My Vision Board January Updates and 15th Marriage Anniversary

Jai Sri Hari and a big fat hug to my OS.me family. January has come and gone, and I wanted to update you on my vision board. January was the “Get Up and Bathe” month, and I am happy to report that I successfully completed this goal. This is a big deal for me because I had this bad habit of starting my day with a mobile phone, which would set the tone for the rest of the day.

Taking an early bath helped because I would go to the Pooja room afterward. A big thanks to Nikunj for setting up this initiative. Micro Habits help influence all areas of our lives.

I am also on target to meet February goals but have to get out of shortcut mode. I currently do only five minutes of Pranayam daily (Black Lotus), but I have to ramp it up to thirty minutes from tomorrow.

Today also marks fifteen years of my marriage. I met Rashmi at NIIT, and while she went into our relationship to test the waters, I told my parents and then met hers within a few days of proposing to her. I was twenty-two when I walked into her house and promised them I would marry her and keep her happy. It took three years to convince my mother to say Yes, but it was worth the wait. We had a full-on Delhi reception with so many guests that we barely got any food when we stepped down from the stage at midnight. The next day was an authentic Tamil brahmin wedding at 6 AM.

It feels like yesterday, but almost eighteen years have passed since we ended up at Prem Photo Studio in North Campus – Delhi. We had known each other for a few months, and I wanted this picture on my desk. We wanted to click a picture before I took an assignment in Bangalore. This studio was famous for bridal shots, and the photographer thought I was escorting my elder sister for matrimonial portraits.

Rashmi talked to many relatives and gave interviews on why she wanted to marry this innocent child of a boy who was the treasure of his mother’s eye and had staged a full-on rebellion for the first time in his life.

When we were finally married, it felt like conquering a mountain. I got the better deal in our marriage. When most people meet us, they are generally impressed by my sunny temperament and happy demeanor. They tell Rashmi how lucky she is to have such a fantastic husband. As they spend a little more time with us, they learn more about Rashmi. They see the role she has played in making me who I am. They understand how much she puts up with quirks and absolute bull-headedness on certain issues. They also see how considered and measured her words are and how accepting she is of diversity and plurality of thought. Then without exception, they return to me and confess that they would like to change their mind and proclaim how lucky I am to have Rashmi in my life.

I was honestly a wild gana of Shiva before she entered my life and brought structure. She also bought the grace of the Devi in my life because we never lacked anything. She taught me to appreciate world cuisine, cinema, sufi music, fiction literature, Hindi poetry, and most importantly, Dal Chawal.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and an awesome Maha Shivratri.