This is the only Kantha saree that I have and is one of the very few pastels in my wardrobe. Today is a very special day because today would have marked the 46th Anniversary of my parents. The best “made-for-each-other” couple I’ve ever known in my life, they had a love story, which is rather unusual in their times. He was a handsome athletic man, who acted in Marathi and Gujrati plays, ran on the beach every day, bunked classes regularly and lived life like there was no tomorrow. She, a serious academic type, who scored straight A+s all through, sent scholarship money back home to ensure that her siblings could complete their education and get married. He loved music so much, we would sit and listen to it together and I’ve seen him cry at some songs. She had little to nothing to do with it and he’d call her Aurangazeb

Even their parenting styles were so different. He was far more vocal and demonstrative than she was. There were as opposites as could be!

Appa met Amma at a platform in the Chennai railway station. They were related and he fell in love with her. An amazing love story, they wrote letters to each other, he sought permission from my grand-father to marry her. They didn’t have it easy, they both had commitments towards their respective families, well into their married lives. It is almost shocking, but I have never seen them argue in all their 41 years together. She was this perfect and beautiful blend of being a career woman and yet, managed the home and taking care of me and my older brother, supervising the construction of our house while Appa was away on a transferrable job. Their love and deep sense of respect and commitment for each other strikes me even today. We lived in an apartment and he’d go down before her, start her luna and wait for her to come down, to say bye to her, as she went to work – on every singe day that she went to work. She learned to watch and enjoy cricket because he was passionate about the game. She talks to him every day, as he smiles from above and looks down at us.

On this day Appa, we miss you even more that I can articulate. You are the kindest man I have ever known and have been the most loving husband and father. Wish I could hold you one last time, have you hold me back tight, hear your heart beat, and say I love you one last time.