Perfectly Imperfect

                      One fine day I realized that I was missing out a lot in life. All my friends were happily married. I got it into my head that I too must find myself a girl. I feverishly went through the matrimonial Advertisements. I wanted all the outstanding qualities which people expect in a woman, present in my future wife. She had to be an epitome of perfection, highly educated, a good chef, and a paragon of beauty.

My eyes fell on the photograph of an exquisitely beautiful lady. I determined to have her for my wife. As I went through the details, the only stumbling block was that she was a Vegetarian. That was something I had to deal with as I was a Non-vegetarian and could not do without my favorite non-vegetarian dishes even for a day. But I was more ‘hungry’ for the Beauty I had seen, than for food at that time. I told myself out that the problem could be dealt with later, when it arose. I contacted her family, expressed my desire that I wanted to marry their daughter, but did not utter a word about my being a Non-vegetarian.

The beautiful Aruna blossomed like a rosebud in our house, radiating her perfume where ever she went. Joy and happiness became a tangible reality. She was good natured and soft-spoken. One could not imagine that she could ever be angry or ill-tempered.

Aruna was very efficient in the kitchen and to make me happy, rustled up all sorts of vegetarian delicacies for me. But how long can a lion be satisfied with a diet of leaves and grass! On my

way back from office, I started frequenting restaurants for the non-vegetarian dishes I was missing. The result was that when I came home, I could not do full justice to the food prepared by Aruna. She was very intelligent and sensed something was amiss. She asked me many times why I was not eating properly. Then she gave up cooking, and with that her behavior towards me became cold. She was no more her jovial, bubbling self, but a wilted, drooping flower from which the last petals were about to drop off. This was a big problem which I did not know how to solve. The easiest way out was to have a second lunch with gusto, though it would be a difficult proposition. I coaxed her into making her delectable recipes once more for me, and I pretended to relish them like a half-starved man! Though the immediate result was dyspepsia and flatulence, I ignored it, as nothing could be done. But the tragedy was that, it became a difficult situation, as I started adding on inches to my waist. Expenses for purchasing bigger size replacements cost a huge sum. Besides all my well-wishers looked at me dis- approvingly and shook their heads saying that I did not look my handsome self anymore! Those who were less diplomatic and more intimate, brazenly opined that I looked like a pumpkin!

Now it so happened that a certain long-distant cousin started visiting us very frequently. My wife and he both shared nostalgic memories of their child hood. He was a tall, well-built man, fair complexioned, with soft wavy hair making him look like a film actor. He would spend evenings at our house when I was at office, and stay over for dinner. The worst part was that he confessed he loved Aruna’s cooking and appreciated it so much that gave immense satisfaction to her. As it is, I had lost my handsome looks and so my self- confidence had sapped I started feeling something like jealousy of Milan within me. I did not want him to come over to our house. Even so, why come in the evenings when I was not there? Besides why should Aruna cook her delicacies for anyone else, but him? There was no reason for Aruna to be so hospitable and talk to him as if she were enjoying his company. I kept my feelings bottled up for days, but an active volcano has to explode some time! I came home one day and found him enjoying a glass of beer with some ‘paneer pakoras’ as accompaniment. In a burst of untrammeled emotion I blurted out “Why do you come to disturb my peace, don’t you realize that Aruna is my wife and I would like to spend my evenings with her alone?” Milan looked at me stupefied. The half –eaten ‘pakora’ remained on the plate. He muttered something and left. When Aruna came back with a cup of coffee for me and found Milan had left without even taking leave of her, she was very much upset. When she asked me what had happened, I told her the truth, upon which she ran out of the room, locked herself in the bedroom and burst into tears. I could hear her crying from outside, but nothing could be done. I could not take her into my arms and dry her tears. She opened the door only the next day, and threatened to leave the house as she did not even have the right to invite her friends. She was adamant about leaving then and there, and though I tried hard to persuade her to give up the idea, the good natured soft spoken, Aruna could be hard as steel in her determination!

There was no way out, but to take out the car and

 drive submissively to her parent’s house. All the time one thought was making me feel like an ill-behaved student, who was being dragged to the Principal of the school, to be humiliated. It would be very embarrassing for me when her parents came to know the details. I was a new-comer in the family. They would presume that I was trying to break up the family unity by my rude demeanor. I would surely meet disapproval in their eyes which would be demeaning All through the drive, she maintained a sullen silence.

As her parents rushed out to greet us, I kept at a distance, not in the frame of mind to reciprocate the same warmth. I think I started biting my nails with anxiety. Then I heard Aruna say in her sweet modulated voice, “Mama, as I was feeling very home-sick, Dilip brought me here, as he cannot bear to see me unhappy.” Was I hearing correctly? Astounded, immediately I regained my composure and gave them an equally warm hug.

Later on Aruna forgave me for being rude to her distant cousin when I explained my actions to her. I told her that despite the fact that we had come together through an advertisement, I had come to love her, or more correctly fallen in love with her. Jealousy was an expression of love. I wanted Aruna all to myself and my bottled up jealousy had led me to reject the man who claimed to have shared many nostalgic memories with my wife. The avowal of my love for her, pacified her, and I felt that we had come closer as never before!

Another big problem I had to face. It was as if I were a creature from the Polar region and she from the Equatorial. If I switched on the AC at 24degrees C she would say that she was freezing to death. On the other hand I would perspire like a steaming kettle if it were warmer. This was something which had to be resolved. I bribed her into accepting a cooler temperature by gifting her a soft Angora wool blanket. Without a murmur she would then snuggle into her cozy bed.

We had other problems to iron out. I had a conviction that home was the place for comfort and relaxation. It was the only place where I could be myself and just do what I wanted. So as I came home, I would plonk down on my armchair, fling my shoes to the corner of my bedroom, and throw my shirt on the chair, close my eyes and savor the bliss of being at home. Aruna would then come into the room and pick up the shoes and put them in the shoe rack, remove the shirt to the laundry bag and gently remind me that it did not take much of an effort to be organized. If the same lapse occurred again, she would be less gentle in her reminder. There was no option but to comply, but what I had to do even in the “paradise” which was supposed to be my home, was a mental irritation for my entire life. I reasoned out to myself rebelliously, what would happen if I kept all my office files stacked up on the writing table, and my daily wear shirts all lined out on hangers outside my wardrobe, for my convenience so that I could take what I wanted easily and in a nanosecond? My wife was able to achieve a perfectly spic and span house at the cost of my imperfect sense of comfort and mental peace.

 Now when it came to having children, she wanted a girl and I wanted a boy. In this imperfection, God intervened and gave us a pair of beautiful twins---a girl and a boy to come to a perfect solution.

Now we have lived fifty years together, a very happy and contented life. Through all the ups and downs in life, what is required is adjustment and understanding of each other. This comes automatically when there is love.