My daughter turned 24 this September. My mother-in law has now started prodding us to take my daughter’s horoscope in hand to find a suitable alliance for her. That made me reminisce about my early 20s.
I was just 21 and had just finished my graduation, when my grandmother pestered my father to seek an alliance for me. My father discarded the plea as he felt I was too young to get married. But grandma continued with her pestering. She claimed she wanted to see me married soon as death loomed large due to her ill health. My father finally yielded to her and took out my horoscope on an auspicious day. The horoscopes of boys started pouring in from all quarters and my parents were busy in their perusal of alliances.
Finally, they zeroed in on one particular alliance that catered to all our expectations, but it came with a hitch. The boy was eight years older. I objected to this proposal as I was sceptical that such an age difference would help with the compatibility of the couple. After a year-long futile search, my parents were back to square one. My father convinced me that the age difference was no big deal. He contacted the same bridegroom’s family, apprehensive of whether the boy would have got hitched to someone else in the meantime.
Luckily, the boy was still a bachelor. After fulfilling several formalities, I married the boy, my husband. My life took a different turn from then on. All my scepticism vanished. He encouraged me to pursue my studies and till this day, he remains a guiding force in all my endeavours. After 26 long years of marital life, now I am on the lookout for a suitable bridegroom for my princess. I am sure her prince would turn up at the right time as I strongly believe that marriages are made in heaven.
Revathy Venkatesan
Email: venkatesan_sabari@yahoo.co.in