10, what a small number...

10 was a small number till a while back, my sons knew that from times I don’t remember.

If you want to test me about “Times”

I know all the important details…

Their names, as they are spelt in official papers with the exception of a stray “d”, “h”, “t” & “a”

Their dates of birth, to the year plus or minus 2

And believe me, even the class they are in, at least 2 in 12 times

Ok, coming back to the story… 3,650 days, many things have happened in the interim

A big move, geographically

A bigger move, the birth of a son

Even bigger, setting up a young family at a distant land unknown

And bigger, getting a school admission for the son

More, when the second son was born

Much more, when he got to the same school as his elder brother

And yes, the biggest of all…

Something that was the BIG, great start of these small big things above

The day when RoopaK took up a great challenge, the greatest of her life till

Anirudhha & Anantaa got together

Yes, it is 10 years since she committed the blunder of her life

I have no shame in admitting that I am Mr RoopaK and it is 10 years since that name change of mine happened

Thank you RoopaK for the wonderful and most adventurous 10 years we have had…

I am sure I haven’t lived up to your standards and I am not sure I ever will

Sweets, here’s to many more…

It is exactly 5 years as of today…

I still remember…

How you apologized for being 10 minutes late to Coffee Day, the place where we first met in Madras

I do remember how badly I was hung over and how best I tried dissuading you, not to fall into the trap

I would never forget that 5.32p call I made the same day, confessing how I’d fallen for you

That sincere “Will you marry me” from my side

And that playful “That is a serious question. I might have to speak to my parents” and of course the “Let our families meet formally" decision you made

The number of F words I uttered during our marriage, facing up to the customs, friends, relatives and others. Whom I had never faced in my life in such fearsome frenzy

The way you tried freshening the air inside our (first nights) bedroom when your mother knocked for coffee, post that smoke I’d just had

How you cried on my lap when that month and a half disappointment happened before Anirudhha happened

The smile when you saw me gate crash in to your ward at 6.15a the day after Aniruddha was born

Your eyes when I smelled Aniruddha’s forehead for the first time, the day after he was born

That “Leaving on the Jet plane” of Janis Joplin (which I love) you played when you, with Anirudhha in your arms sent me off to Dubai

The hug, the day when you and Anirudhha landed in Dubai after three months of his birth

And the good life you have made possible thereafter

It’s five years and I don’t think it is. Feels like we just left that Rs 3 tips for that coffee at Coffee Day, I can smell that Lavender room freshener that camouflaged the smoke, our wedding video, the stupid look I had on my face just after I had uttered that “N^th” F word, our faces when we met for the first time with Anirudhha on your lap. And all those difficult things I can never write about, the way you made me see them through.

I love you Roopa K