Happy Valentine's Day

This story is really a happily ever after kind of a story. A real story. The story is set in the 1940s. The story is about two young people beginning their life in a very young India.

She was the second daughter of a family with three surviving girls. The other two daughters were not interested in academics. She loved learning about new things. So her parents encouraged her to study beyond high school and pursue teacher’s training. She was loving the freedom of it. She was nearing her late teens, a ripe age to get married at that time.

He was the son of a rich farmer. His father was a well traveled man. His father was knowledgeable and led a frugal life of a simple farmer. You could stand in any part of his village and all the land that you saw until your eye reached the horizon belonged to his father.  But he never cared about it. He wanted to be independent. He did not want to follow his dad’s footsteps. He studied to become a teacher just like his elder brother. He studied hard and became a Mathematics teacher in one of the most prestigious schools of south India.

His parents, like all Indian parents, dutifully started looking for a bride for their younger son now that their elder son was married. They got her alliance through an acquaintance. They heard the girl was very pretty and fair. Now even though a very fair girl was not common to find, they found that the family was not rich. Infact, the family was barely making two ends meet. They decided that they will inform their son about it and let him decide after all it was his life.

He was surprised that a family with little means was willing to educate their daughter. He was impressed. He decided he was going to meet the family. He met her father and had a glimpse of her in the local church. He was smitten to say the least.

He decided she was the one for him and informed his parents about his decision. His parents were shocked. This kind of a thing didn’t happen at that time. Children were rarely allowed to decide about such matters. This was unheard of. But knowing that their son could be stubborn they relented. He didn’t want any dowry. Moreover he paid for the wedding and bought his bride jewels so that she could feel like a queen, his queen. His parents were surprised but were secretly proud of their son.

She loved him and he adored her. They were an ideal couple. She would ably handle the children, house hold, the servants, and so on. He was crazy about his family. Their children grew up with the same sense of independence and thirst for knowledge. They were together until death drove them apart only to be united in heaven. He passed on first and she followed later survived by four daughters, two sons, a flock of grandchildren and great grand children, all of whom loved them. Their elder son has a darling of a daughter, does’nt she?  Yes she is. Happy Valentine's day.