Well, this story starts my Granduncle announced that he is getting married next month. He was just 61 years young, good looking with a charming personality. It was 12 years since my grand aunt (his wife) passed away. He lived with his only son Raghu and daughter-in-law Priya and 2 grandsons. All relatives enjoyed this juicy piece of gossip.
Each one had their own reasons for his decision to remarry.
Round 1:
What’s wrong with him ?
What will the society say ?
Is Raghu not taking care of him ?
It’s all Priya’s fault she never treats him with respect.
This is going to affect our family prestige .
Blah ! Blah ! Blah!Few weeks later Granduncle arranged for a family dinner on the occasion of his grandsons’ 20th b’day. Everyone was curiously waiting for the mysterious old lady to arrive. I wanted to address her as my grand uncle’s girlfriend but for obvious reasons I could not, at least not in front of my family.When I saw her for the first time I thought my granduncle had just won a Lottery. She was way younger than him , around 40, she wore a deep blue salwar. Her beautiful curls loosely tied and perfect eye make up she looked stunning and she was very impressive in her talks. Gosh! there was instant jealously every where, all the ladies envied her beauty, posture and confidence. The older gentlemen who were supposed to ignore her or hate her as instructed by their wives watched her like an eye candy.
Once the party was over,
Round 2 :
Is she a Hindu?
I heard she is a divorcee with 3 children.
She looks way younger than his daughter in law.
She must be broke and so she is after his money.
I heard she teaches English literature.
Why is she getting married ?
What went wrong in her first marriage ?
Blah blah continues …Unfortunately, none of them tried to understand ‘their’ side of the story. They pretended it was against the law of nature to get married once you are of certain age. The younger lot like me and my cousins found nothing wrong, but yes his grandsons were very uncomfortable with the whole situation. His grandsons who loved to flaunt their westernized opinions until now were suddenly talking about traditional values. I am totally unaware of Raghu uncle and Priya aunty’s reactions as they hardly spoke about it in front of us . But what I knew was that they were totally against it and behaved as if it was the end of the world. I remember one of relatives telling me “After few years, when it’s your turn for marriage people will think twice before bringing in proposals.” It made me sick seeing these people behave the way they were.Well, after weeks of these irrelevant controversies and pointless debates finally came the big day. My granduncle’s wedding day. Unlike all the weddings I attended, this was one was different. It was a simple court marriage, attended by a handful of people but what surprised me was the look on his face. It told it all, he was in love with this wonderful lady, who loved him back. He looked so excited and happy. He looked like a young man who was getting married to his high school sweetheart. His eyes which had undergone a cataract operation few years ago were stuck on her. He was trying hard to take his eyes off her but failed miserably and she was gloriously basking in his attention. I need not say, that she was a gorgeous bride and together they made a fine couple. After all love strikes when its least expected. Their love was embarked in their souls. This moment defined TRUE LOVE for me, in my hearts of heart I secretly prayed to find it some day.
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But how many of us would really support our single, divorced elders to remarry at a later(older) phase of life. Is it right to deny someone companionship because of his/her age??
Just because we are too worried about society talks so we let people to live a sad, lonely life instead of sharing their griefs with a partner??********************
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