Our day of love..

I have always had an aversion for the yellow metal, and dispite its strong addiction quotient in our community I never did fathom the craze for it.

As a Bengali ,your life begins with Gold, rather when I was conceived, the story goes, that my grandmother got a golden statuette of lord Krishna in the prayer room. After 9 months ,on my arrival, she had said “I got my share of a golden little Lokhi(Lakshmi) also”

As a kid, I would remember Ma taking me along to the various jewellery shops in old Kolkata, peering over intricate designs, checking the weight, asking the goldsmith about the purity and haggling on the price. As a token of appreciation, I would be given my “personal” share of “Norel gurer Roshogolla”. For those who are new to this let me make it easy…THIS is what good stuff is made of. I could any day trade G for a lifetime supply of Norel Gurer Roshogolla.

At 25 , the marriage Gods conspired and got me hitched with G.Our first meeting was over a glass of lemonade, having our respective set of parents taking a stroll outside so we could have some privacy.I told him some things clear and straight, I don’t eat/cook/like fish, I have a very big social circle and he would have to be nice to them if and when needed and finally, I want babies..lots of them and quickly. He has never told me which of these three confessions shocked him the most. In return he said” I have a Himesh Reshamiya CD in my car I listen to quite often.

As the wedding preparations caught speed, G and I prepared for our marriage. We sipped coffee and spoke of  our love for books, we met near the sea and I told him of my childhood wish of walking bare feet on the sea beach with the man I would marry. He told me about his undying love for PS2 and how he and the wolfgang would spend their monthly earnings on bowling and go-carting. We discussed how our respective sets of families were preparing for the Big day, while we were busy discussing how we would plan my travel to work once I relocate to Pune.

I got the leave approved for my wedding a week prior and same was his story and since we were both “Probashi Bangalis” we had to travel to our respective hometowns  where he functions would be happening. As we met for one last time as a boy and girl, the last walk as two separate names I realized I was very quiet. The usually chirp, talkative descriptive girl was thinking about what lay ahead. I was marrying a man whom I met 4 times in three months, a man who openly claims he would have been a fisherman if not a techie, a man who said his dream destination would be Beer and Prawns (that’s how he still perceives  a holiday). I would no longer be the every night pub hopping girl my friends loved, no longer the one who would be tagged as “Single”..the game was changing.

And while I had these questions running in my mind, we found a little bench, just in front of the sea, to sit and take it all in. I remember sitting close to him , feeling the chill of the January wind. And he turned , faced me and just handed me a card. That’s G for you, the silent killer J I opened it and it said “I might not know what Bhalobasha is all about but I do want to ask you, Will you marry me ?”

And out came a tiny little box, and he opened it for me taking out a shimmering little band of Platinum. A simple, elegant and timeless band, which slid in perfectly into my finger. And I remember him saying “I know you don’t like Gold so I couldn’t do a solitaire, and also I have started saving for Ireland someday, so this is for now “

Today 6 years into being Mrs Mukherjee, that band has been my loyal companion on my job interviews, on special formal dinner parties,visiting the Gynaec for the first time on finding out i was expecting, on signing the ownership papers the day we bought our home, the drive back home carrying our 4 day old daughter,the day i took my bike out on the roads for the first time..its been with me sturdy like the emotion it represents. I have worn a Saree and sipped Vodka in it, I have sat by the Holy Fire praying

to the Gods, wearing it, I have worn it while swimming in the Goan waters and while playing with Shindur on our first Durga Pujo after marriage..its a reminder of us, our love..timeless and enduring.

It was not just for then, but forever. Its been the most precious piece of jewellry I have ever owned, because it spoke of a man who has been the wind beneath my wings. That was the day we found love, on a little bench, facing the sea, and feeling the chill of the January wind, our Platinum day of love.

This blog post was inspired by Platinum Day of Love by Indiblogger