicken manchurian outside the campus with my wife whenever she and I will feel like having it. So, we are neither democrats nor republicans!

      Delete
  15. ranesh_neophyteJanuary 24, 2013 at 4:31 PM

    Happy anniversary sir !!!!
    sir I m not sure if mr Rahul Gandhi has good heart heart, he is in politics and from a family which is totally political and full of diplomats ...so i doubt that he has a good heart .....i don't see vision in his words or speeches .. this is not because i m not a supporter of congress but because i seriously do not see any vision in rahul gandhi

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJanuary 24, 2013 at 6:39 PM

      Ranesh dear,
      Who are you and I to judge Rahul Gandhi? You are speaking of a family (dynasty) problem. I'm aware of the same at a different level. Rahul may not be a good leader in the political sense. Beyond that, I don't want to say anything now.

      Delete
  16. DominicFebruary 14, 2013 at 11:29 PM

    This has become a blackboard for anniversary greetings.
    Let me greet you too, tho' belatedly... mainly because of one more thread of affinity between u and me... I too call my wife with 19 years of interdependence Maggie...lol

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ayodhya: Kingdom of Sorrows

T he Sarayu carried more tears than water. Ayodhya was a sad kingdom. Dasaratha was a good king. He upheld dharma – justice and morality – as best as he could. The citizens were apparently happy. Then, one day, it all changed. One person is enough to change the destiny of a whole kingdom. Who was that one person? Some say it was Kaikeyi, one of the three official wives of Dasaratha. Some others say it was Manthara, Kaikeyi’s chief maid. Manthara was a hunchback. She was the caretaker of Kaikeyi right from the latter’s childhood; foster mother, so to say, because Kaikeyi had no mother. The absence of maternal influence can distort a girl child’s personality. With a foster mother like Manthara, the distortion can be really bad. Manthara was cunning, selfish, and morally ambiguous. A severe physical deformity can make one worse than all that. Manthara was as devious and manipulative as a woman could be in a men’s world. Add to that all the jealousy and ambition that insecure peo...
39 comments
Read more

The Little Girl

The Little Girl is a short story by Katherine Mansfield given in the class 9 English course of NCERT. Maggie gave an assignment to her students based on the story and one of her students, Athena Baby Sabu, presented a brilliant job. She converted the story into a delightful comic strip. Mansfield tells the story of Kezia who is the eponymous little girl. Kezia is scared of her father who wields a lot of control on the entire family. She is punished severely for an unwitting mistake which makes her even more scared of her father. Her grandmother is fond of her and is her emotional succour. The grandmother is away from home one day with Kezia's mother who is hospitalised. Kezia gets her usual nightmare and is terrified. There is no one at home to console her except her father from whom she does not expect any consolation. But the father rises to the occasion and lets the little girl sleep beside him that night. She rests her head on her father's chest and can feel his heart...
16 comments
Read more

Bharata: The Ascetic King

Bharata is disillusioned yet again. His brother, Rama the ideal man, Maryada Purushottam , is making yet another grotesque demand. Sita Devi has to prove her purity now, years after the Agni Pariksha she arranged for herself long ago in Lanka itself. Now, when she has been living for years far away from Rama with her two sons Luva and Kusha in the paternal care of no less a saint than Valmiki himself! What has happened to Rama? Bharata sits on the bank of the Sarayu with tears welling up in his eyes. Give me an answer, Sarayu, he said. Sarayu accepted Bharata’s tears too. She was used to absorbing tears. How many times has Rama come and sat upon this very same bank and wept too? Life is sorrow, Sarayu muttered to Bharata. Even if you are royal descendants of divinity itself. Rama had brought the children Luva and Kusha to Ayodhya on the day of the Ashvamedha Yagna which he was conducting in order to reaffirm his sovereignty and legitimacy over his kingdom. He didn’t know they w...
30 comments
Read more

Liberated

Fiction - parable Vijay was familiar enough with soil and the stones it turns up to realise that he had struck something rare.   It was a tiny stone, a pitch black speck not larger than the tip of his little finger. It turned up from the intestine of the earth while Vijay was digging a pit for the biogas plant. Anand, the scientist from the village, got the stone analysed in his lab and assured, “It is a rare object.   A compound of carbonic acid and magnesium.” Anand and his fellow scientists believed that it must be a fragment of a meteoroid that hit the earth millions of years ago.   “Very rare indeed,” concluded the scientist. Now, it’s plain commonsense that something that’s very rare indeed must be very valuable too. All the more so if it came from the heavens. So Vijay got the village goldsmith to set it on a gold ring.   Vijay wore the ring proudly on his ring finger. Nobody, in the village, however bothered to pay any homage to Vijay’s...
47 comments
Read more

Dharma and Destiny

  Illustration by Copilot Designer Unwavering adherence to dharma causes much suffering in the Ramayana . Dharma can mean duty, righteousness, and moral order. There are many characters in the Ramayana who stick to their dharma as best as they can and cause much pain to themselves as well as others. Dasharatha sees it as his duty as a ruler (raja-dharma) to uphold truth and justice and hence has to fulfil the promise he made to Kaikeyi and send Rama into exile in spite of the anguish it causes him and many others. Rama accepts the order following his dharma as an obedient son. Sita follows her dharma as a wife and enters the forest along with her husband. The brotherly dharma of Lakshmana makes him leave his own wife and escort Rama and Sita. It’s all not that simple, however. Which dharma makes Rama suspect Sita’s purity, later in Lanka? Which dharma makes him succumb to a societal expectation instead of upholding his personal integrity, still later in Ayodhya? “You were car...
28 comments
Read more