Shaadi ka laddoo!!

Remember ‘Honey I Shrunk The Kids?’ I had the same feeling the ‘shrunk kids’ would have had, albeit, slightly different. I felt like someone had stretched my limbs, painted my hair with a few streaks of grey...I felt...old!

I was daddy li’l girl, mamma’s princess and the grannies’ little bundle of joy. I was sitting on my dad’s lap and the moment the sacred thread dangled around my neck, things changed. Daddy’s girl was suddenly a big one, mamma’s princess had graduated to the next phase of her life and well, the little bundle of joy couldn’t qualify as little any longer.

I was a wife. I was a daughter-in-law. I had to smile for photos. Thousands of them. Had to answer the same questions every second person would ask.

Without. Getting Tired.

But then, this was only the tip of the iceberg, I realised. The real transition began as soon as I landed in Hyderabad. When I asked Harish what he’d like for lunch on the first day of office, “Rasam and aloo curry,” was the prompt answer. And that’s when it dawned upon me -- this is not going to be easy. At all.

I suddenly felt more responsible. Motherly, if I may say. Harish’s food, his mood, the house, the kitchen, the dishes, the floor -- their well being depended largely on me. If I wouldn’t wake up on time, the lunch would be delayed and Harish would have a big red blot on the attendance sheet. If I chose to be lazy for a couple of days, the house would look like the eye of a Phailin-like disaster; the toilets would look like the ‘pay and use’ ones’ cousin! Not that Harish would let it be like that, but how much would he juggle between household chores and office work?

Ooohh...I felt all grown up. All big and responsible. My task list got tweaked from page making to home making!

It’s not easy, mind you. More so, if you’re an only child and you haven’t stepped into the kitchen for anything else other than dumping the dishes into the sink. When you are suddenly shoved into an adult’s world after living the life of a pampered child for 24 years, the transition does become a bit of a challenge. And so do the adjustments. I was used to playing ‘Ganesha’ at home -- I would be honoured with the first morsel of everything edible. Serving the husband first, especially when the aroma of the food made the rats inside the tummy play all kinds sports inside, was a bit difficult to start with, but then, the motherly instincts got the better of me!

If one thought the first year of the wedding is the ‘honeymoon period’, then I’m gonna play spoilsport here. Come on, there’s much more to life than filmy romance. There are fights, arguments, and making up after fights, giving in a little bit to make your partner happy and more than that, the satisfaction of understanding your partner’s difficulties. There’s planning, decision making, taking care of one another, loving your partner’s family and becoming a part of their lives. And yes, there is romance, too! :)

And as the calendar said, “Madam, one year up,” I can’t tell you how much I am enjoying this shaadi ka ladoo...Ooh, it IS yum! And if this first year itself has seen me grow so much as an individual, I’m sure I’ll be smarter as we turn the pages of the calendar, year after year, growing old(er) together...