Wedding bells.

It is April and it is miserably hot.My thoughts turn to the 28th of April1995.What was so memorable about that date? Besides being an intensely hot day it was my wedding day. 
 The family comprising aunts, uncles, and cousins had gathered at an aunt's home to bless and wish me well.There were smiles and happy faces all around. Besides the other decorations, a huge bouquet of flowers stood in one corner - Romance was alive and kicking. The flowers had arrived in the morning and were from none other than the bridegroom himself. 
The happy faces soon turned to frowns as there was no sign of the dressmaker. Many frantic phone calls later, she arrived. Now I don't quite remember why she was late.Dressed in my wedding gown my face wreathed in smiles, I posed for the photo shoot. However, I left late with my bridal entourage and was even later as we got stuck in an awful traffic jam. 
 My soon -to -be husband stood at the altar biting his nails wondering whether he was going to be stood up. Even today, he recounts those anxious moments but is able to laugh at them. 
23 years later I do not remember much of the ceremony but I do remember one of the clergy who was officiating at the ceremony good-humouredly cautioning me not to break my husband's finger, as I slid the ring on.  
A reception marked the occasion. A live band, together with a performance from an Elvis Presley impersonation saw the guests put on their dancing shoes. I have not been blessed in that department and as much as I would love to. Boogying far from pumping my adrenalin gets me into a nervous sweat.  All is well that ends well and mercifully I made it through the night. Even until today dancing remains a sore point with us.  Heat notwithstanding, it was party time for one and all. 
 2020 will mark the silver jubilee of our anniversary. What can I say? There have been periods of total bliss, periods of very noisy blasts and cold sullen silences. Much to the amusement of my husband in these  23 years, I have threatened to walk out umpteen times but am very much in the marriage. 
Together we are raising two boys now in their 21st and 19th year respectively. Well, that is another story. 

PicturePerfect

Photographs evoke memories and emotions.  One is overcome by nostalgia, joy and even sorrow as one turns the pages 

of an old family album, Today pictures have gone digital but they evoke the same memories and emotions that photographs in an old-fashioned album would. 
Leafing through albums of yore - those thick books with coarse black pages, and their four-cornered gummed photograph holders that preserve memorable moments and places can tear you up. When a cousin dug out a few of these old photo albums and posted old pictures of our grandparents and parents on social media I was a bundle of mixed emotions.
  My maternal grandparents staring out of the picture reminds me of the gentle and pious folk that they were having left behind a legacy of love and kindness. 'Nana' standing among the pigs that she reared and another one of my uncle chasing a pig for my parents' wedding feast filled me with immense joy and laughter. My parents' wedding pictures - my parents seated in the bridal car, a Fiat that has become history and starkly different from the Tata Estate(that too is off the roads now) that I sat in as a bride. In 1963, Indians did not have much to chose from in terms of cars. The Ambassador, Fiat, Landmaster and Standard Herald were just about what was available. Then there are pictures of my cousins and me in various stages of babyhood, childhood, and adolescence. A family picture of my maternal grandparents with their teenage children just thrilled me. I recognize my mother at once and happily put names to the other aunts and uncle. 
 I very fondly remember my paternal grandmother or 'Pune Nana ' as she was referred to when I look at her pictures surrounded by family. Nana lived by the motto, 'Where there are pains, there are gains', a motto that I remember ever so often, and words which I frequently repeat to my children. 
Time stands still every time you look at a photograph. Distance and time have dimmed the faces, the pictures may have faded but the memories are yours to have and to hold.
School and college photographs evoke similar emotions and can send you on a nostalgic trip all over again. I was lucky to be part of a crazy, happy - go - lucky group in college and there are pictures aplenty that speak of those crazy, happy - go -lucky college days.
 It was back to History, Geography and Maths for my fellow Steel Magnolias and me (class of 1980) when somebody posted pictures of some our bright and beautiful teachers. We did not remember all of them but had a jolly good time remembering the good old days.  
When a dear aunt recently passed on suddenly cousins and I  immediately dug out pictures to relive some happy moments and times that they had shared with her. I hold on to memories of my now 'young adult'sons as babies and young children through heaps of pictures in treasured albums. I am amazed at how swiftly the years have passed and swiftly they have grown into the young men that they are today. It seemed like just yesterday that we were changing diapers and washing feeding bottles. 
 Cell phones with their inbuilt cameras have replaced the old-fashioned camera to a large extent. Hence I was happy to see a friend fish out an old-fashioned pocket camera to click a picture of both of us.
 They say, a picture is worth a thousand words and yes, clicking and looking at pictures both old and new definitely counts as one of the many  'little' joys of life.