The most romantic husband

Nina grumbled again looking at her best friend’s vacation photographs on Facebook. She had been to an exotic location with her husband to celebrate their 10th anniversary. Nina sighed, “How lucky is my friend! She travels to exotic locations every year for her anniversary. Their photographs are so romantic. Why couldn’t I get a husband like hers? Mine is so unromantic!”

Somewhere in a small office Nina’s husband was doing an overtime. He knew he wasn’t a very successful man and Nina resented him for this. Everyday she would compare him to her friends’ well-established and moneyed husbands. He tried hard but somewhere fate had also not been kind to him. He wanted to take Nina for a good vacation this year, yes not in any foreign location, but anywhere in India in a 5-star property. He worked overtime everyday to accumulate the money for the vacation.

Of late, Nina had started becoming suspicious of her husband’s late nights. Though he would say he had office work Nina wasn’t sure if he was being truthful. He always said he had dinner in the office. She in her mind believed that he was having an affair. She had read about a lot of such posts on her FB mom groups. One day she decided that she would investigate the truth.

One rainy night she hired a cab and went to her husband’s office to spy on him. From the corner of her eyes, she saw her husband coming out of his office and going somewhere. She followed him. Due to the rains, she couldn’t see clearly. She got out of the cab and went nearer to where her husband was standing. What she saw brought tears in her eyes. Her husband was having a vada-pav half drenched in the rain. She went and tapped his shoulder. He was startled to see her.

“Why do you have to do all this? Why do you have to remain hungry and slog? What’s the need for the overtime?” she asked. Her husband said calmly, “You know, I wanted to surprise you but it seems I have to tell you now. I have been planning a 5-star hotel vacation for us this year. I can’t see you sad looking at your friends enjoying. I am just short of some money now. Darling Nina, I promise this year you too will be able to post our vacation photos on FB.

With tears in her eyes Nina knew that she had the most romantic husband in the world.

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This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.’

This is a short simple incident which changed my life for the better.  Around 16 years ago, my aunt who lives in Delhi came to know that a prospective groom’s family was searching for a girl for marriage.  Since I was of marriageable age at that time, she decided to talk to them about me.

Later we came to know that the boy’s family wanted a girl from Delhi and a teacher and I was neither!  It’s not that this was something I was expecting or broke my heart, but it was kind of a “rejection” for me which I didn’t like!

That boy’s family passed on my alliance to a neighbor of theirs as they knew that they were also looking for a girl for their son.  They liked me and after talking to me over phone it was decided mutually that we will meet.  I met that boy and his family.  In the first meeting itself, I liked that tall lanky boy with a disarming smile and simple nature and within 6 months we were married.

On the day of our reception, the other boy’s family came to greet us.  He had gotten married by then.  When I looked at him I instantly said, “Thank God I didn’t get married to him!”  Personality wise he was nowhere close to my husband, he was a grumpy irritable fellow.  Later on we came to know that he subjected his wife to domestic violence too.

That rejection of the boy’s family was a blessing in disguise for me as I got the gem of a man as my husband and not that abusive man!  I got the best partner that any girl could wish for and here we are happily together for 15 years now!

The silent, strong supporters

The other day I went to attend a bloggers’ event.  It was almost an entire afternoon event and in Mumbai commuting takes up a lot of time, so I knew it would be late evening by the time I reach home.  My husband was traveling and hence I asked my kids to take care of themselves that day.  Being grown up slightly now and in a nuclear set-up, they are pretty responsible.

When I reached home, I saw that the washed utensils were kept in place and the clothes were washed in the washing machine.  My son had already left for his 10th tuition classes and my daughter was listening to music and studying.  These are the very kids who in my presence become so naughty!

Suddenly, I felt overwhelmed.  These two little kids of mine, who are my favorite muse for writing, have always been my source of encouragement.  The other big support has been my husband who had so many times worked from home to take care of the kids while I was away attending events.  Many would say that this is nothing great; a family is meant to do that!  But when you have such a strong support you do feel blessed.

I had my kids pretty early on in life, but I never for even one day, felt that I was sacrificing my life and happiness because of them.  I had raised them, still do, with a lot of happiness and love.  I expected nothing in return but I didn’t have to because my kids are supporting and encouraging my endeavors without being asked for support.

My husband even in the most stressful situations has asked me to continue to pursue what I love, writing.  A family which I have nurtured with love is giving me back the love when I require it the most.

Every moment of love, every gesture of encouragement and support counts.  I do have my three strong silent supporters always to give me that impetus!

Loving partner equals happy pregnancy and parenting

I was married quite young (according to this generation standards) and was expecting my first child within 2 months of my marriage.  I had an arranged marriage but by God’s grace and our own simplicity and compatibility me and my husband gelled like “old friends” from day 1. So, expecting our first child so early on was not an issue, rather we both were elated.  We both went to office early in the morning, traveled by local train and bus to reach our respective offices.  Since we stay nuclear, it was only the two of us.  My new young husband didn’t draw a huge salary, we traveled by public transport, I ate in the canteen during lunchtime, still that was one of the best phases of my life.  The phase where we were transitioning from newly weds to new parents within a span of few months.  We both were and still are an impulsive couple who don’t think or dwell much.  We were young, not much of planners, didn’t have a lot of money, but did share loads of happiness together.  The visit to the doctor, my husband holding my hand instinctively when climbing over-bridge or even walking, feeding me lovingly, when I wouldn’t feel eating after the whole day, giving me my prenatal medicines on time were the small gestures that kept me happy.

This was 14 years back when Internet was not much prevalent, Smartphones didn’t exist, there weren’t so many Indian parenting forums like today.  But we both read books, browsed through Babycenter, talked to the gynecologist a lot, and most importantly weren’t paranoid.  We took pregnancy and parenthood as happily and easily as we took to our married life.  But again, due to lack of support system and my naivety I would often worry whether I would be able to handle our baby well, whether I would become a good mother.  My husband also confidently told me that we would make better parents than our own parents.  I would tell him that they are more experienced and he would always say parenting is a hands-on thing which each parent experiences and handles differently.

I had a smooth pregnancy but in the last month due to high blood pressure had our son 15 days earlier as I had to undergo emergent C-section.  My husband was there with me all the time.  He was the one who washed our son’s meconium-stained nappies, he was the one who held him first, he was the first one who made him wear diaper.  He would feed him patiently top milk with spoon during first 2 days when I wasn’t in a position to feed.

We celebrated our first anniversary apart as he couldn’t come to my parents’ place due to work commitments.  We both had cried that day over landline phone.  Once my son turned 2 months old, I came back to Mumbai and since that day that “confident father” has always been my rock-solid support, raising our 2 kids.

I have always believed that money, good food, medicines are important during pregnancy but most important is the husband’s love and support.  It is the key to a healthy and happy pregnancy and motherhood.