Even in days when the caste-system was rigid, Geetha Reddy, MLA from Zaheerabad (Medak District) and deputy leader in CLP and Dr Ramachandra Reddy had an intercaste wedding. Dr Ramachandra says, “After we graduated in medicine, when my parents started thinking about getting me married, I thought best is to feel loved by someone I know and to love that person back. So I married my co-house surgeon Dr Geetha on August 16, 1971, still a very happy memorable partnership in life till the ends of time.”
He feels, that the seed of casteless society and honour to life’s potential was sown and cultivated during his initial schooling days at Rishi Valley under tutelage of spiritualist Sri Jiddu Krishna Murthy from 1951 to 1954 and then in Hyderabad Public School.
The only child of late J Eashwari Bai, ex MLA, president of All India Republican Party, Geetha says, “We both young doctors got married in 1971 and then left for Australia followed by the UK and later Saudi Arabia. After we got our post graduate degrees from Australia and London my mother came to Australia for a short while. She encouregd us to return to Hyderabad in 1983, and join her hospital,” which she built for them.
“My mother wanted us back badly to run the hospital she built and serve our people. We finally came back, as we were destined to do so. Late Rajiv Gandhi was instrumental in bringing me into politics and got me to contest for assembly seat in 1989 from Gajwel (Medak Dist). I won and was made a minister straight away. Well, I have been in politics since then, win or loose, Ram has been, and is most encouraging and supportive throughout my career,” says the politician and obstetrician and gynecologist.
Geetha and Ramachandra’s love shows, that inter-caste marriages have existed in the society for a long period. There are no words to describe the feeling you get before you walk down the aisle to marry your best friend. But were they nervous? “It is a big step in one’s life. Being an intercaste marriage, we were worried about what the the future hold. Both being young and very much in love made things easier. I was nervous about our future. I was particualr about working towards making the marriage successful, that there should be no regrets in future. It was a major decision that we took on our own. So the onus was on us to make it work,” says the fire brand, who have worked with many chief ministers between 1989 - 2009.
And Dr Ramachandra adds, “Bit worried, very confused, Big decision Big responsibility.”
When asked, if they could store only one hour’s worth of wedding memories in their mind, Geetha Reddy says, “That the marriage became a reality and that I was going through the marriage rituals with the man I love and that we were going to spend the rest of our life together was a beautiful feeling. Certainly very happy moments, it was a day that I had dreamt of during our courtship days. Taking the marriage vows and cementing our love and affection for each other,” and he adds, “The hour immediately after the marriage.”
After the rituals, the cameras have stopped rolling and the couple has found what they were looking for: love and a happy marriage. “The life partner in this marriage was a very simple sweet girl called Geetha,” says Dr Ramachandra and Dr Geetha adds, “Certainly very excited, because the day I was dreaming of became a reality. I was going to spend the rest of my life with the man I chose. Being decked up as a bride and standing next to Ram as my bridegroom was such a lovely exciting and memorable moment for me.” They agree the ceremony was their favourite part of the day.
The couple met for the first time at the first day as House Surgeona in Gandhi Hospital in 1969. Geetha recalls, “We both had completed our MBBS and were doing our housemanship in Gandhi Hospital. May be it was destiny that brought us together, we were allocated the same wards. Ram was from Manipal Medical College and was very outgoing and witty in nature, we felt comfortable in each other’s company. There was no dating as such, but going to college picnics, birthday parties etc brought us closer.”
Enduring Love
Describing that moment when they knew they found true love, Dr Ramachandra and Geetha tell us, “When I differed with my father about the girl he selected and I said I would marry Geetha and no one else,” and she adds, “When I started thinking about Ram every minute of the day. We care and share our feelings with each other. We are more like best friends and stand by each other through thick and thin.” The went to Sydney in 1971 without job and without money and that was the most adventurous thing they have ever done together. “Leaving India and going to settle in Australia in 1971 after marriage. A country we knew very little about, and with no job on hand,” says Geetha.
The couple, who have one daughter, Meghana, says, “One daughter and one granddaughter makes the picture complete.”
Road to happiness
All relationships encounter issues, but if you pursue matters with love and honesty, then it is possible to overcome fights and or disagreements. In Ramachandra’s own words, “Give and take in conversation,” and Geetha adds, “By leaving the room and allowing our emotions to cool off.” How do these couples stay in love, in good times and in bad? “Keeping love alive in a marriage is by being good friends and also by being appreciative of each other,” says Geetha Reddy, who has been married to Dr Ramachandra since 1971. They admit, they’re possibly more in love than in the early years of their relationship.
For an institution that is falling apart, this couple’s recipe for a happy marriage, that has made it for this long, is also incredible. When asked to tell us about marriage-strengthening solutions they’ve developed, in wake of so many marriages failing around us today, the couple says, “Need to respect each other. Talk things out rather than allow misunderstandings to pile up. To trust each other. Keep to conversation flowing never stop communicating. To be able to live in harmony there has to be a lot of give and take. It is a lot of selfless give and take.”
All relationships encounter issues, but if you pursue matters with love and honesty, then it is possible to overcome fights and or disagreements. In Ramachandra’s own words, “Give and take in conversation,” and Geetha adds, “By leaving the room and allowing our emotions to cool off.” How do these couples stay in love, in good times and in bad? “Keeping love alive in a marriage is by being good friends and also by being appreciative of each other,” says Geetha Reddy, who has been married to Dr Ramachandra since 1971. They admit, they’re possibly more in love than in the early years of their relationship.
For an institution that is falling apart, this couple’s recipe for a happy marriage, that has made it for this long, is also incredible. When asked to tell us about marriage-strengthening solutions they’ve developed, in wake of so many marriages failing around us today, the couple says, “Need to respect each other. Talk things out rather than allow misunderstandings to pile up. To trust each other. Keep to conversation flowing never stop communicating. To be able to live in harmony there has to be a lot of give and take. It is a lot of selfless give and take.”
