“Ours was a typical arranged marriage. To be honest, I never wanted to get married. But, when I turned 33, my father insisted on me getting married. Our parents fixed our match only on the basis of photo exchange & we had a traditional Bengali marriage on 24th May 1978.
In spite of having an arranged marriage, we became the best of friends over time. We fought like Tom & Jerry. The part after the fight was the best. To pacify her, I used to make a hot cup of coffee. Another routine habit was to listen to Rabindra sangeet together. I also used to recite poems for her. Her favorite song was ‘Neele Neele Ambar Par Chaand Jab Aaye’.
Our lives changed for the better when she gave birth to a beautiful girl. We were a simple happy family. However, life took a drastic turn in 2011 when my wife got detected with a brain tumour. I didn’t want to accept this news & ran helter-skelter to doctor’s clinics just to run away from the reality, but that didn’t change it. Her premorbidity worsened the tumour & she had to be given insulin shots. I have an immense phobia of needles. But, I loved her and decided to get rid of this fear just to give her the injection. Over the years, she turned into a vegetable and had to be dependent upon others for daily chores. My daughter got married in Bengaluru and it was only me and a helper who took care of her. She lost all her hair due to chemotherapy but for me, she was always the most beautiful woman in the room.
I made sure to convey that to her every day. We’ve never said I love you to each other or expressed it publicly, but we were deeply attached to each other. I wasn’t ready to accept that she would depart but seeing her suffer so much, I finally gathered the courage to whisper in her ears, that I am letting her go to find the divine connection. Maybe she was waiting for me to say this. Within 2 hours, she left for her heavenly abode in 2019. I immensely miss her and am still madly in love with her, because I didn’t lose my wife, I lost my best friend.
People often ask me the definition of love. For me, it’s FRIENDSHIP FOR LIFE”
s have taught me ‘honesty’, ‘integrity’, ‘discipline’, ‘punctuality’ and the courage to face precarious situations without losing my calm.
As I turn 76 this year, I can humbly say that I have completed innumerable 10 km & 21 km Marathons. I have been consistently running even when the nationwide lockdown happened, ’cause they say ‘Life is like a show & we are all artists, so the show must go on’. I recently fell while running & suffered a fracture, but that didn’t stop me from doing anything.
When I look back, I am happy to reminisce all my life’s experiences with my loving family. I have no complaints from life and my only wish is to stay happy every day, help the needy & spend the rest of years in good health.
To sum up, I am retired, but not tired”