25 th. Wedding Anniversary

As 2008 set in, I realised, I had been married to Varsha, for 25 years. It seemed only yesterday that we had tied the knot, and memories of the long years we had spent together came gushing through . Our's was an arranged marriage, and I had met her only once before the D'day. I would some times speak with her on the telephone though. I had even sent her a few letters after our engagement, which by no stretch of imagination could be construed as 'love letters'. Our wedding was attended and blessed by Yashwantrao Chavan (Varsha's grandfather). It was one big public function, lasting over a week, meticulously planned, by my uncle Late Mohanrao Shinde. The wedding feasts were handled by my eldest uncle, Late Kishorsing Shinde. As my father was no more, my youngest uncle, Appasaheb & aunty Rohini, performed all the "Vidhis".

The 25 th. Anniversary was on the 10 th. of Jan. 2008, but we decided to have the party on the 26th. Jan. taking into consideration the convinience of all our friends and relatives.

We had decorated our Bunglow facade, with a lot of "running lights". The climate was a bit chilly so we had lit bonfires. We had arranged for 'live' music, playing mostly nostalgic Kishor Kumar, and Mohamad Rafi, numbers. Guests started arriving by 7 PM and it was past midnight, by the time the last guests departed. Almost all members of our extended family and some close friends and colleagues attended. Shri. Jayantrao Patil, to whom my cousin Shailaja is married and Shri. Satyajit Deshmukh, to whom my other cousin Renuka is married too attended. My friend and Brother-in-law, Ajit Suryavanshi, to whom Anija, my cousin is married was also there. Amongst my friends, Shri Vinod Digrajkar, Phaltane, Kashikar, Satpute, Maniyar, Saudatti, Anil Kulkarni, and many others were present. All of us enjoyed the evening immensely.