FORTY YEARS OF TIME

MY FAMILY

TRILOKI & I IN LUCERNE

40 years is a long time in any one's life. It is 4 decades, 2 scores, 1 generation and a Ruby wedding anniversary!

Forty, is rather an interesting number.

 It is the atomic number of Zirconium.

The temperatures at which Fahrenheit and Celsius correspond are
 -40°F= -40°C.

The Hanuman Chalisa has 40 verses.

Remember the story of Alibaba and 40 thieves?

Lent consists of forty days before Easter.

There is a saying,"Life begins at forty"

Then there is the proverbial "Forty winks"

The Roman numeral for forty is XL. Rather appropriate as by now one fits into Extra Large clothes!!

Rain fell for 40 days and 40 nights, at the time of deluge, when Noah's arc had to be  used.

Well, that was just some trivia! Now let me get back to the real issue.

IN ROME-TREVI FOUNTAIN

In the last 40 years a lot of water has since gone down the Ganges, Yamuna, Mahanadi, Danube, Thames, Charles, Seine, Gomti!

Where are we now, the people who have been married for the last 40 years? It all started for us on the 12th of October 1970.

We don't seem to have changed much except for the weight, the wrinkles, the worry lines, and the weird sense of humour! Noticed, everything began with the alphabet W? W, which also stands for 'We'

Looking back, one can see two people setting out in life with almost nothing except a lot of hope, dreams, a clean vast horizon, and a whole span of time ahead. We had only a few years of life behind us, but a whole panorama in front of us. We could paint it as we wanted to. Life was ours, time was ours and decisions were ours.

After forty years, I see that the canvas is painted, and the picture is almost complete. The colours are all there, and they are quite co- ordinated.  It is our canvas and our painting. Our painting is very beautiful.

Time has gone by. As journeys are supposed to be, our journey too was not smooth. No journey is, otherwise it would be rather boring! Journeys have their ups and downs, gains and losses. You win some and you lose some! I love travelling and I love journeys. Incidentally we two met for the first time on a train journey, in 1967!

On a journey one experiences the various facets of life, meets new people, sees the world, learns from different environments, faces new challenges, learns to deal with different people, and their moods. Journeys are therefore learning experiences!!

Just as time goes by and seasons change, life too goes by, and ones features change. One’s thinking changes, style changes, and values become relative.

Punishment meted out to your own child is a total no no for your grand child. While your child had to be disciplined, and scolded and corrected, when your grand child repeats the pattern, you beam with great pleasure and are filled with delirious joy! When your child tries to correct his/her child, you are again on the verge of shouting at your child (who is now in the thirties) and telling him/her that children should be given freedom to explore, break things and also be naughty!!

Oh yes it is all a theory of relativity!!!

AALIYA,KUNAAL,AARIA WITH ME

Well, my journey up to here has been interesting, adventurous, and intriguing. I still do not understand my husband, and I guess he too does not understand me. We are still on the trip trying to know each other. Perhaps that is what is keeping us together...the surprise element??

Every year I surprise my husband by buying a present for myself from him, on our wedding anniversary. I do not allow myself to face the disappointment, just in case he forgets to get me something.

About 3 decades back, Triloki or Cuckoo as he is called was a bad smoker. He used to always twist the filter edge of his cigarette butt into a flower and present it to me. Over the years his smoking has reduced and so even these floral gifts that I got, have stopped coming my way. Earlier he did paint a card for me, now he is so busy with his laptop, that if a paint brush and paper found its way in front of him, he would think that it was for writing out a list of grocery!!

Oh yes, time has taken its toll!

Never mind, I shall wait till the morning of 12th October, and then go and buy myself something ruby red in colour, and surprise myself and Cuckoo once again!

Here's to us Cuckoo and Varsha...A Very Happy Anniversary!

Let's keep going on our journey and keep looking at the beautiful landscape and wonders of the world. Life is a journey, so, go on and on and on!!!

SIS IN LAW & MOTHER

This day has triple importance for me. It is my mother's and also my sister in law's birthday! It is a GREAT DAY, a happy day, a joyous day.
THREE CHEERS to all of us.
MANY MANY HAPPY RETURNS OF THE DAY!!