Thursday, May 03, 2007

I Do

Just 5 minutes before the biggest moment of his life, Vijay David realized 3 things.

1. You cannot swear in a church.
2. You cannot swear for sure when you are standing in front of the altar and the priest is standing in front of you....and when you happen to be the Bridegroom.
3. Last but not the least.....he was developing cold feet and was not sure if he wanted to get married now.

To pass these 5 minutes before the bride Vinola Jesudas's arrival, we will switch now to a little flashback mode. Vijay had met Vinola in a flight to an international Business conference. Not exactly by the quotes book, but at least their love was surely decided in heaven. They were seated next to each other in the flight and what started as a banter and time killing talk turned out to be an exhilarating experience. At the end of the conversation they exchanged their hotel room numbers. By the end of the 3 days conference he knew the name of her niece and how many cousins she had and she knew what was the name of the boy who punched and broke his wisdom tooth in 3rd standard.

They traveled together on their way back (courtesy the Gujrati Uncle who understood their need to spend time together and hence switched seats) and when they walked back they had exchanged phone numbers. After a month of courtship, formally Vijay asked her out for dinner and informally popped the inevitable question to spend the rest of her life with him. An intelligent girl that she was, Vinola had seen this coming and so didn't quite give him the Ms. World Like Oh-My-God-I-Have-Won-it expression, but gently smiled and expressed her willingness to be with him. Vijay couldn't have asked for more. They informed their respective parents about the whole issue and since luckily the ghosts of caste and religion were rested, they had the blessings of their loving-but-conservative parents.

Now you are wondering why on earth was Vijay worried. Two reasons - RESPONSIBILITY and COMMITMENT. A single child of his parents, Vijay had been a kind of spoilt brat and had things working up his way as he had wanted them to. For every errands of his life, he had someone to take care of it be it his mother or father or someone who loved him. So being responsible for anything was something that he had just learnt only on professional front and not in his personal life. A visit to his cousin Lawrence's house had in a way opened a can of worms when he saw him run from pillar to post to run his family and take care of his just born kid. Vijay was not sure if he had the patience to be adjustable and adopt a give-and-take policy in life, so he made some excuses and left his cousin's place as soon as possible. Everything appeared fine in love, but at this moment, he was developing cold feet and raised questions to himself if he could stay committed to one women for his whole life.

With question marks looming over his head, Vijay was trembling. His tongue had parched and there were beads of sweat on his forehead. It was when the bride arrived that two things happened almost simultaneously. Vijay turned back and saw Lawrence happily sitting with his kid. The kid and Lawrence smiled and waved at him. It was a smile of satisfaction, happiness and content. One question answered. He saw Vinola walk towards him with her father and smile at him. He now knew what he had to say when the right time arrived.



The priest began the wedding with his customary talk "We have come together in the presence of God to witness and bless the joining together of this man and this woman in Holy Matrimony. Into this holy union Vijay Issac David and Vinola Sunderrajan Jesudas now come to be joined. If any of you can show just cause why they may not lawfully be married, speak now; or else forever hold your peace."

Just when no one seemed to talk Vijay said "I have something to say."

There was a silence followed by gasps in the hall. Vinola looked at him as if she was looking at him for the first time. She wondered what reason was Vijay going to give at his point.

"Five minutes ago I suddenly had this strange feeling in my head. I was not sure if I could do this whole marriage act. I have always been a self centered person and have forgotten about all those who cared about me. I had forgotten Vinola's Birthday and forgot to wish her. I had forgotten that she liked Butterscotch ice cream more than Pistachio Sunday. I forgot that she likes Rahul Dravid more than Sachin Tendulkar. I forgot that she likes Blue better than black."

"But I haven't forgotten that she gifted me a beautiful White shirt remembering that of all shirts I had, I didn't have one in white. I haven't forgotten that she sponsored a days meal to the kids at orphanage for my Birthday. I haven't forgotten how much she respects her parents as well as mine. I cannot forget how much she loves me, more than anyone else on earth."

"Lastly as I stand before the Lord almighty and I look into her small beautiful eyes, I will remember forever in life that how lucky I am to say these words to the woman whom I love and who loves me more in return and to be blessed in marital bliss with her forever in my life.....till death do us apart."

Tears trickled down Vinola's eyes and she hugged and kissed him.

It was then that the priest remembered something important. Wasn't he supposed to say "And you may now Kiss the Bride" first?

P.S: For my Blogger friends Ambi and Ms C, college friends Pradeep and Priya who say their I DO in this month of May. Lets wish them a very happy, prosperous and beautiful wedding life.
P.S1: I loved the trailor posted :D.

49 comments:

ambi said...

awsome! the way U narrated the story, lang usuage excellant.

just reflected few of my thoughts. (pls note only few!)

btw, who is pradeep..? i'm shriram. :)

thanks alot for the advance wishes.

he hee, me thaan pashtu!

Nivi said...

haha ever man's nightmare brought to the fore!!! wonder how harish is ?? ;-)

You are the master of love stories man. way to go.

hey one small thing do we have wisdom tooth in our rd std!!!!

Nivi said...

Oh forgot
!Ambi, Ms C, Pradeep ,Priya
Happy Wedlock :-)

Unknown said...

I liked the way u went abt reasoning why he had the confusion and then the high point of the blog was the way he was swept away by watching his cousin contended .
Anyways i dont know who the 2 are but i wish them a happy marriage

Ms Congeniality said...

Thanks for the wishes :)

Wonderful story!! As usual well-written :)

Padma said...

awe some :)...

Aditi said...

beautifully written and congratulations and the best wishes to the lucky ones

Heidi Kris said...

there you go man you rock! Congrats to the lucky ones :-)

Revs said...

dude u could give nicholas cage a run for his money and he is the BEST writer(that i know) in the romance category!!way to go!!:):)

prithz said...

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!! Loved every line of the story! Epdi ipdi laam yosikarel? Mazhaila oorama, tree ku adila oru bench la ukkanthu yosipelo? :P

All the best for the two couples. I guess, such true and successful love stories that happen wid the elders consent gives confidence for others to fall in love! :)

kuttichuvaru said...

nice story machi :-) well written.....

Best Wishes to the couples!!

Arunkumar said...

Awesome narration. You are a great story teller and u r proving it again and again :)

Congratulations to the pairs :)

Dreamzz said...

nice post!

Priya said...

Thaz was so sweet Harish. I thoughts it was yours, hmm but your friends.

Good wishes to them.

Anonymous said...

Excellent as usual! :) Loved Vijay's speech!

Wishing your friends a happy married life :)

Nithya said...

hey du wach FRIENDS ? If ur answer is yes, then this post reminds me of Chandler-Monica's wedding...Chandler gets the cold feet, wen he is out there in the altar, waitin for Monica to come..Until then he is so jittery abt the whole issue, but wen he sees her walkin down the aisle with her dad in a beautiful white gown, his mind undergoes a transformation..

Lovely Post and advance Congratulations and Happy Married Life to ur frnds :)

nandoo said...

awesome... that is the only word i have got to say

SUNSHINE... said...

Everyone have this confusion in their life and you really have penned down it very well..Kudos to you..

Gayathri said...

Harish, one serious request: Please post some crap!
I am bored of commenting "Awww...", "Well written", "Neat", "Beautifully written" etc. etc.!!!
Oh, by the way, Well written! :P

N!kh!l said...

you never fail to impress me. Awesome narration.

Ponnarasi Kothandaraman said...

Honestly i have never read any stories in blog with so much interest.... U r simply gr8! Keep rockign!

KK said...

maamu vendam naan azhuthuduven... nee paatu post potute irukka naan yeppo ithellam padipen :(

Vidya said...

I just love the way you narrate these stories! Incidentally, I wish those love birds a lifetime full of happiness

Aura said...

Superb one as usual... and ur flow of words ws just great !

Suchi said...

That was a nice story.

Happens that commitment makes one think twice...but then that's what life is all about. Without the commitment I see nothing in a relationship.

BTW that novel you were asking about is up there:) Only 47 pages, but it'll have to do!!

Unknown said...

chancey illa Harish! Engayo poreengo! :)

Enakku poraamaya irukku! Indha madhiri ellam naan eppadi eppo ezhudha poreno! :(

Krithika said...

Superb!! Hello..how're you? long time..n Bachelor woes i guess :P
Anyway,it was brilliant and good luck to your friends who are getting married.

Sat said...

mummies munch much mush
monsters munch much mush
both mummies and monster...must munch
much mush :P

I know, doesn't make much sense really but un kadhaila idha vidavum neraya mush...ehehehhhehehe
idhuku thaan overtime romanctic comedies paaka koodathunradhu :P
best wishes for the couples....

Sat said...

Your priest somehow reminded me of Rowan Atkinson's priest in four weddings and a funeral...'as your awfully wedded wife' LOL!

KC! said...

good story, superb narration!

Couch Potato said...

To all your friends who are getting married,they couldnt have got a better gift than this !!
Orey touchaxx..!!

D LordLabak said...

Do you watch Everybody loves Raymond?

Anonymous said...

Amazing story.Liked the bride's name,Vinola Jesudas,What would be the meaning?

Anyway, wishing a happy married life to your friends! :)

Janani said...

Awesome...The amazing narration.

Harish said...

@Ambi
Nandri thalai. Wanted U in particular to comment first for this post.

@Nivi
Harish is a useless romantic idiot.
As for wisdom tooth...well...I was always weak with these issues :-)

@Venky
Happens to most of em :-)

Harish said...

@Ms C
Congrats and all the best :-)

@Padma
Thanks a ton yaar.

@Aditi
Thanks yaar :-)

@Heidi
Hope u r satisfied now :-)

Harish said...

@revathy
hee hee....Paavam Nicholas Sparks. Why bother that poor fella :-)

@Prithz
Wish something good as such can happen as you said. Amen :-)

@Kuttychuvaru
Nandri nanba :-)

Harish said...

@Arun
Nandri Nanba. I try my best :-)

@Dreamzz
Thanks yaar

@Priya
For atleast another 100 posts I am not getting married. And yes...when I post it...I hope it wld be more whackier, romantic, surprising and wonderful post. :-)

Harish said...

@Aparna
Tried my best :-)

@Nithya
I got reminded of that episode after u said it. I was inspired from one episode in LOST where the Hero reads vows to his lady love.

@nandoo
At last....U loved it :-)

Harish said...

@Sunshine
Betcha....we all go thru it.

@Gayathri
Hope to fulfill ur request by sometime in third week of may :-)

@Nikhil
Thanks man. Ur words inspire me.

Harish said...

@Pons
I try my best :-)

@KK
Maamu....Donno when I am gonna be trapped as u. Dread that day :-(

@Vidya
Its so nice of you to say that. Keep em coming.

Harish said...

@VSaranya
Its a pleasure indeed.

@Suchitra
"Without the commitment I see nothing in a relationship."
Perfect. Please tell me when U finish writing it.

@BSK
Maamu....just get the devil to write from inside. :-)

Harish said...

@Krithika
Long time...no see. Busy eh?

@Sat
Seriousa think panaama comedya think pandra paathiya....anga daan nee nikkara :-)

@Usha
Thanks madam

Harish said...

@Couch Potato
I tried :-)

@Deepa
Yes madam. It has become my favorite show after I came here.

@Bhargavi
Donno. Just remember hearing it somewhere...and penned it :-)

@janani
Thanks yaar :-)

Gayathri said...

Hey, where's the crap you promised me? Third week of May?

Harish said...

@Gayatri
Thought of writing some crap abt me on my Bday. Thats why I said so.
Last min...decided to write something better abt my parents :-)

Gayathri said...

I am disappointed! Please churn out some crap! ;-)

Harish said...

@Gayatri
Does a tag qualify as one :-P

Gayathri said...

No, it doesn't. Thought you could escape with the latest post, huh?
And it's GayatHri. :)