Distant engagement ....

Wow … so many of you have interesting stories to share about your engagement … I read Moppets, Poppins and Pixie …
Mine sure is a rare story of sorts …

I was working in an IT company in India soon after graduating. I lived with my uncle’s family during that period. One bright morning, my uncle walked to me casually and said “RP would call / email me in the next 2-3 days and I talk to him”. I knew that my parents were on the look out for a suitable match for me, though I had no intensions of settling on Marital bliss. I didn’t say anything to my uncle. The first thing I wanted to do was call my parents and tell them, I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I reached office and almost forgot about this call and got deeply involved in some work. Around lunch time, I got an email from BP … now wait a minute … didn’t my uncle mention about someone RP who would contact me this morning … but this email was from BP … who was this person ! I was confused … I called up my mom immediately and told her about this mail. She said the person’s name was indeed BP and not RP and insisted I reply back. Though very hesitant, I replied back … you know the general “Hello … “ kinda email. Within secs I got another mail from BP asking for my phone number. I replied him back with my number. In less than a min, my phone rang and I was talking to BP. I swear I had never felt as comfortable talking to a stranger. People who know me vouch for the fact that, I take my time before I open up to strangers … but this time, I was completely shocked myself. Our first phone conversation lasted for about 45 mins and we talked about our hobbies, our family etc. Before he disconnected, BP took my parent’s number. After sometime, I got a call from my mom saying BP had called her … but she was too shy to talk to him and could just manage to give my father’s office number and not say anything much. Of course, BP had called my father and talked to him. I truly appreciated his sensitive gesture. This happened Sep 7th 2000. I can never forget this Thursday!! BP called me on Friday around noon and we continued to talk. He then mentioned that I meet his parents over the weekend.
So my family met his family on Saturday and instantly “approved” me as their son’s bride J I couldn’t believe the pace at which the events were unfolding … my parents were to visit BP’s house in order to fix an auspicious date for the marriage. As is the custom, I was not going with them for the discussion, so I decided to come to office … hoping that BP would call me J I met Poppins on the office bus, who was by then a regular at coming to office over the weekends and shared the news with her.
All I remember I did for the next few days was to come to office and eagerly open my mail box expecting to see something from BP, wait for his phone call around 11:00 and talk endlessly. Get back home dreaming about wonderful things … hey … did I mention, BP was in the US at this time J

We had a traditional engagement, a month later…. How much I missed him that day! (for those who are laughing their hearts out about the engagement without the guy … I am told that in the olden days, the groom was never part of the traditional hindu engagement ceremony. It was a ritual performed to decide the date of the wedding in the presence of a large gathering… some sort of assurance I’d like to believe, that the groom and bride to be were committed) As the wedding day got closer, the discussions grew deeper … and finally the day arrived ! I was going to meet BP for the first time in my life … and hold your breadth, we were getting married after 5 days

As luck would have it, his flight got delayed and the wait at the airport seemed endless … and finally he arrived ! I have never heard my heart beat faster … and there he was, my darling BP, just the way I had imagined him to be. (we had exchanged only 2 photographs of ours so far) It took me less than a minute to spot him in the airport amidst all the crowd. But it was a wonderful experience !
We got married 5 days later and have been enjoying marital bliss since … even today, when I think back what prompted me to answer back his first email … I have no answer. But hey, I have no complaints that I did answer !!!