22 April 2014

Opposites Attract!



He was reading aloud again, pacing up and down.

It all makes no sense to me why my husband is appearing for his L.L.B. exam at the far end of his 4th decade?

How much he loves to study! After we had both completed our post-graduation together in 1990s, my husband decided to do a full time M.B.A. from a foreign university after a gap of 15 years as a student. And now he has enrolled for a degree in Law from Mumbai University and today he is giving his law 5th semester exam!

I, on the other hand, hate studying in spite of being in the field of education.

When we both sit with our laptops it is funny to notice how different our choice of reading is. He reads about government policies, property prices, and share market (ugh!). I will be reading a friend’s blog or writing something or downloading music.

Things get worse in the food front. We are like chalk and cheese! I will happily never enter the kitchen for the rest of my life if someone provides me tasty meals. My husband on the other hand finds cooking very satisfying and a stress buster too. He plans out his menu, searches for exotic ingredients and sauces, lovingly selects his veggies, chops them just right and churns out gourmet dishes which we drool over on weekends.

I make friends faster than you can spell the word “Friend”. I open up to complete strangers while the husband has his mouth shut like a Swiss bank locker most times. 

What’s the Indian Railways good for other than reaching your destination? You guessed it! The journey itself! I get comfortable with all my co-passengers and all the while have to bear husband’s poker face.

I love crime thrillers and psychopath movies while he can’t stand them. His taste in music mostly revolves around old Bollywood hits while mine range from Deep Purple and Bob Marley to nonsensical Honey Singh!

The differences are endless and too many to list here and as we complete 23 roller coaster years of togetherness, I romanticize and pen this for him.

We have changed in little ways in our effort to reach out to each other (like he actually agrees to finally adopt a pet dog in spite of his childhood fear of animals). I have learnt to quietly leave him alone while he watches his favourite channel- CNBC (Do they speak Latin on it?). We accept each other’s eccentricities and give each other space to develop our individuality. Maybe it is the differences that keep us interested in each other. We never hesitate to debate and argue our point of view and speak our minds openly, the cacophony never allows monotony to kick in.Most of all I think we complement each other like sweet and savoury flavours in a dish that destiny has designed.
Married life is never easy, more so when you have opposite personalities living under one roof,but what the hell,easy is boring! 

21 April 2014

The Lament

Deep in the depths of my heart she lies
Silent and aloof,
Visitor in the dark of the night
When sleep eludes.
 
Whispers I hear
From a face I never see
Images like shadows
Forever haunting me.
 
The soreness creeps in
Like mist upon a valley,
smoggy memories cling on
like some lingering fungal disease. 

 
She left like the retreating tide
Leaving grime and dirt behind
I grope but cannot find
Solace nor peace of mind.
 
Slowly sinking into the murky deep
choking in frivolous juvenile pranks I seep
The Angel of death awaits
Release me to my fate.
 
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