Angry Birds

“ Jhanviiiiiiiii!!!!! Where the hell have you kept my watch? Please help me find it. I am getting late for office.” Suresh yelled on the top of his voice as he frantically searched all the drawers next to his bedside table. Jhanvi hurried herself from the kitchen and joined him to search his watch. A few seconds later, she remembered that Suresh had kept his watch on the TV cabinet yesterday when he returned home and had completely forgotten about it. She picked up the watch from the cabinet and presented it to him as if it was an award.

“ Here’s your watch, Your Highness. By the way, you forgot that we aren’t on talking terms since yesterday night.” Jhanvi angrily raised her eyebrows to remind her husband that they had argued for an entire hour the night before. Suresh let out a sigh and kissed her.

“ Well, guess we’re back on talking terms now.” He winked at her and she rolled her eyes at him. Such instances would occur almost every single day. They would argue over petty issues and make up the next day or after two days.

Suresh and Jhanvi had been married for almost two years. Theirs was an arranged marriage. They met each other through a matrimonial website. Both of them were attracted to each other in their first meeting itself. Immediately, their families got involved and after six months they got married. Before their marriage, they would speak once a week over the phone. They rarely met personally. They met only around five times, that too, for a very short duration. Both knew very little about each other, not realizing that physical attraction was not the only thing that mattered in a husband-wife relationship.

Suresh’s parents stayed in the village while he and his elder brother stayed in Mumbai for work. His brother stayed separately with his wife and kids and he stayed in a rented apartment with Jhanvi. Jhanvi was a playgroup teacher while Suresh was an engineer by profession. Both of them were all smiles at their wedding and enjoyed each and every traditional ceremony. Everything was hunky-dory till they returned from their honeymoon. After the honeymoon, both of them realized that a marriage is, in reality, not a bed of roses. Apart from love and affection, compromise and adjustment is also involved. You can’t always have it your way. Sometimes you have to bend yourself in your spouse’s direction.

Suresh felt that Jhanvi was coy and cute when he met her for the first time. Jhanvi felt that Suresh was quiet and innocent. In reality, both turned out to be completely opposite of what they had imagined. Suresh was a cleanliness and fitness freak. He believed that one needs to eat healthy and drink healthy to stay healthy. Jhanvi had never cared about her fitness for her entire life. She was lazy and didn’t bother much about keeping herself and the house clean. This irritated him the most as he liked to keep his belongings in order. Jhanvi felt that Suresh was short tempered and dominating on many occasions. He would become furious if his things were not kept in order or the house was not clean.

A few months into their marriage, they faced many challenges to bear with each other. Their thoughts, their likes and dislikes were totally different. They mainly argued over each other’s eating habits, sleeping habits, physical fitness, dress sense, work patterns, cleanliness and last, but not the least, finance. While Suresh believed in saving, Jhanvi was a spender. They argued over their monthly budget and expenses as well. They argued over what to eat and what to buy. Sometimes they even argued over who forgot to switch off the fan or who spilled the milk in the fridge or who had kept the water bottle’s lid open. Both found it extremely difficult to tolerate each other such that they started cursing themselves for getting married to each other in the first place.

The main problem was their ego. Both of them cared only about themselves and their interests. They continued blaming each other instead of trying to understand each other. They failed to put their spouse’s needs above their own needs. Sometimes, they had their lovey-dovey moments as well. Suresh would buy her favorite chocolate or treat her to a fancy restaurant. Jhanvi also would cook Suresh’s favorite dishes or give him a nice massage on a Sunday. But, when they argued, they forgot the good deeds or favors done by the other. They fought as if they were fighting for a World War Three. None of them budged from their stand. They tried their best to criticize and humiliate each other. Only a year into their marriage, they had already started thinking about divorce.

When Suresh and Jhanvi discussed their marital issues with their respective parents’, they were shocked. Each of the parents tried to pacify their child and asked them to come up with a solution amicably. They asked them to communicate. Both husband and wife discussed their issues with their married friends. They were surprised on knowing that they were not the only ones who had troubles in the initial phase of their marriage. On listening to the interesting conversations they had with their friends, they decided to work it out. They decided to give each other another chance.

Together, they came up with a plan. They wrote down a list of each other’s ten habits which annoyed them the most along with ten good habits and discussed the same. They would ensure that they try their best not to piss each other off. Also, they decided that they would do one indoor or outdoor activity of each other’s choice every alternate weekend. This way, they would try to understand each other’s interests and spend more time with each other. In the beginning, these activities seemed silly to both of them. Later onwards, they started enjoying the fun activities they planned for each other. They started looking forward to see and wait what the weekend had in store for them. Eventually, they started growing closer and closer. At times, they had their difference of opinion as well.

They never actually stopped bickering. So they came up with another solution. When one of them was angry, the other would stay quiet and just listen patiently. They would communicate later on. That was actually a rare occasion. Most of the times, they would argue and annoy each other. But they would make up after some time. Day by day, the love they shared for each other multiplied and they started enjoying their arguments and fights. It actually became a daily routine. Sometimes, they would be “LOVEBIRDS”. And sometimes “ ANGRY BIRDS.”