Family - and er etc

I've been reading some of my rants on romance or the lack thereof... and giggling some more! It seems like most of my blogs on the subject have been when I need to complain about it. Rather sad, that. I have met guys who are interesting to talk to, love God and actually care about what you think. I have friends who are fun to be with and easy to make conversation with and who are passionate about the right things. I'm not a 'misandrist (?)'. But unfortunately, my blogging on the romantic front in this country seems to be tempered by my reactions to the Indian-single-abroad-must-marry syndrome or by the it's-natural-to-be-jealous syndrome... Now the first shows symptoms such as:

Hey, you're Indian and you're beautiful. Can I have your number? OR I love you. OR God gave me a revelation last night... [to the uninitiated, this can happen two days into having been introduced, if you happen to be a single woman and Indian ethnically and living in, as it happens, the UK].

The second has only ever happened once but apparently in certain unnamed (non-Indian) parts of the world, it is the general way of life!

It was my parents' wedding anniversary yesterday. I have truly seen love that grows more with time... PErhaps my perception has also grown and changed. They're extremely different but have been so committed to making a family that they have stayed together and learned to love and grow and I will always be grateful for that! It's given me a pretty clear idea of what I want if I do get married as well. You get married, you stay married... and learn together. You put God first. You make the gestures - it's rather pathetic if only one of the two does, and the other doesn't show that he or she cares at all! It's even more pathetic when neither do. I have learned from what I've seen and what I haven't seen. If I ever do find the man God has for me, I want us to share a vision... not bargain about it along the way. If God says something, we both need to learn to obey - implicitly. I could go on and on.

But mainly, I want to thank my amazing parents for our family.

A Second Helping of India

Or maybe thirds or fourths or tenths.

Anyway, so seeing my dismal smile of resignation, Random Pastor decided to pitch in. Bless him. Actually all I said was 'Appadiya' literally translating to 'Is that right?' and meaning a lame 'Oh okay'. All smiles now, The Me although my mum or best friends would have detected a slightly weak stretch of lip more like a grimace... Random Pastor asked: 'Right then, shall we take the vandi?'. Vandi simply means vehicle and I just beamed, I tell you. I just decided we were kindred spirits and all that ;D

Then he hauled up his white cassock like a lungi at half-mast, while I just looked him up and down - very respectfully, but slightly baffled at what he might be contemplating next. Well, I was surprised. RP was very enthusiastically offering to take me on my own to his town on his bike.... errrrr I just thought it would be uncomfortable. When my mum heard the story, she applauded my er very creditable prudence. Heh! She was concerned about how the let's-just-say-forwardness might be construed in the very village-y, and parochial setting.................. Well, I was NOT bleeddddddyyy going on that bike on those roads with that skirt on at that point of time. So I gave my extremely-brilliant-toothpaste-ad smile as substitute for the genuine article and said 'Hang on, just one minute, thanks!' and walked right up to what looked to be the Presiding Aunty at the gathering. By this time, I was thinking the whole thing was quite surreal! And I just lied - spoke in faith would be closer, actually - and told her magnanimously that a trip to the toilet would be welcome to all the girls, so could we please have the van instead of a bike? As it would, of course, only be for the general good.

And bingo! It turned out all the girls were actually feeling like miserable waddles themselves and I was just the heroine of the piece (well, here anyway;D). We missed the second village but... Ah, peace. And a very jolly bus ride after a brilliant trip.