The 'Just Married, Please Excuse' contest

Yahodhara Lal is amongst the first bloggers I started reading when I discovered the blogosphere. Hers was the blog that literally had me ROFL. I have shared posts of her with the DH and the man who loudly proclaims he won’t read actually read several of her posts and laughed until his belly ached.

Well, all that experience with blogging paid off. Her debut book’s out. It’s called Just Married, Please Excuse. The book reviews are in and they all maintain the book’s awesome. As part of the book launch Yashodhara is having a contest. The rules of the contest can be found here. Per the contest, I am required to share a funny story from our early days of marriage. 

So here’s my entry to the contest. It is an old post of mine but like expensive, vintage wine, it gets better with time. I don’t live in Delhi but I could send friends of mine to the restaurant  if I win. In any case, I’d like a copy of the book as it is not available on Amazon, yet.

People back home, please read Yashodhara’s blog. Buy her book, that way if I don’t win, I can borrow your copy.

Did I tell you…

about the time DH forgot to tell people he was married? Please pick your jaws up off the floor. The man plain forgot to tell people he was married.

So, after we got married and had spent a month together (no honeymoon period this  ) DH decides to accept a position in the US. This is a 6 month contract and he wants to see what all the hullaballoo is with living in the US. I had a job back in India so i went back to slogging my a$$ off back home and commuting between the parents’ and the in-laws’ while he moved to the US and found shared accommodation with a few others in a similar situation. Me thinks, he was trying to take a last stab at bachelorhood.

Well, his days of freedom were numbered. Soon, his contract position became a full-time job and lo and behold, I had sprouted wings and flown to join my beloved

Once I got over my jet lag and was ready to take on my role as social butterfly (no raised eyebrows, please), DH takes me to the local recreation center where he plays badminton every evening. And, I like a pativrata (dutiful) wife sit and watch him and applaud at all appropriate times. A couple of days into this routine, DH finishes a close doubles game and wins and the whole group joins us spectators. Introductions are made and as DH discusses some finer points with teammates and opponents, one of the players comes up and we start talking. He asks “When did you come to the US? Are you over your jet lag?” Then suddenly he says “So, you’re living with him?” I wasn’t quite sure I’d understood his question correctly, so I said “Yes.” Then he says “Are you going to stay with him until you find accommodation with other girls?” This is getting curioser and curioser (Thank you Lewis Carroll for coming up with the word). I say “No, I plan to stay with him.” So, he says “Oh you guys are living together because you eventually plan to marry each other?”

Now, I know for sure, that this guy is getting something wrong. So I say “We’re married.” Well I almost pulled out my thaali (mangal sutra) and said “Avar yenna thottu taali kattinnavaru.”  For those that don’t understand Tamil, this is a dialog that has been used as nauseam in Tamil movies with high doses of tears and melodrama thrown in. Given that the guy was Tamil-speaking, he’d have definitely understood the sentiment but I was so shocked that all I could think to do was reassure him of my marital status in the first language available.

The guy stuttered and stammered, looked up and down and then said “Well, he never told us he was married.” The latter part of our conversation has been heard by all around us and they all start on variations of “Dude, you never mentioned you were married.” One other guy says, “I was planning to talk to you about a cousin of mine who is of marriageable age” all while I look on incredulously.

Eventually DH says “Yeah, I’m married, have been for 6 months.I just forgot to tell you all.”

That’s DH for you, will remember lyrics to obscure songs and  titles of movies that a mere 4 people may have seen but may very well forget to tell you that he’s married. 

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