!!!! Happy BirthDay Divya !!!!

Dear Divya,

Wishing you a very happy birthday and a great year(s) ahead.

This is a very special birthday for her since not only is this the first birthday after marriage, she also completed 25. This is a very special birthday for me too, for obvious reasons.

Let me go back a bit in time to set this up nicely. I met Divya about 8 or 8.5 months back. In my search for my better half, i had met few girls, but somehow things never clicked (and now i know why). When mamma/baba told me about her, I was a bit indifferent to the whole thing to them(which was very typical of me then), but someohow felt, she might be the one. I went to Indore and she came with her parents and Chetan (her brother). After exchanging quick pleasentries, we decided to go out and chat a bit freely. So there we were, in the car going for a long ride.

In my typical fashion, I started talking about Indore and its weather to begin with(I always think, thats smart of me to strike a conversation :-)). And I could suddenly sense that she too had a passion for Indore. The conversation went on, and spanned across many topics like her office, my office, likes, dislikes, her idea about life, sports, hobbies, movies, music, dance(she was the one talking on dance and not me), relationships, friendship, family, values etc. And as we both were talking, our mind was analysing each others thoughts and mannerisms.

My first impression about her was she was a very down to earth person and got along very well with others. She did not seem to have any ego or air about her being.

My mind was reaching a conclusion slowly. We met once omre the next day and said YES. All the wait seemed to be paying rich dividends for me. Divya came into my life and we had a "Chat pat Byah". Everything happened very quickly. Within a month we were married on 11th of July 2007(A Monsoon Wedding as I like to call it). Miracles do happen and dreams do come true.

Everyone including me (more importantly!!) was very happy. As per my resolution, I was able to move on and start a new life with Divya. It was and is great to have her together. We gell with each other very well and are very happy (touch wood) ! Although, it has been just 7 months, it seems we know each other for a long time. i would give that entire credit to Divya since she gets along so very well with everyone in family and is such a fun person to be with. She is down to earth, friendly, humorous, lively, enthusiastic and most importantly knows how to take everyone together. These were precisely the things which I wanted in my life partner.

As time has gone by in last 7 months or so, my impression about her has not changed since the first impression I formed about her. She is great at socializing with people. The vibes that you get out of her are friendly and have a very soothing effect on your psyche. No wonder, she has a huge friends list. i have realised in last 7 months, how much her friends mean to her. As I have realised, her friends also value her immensly. Besides other things, she is a great singer and an even better dancer. She makes some amazing food (her cooking has improved tremendously since she came to US).

Well, to cut the long story short, it has been an immense pleasure to be with her. I am happy with life again and am looking forward to life ahead. I was very doubtful about arranged marriage and how it will turn out to be for me. I can say with full confidence that arranged marriages rock too !

That in short is my tribute to Divya on her first birthday after marriage.

I wish her all the very best for her life and for her career too. Hope she achieves "one to all" in life !

!! Congratulations once again my lady love !!

Amit