Venkat's Random Thoughts

The difference between wedding day and wedding anniversary Does anyone know the differen ce between a wedding day and the wedding anniversary? It is simple. Though both fall and recur on the same day every year, the wedding day count is always one more than the wedding anniversary. Thus the first wedding anniversary day is the second wedding day!!! People generally celebrate their wedding anniversary every year by cutting a cake, buying gifts for each other, going out for dinner , throwing a party etc. The fifth , tenth , the twenty fifth(silver) , fiftieth (golden) and sixtieth (diamond) anniversaries are milestones and are celebrated in a grand manner. It is considered to be special and lucky  to celebrate the fiftieth and sixtieth anniversaries since marriages seldom last that long. I got married on February 3rd 1974. So this year happened to be my 49th wedding anniversary and 50th  (golden) wedding day. Unlike others I decided to celebrate my golden wedding day differently. I made

  Kashmir - Heaven on Earth!!!! A Visit to Kashmir was on my bucket list since a long time. Due to various reasons like, terrorist attacks, Covid 19 pandemic etc. somehow it was getting postponed. It was in April 2022 while on a visit to UK to be with my sons and families that we, myself and my better half decided to plan and execute a visit to Kashmir this year, come what may. While I explored I found that August-September , the flowering and Apple season was ideal since the weather was pleasant, neither hot nor very cold. Only missing things will be the Indian Tulip season (March-April), the snow clad mountains and ski sports, With our many visits to Europe we had had enough of tulips and snow clad mountains. Given our age ski sports were ruled out. My birthday falls on September 13 and my wife's on May 11. Our wedding anniversary is on February 3. May being Summer we normally are in UK during that time and our indian holidays normally are during February or September, We decided

 Rivika - My grand daughter and best friend On this very day 11th September ten years back two things happened, 1) The tenth anniversary of the terrorist attack on the twin towers in the US and  2) The birth of my Grand daughter Rivika, The second child of my son Anand and Mallika. Both the events are unforgettable in my life ,On the day of the 9/11 attack, I was in Bath UK on a visit to my son in UK and heard the news on the TV at a relation's house. On the day of Rivika's birth I was in Mumbai and on hearing the news , i booked my tickets to visit my son's in laws in Ghaziabad, U P to visit the latest arrival. I immediately posted on my Facebook page the following lines.   "Off to Ghaziabad to meet the latest addition in the family!!      My grand daughter" Needless to say I was very excited and was keen to see and hold this bundle of joy in my hands. We did travel and attended the naming ceremony in Ghaziabad. I next met her on her first birthday when I was aga

              A humble tribute to a great Soul I am writing this post in memory of my first cousin Renuka alias Bala who was snatched by the cruel hands of death from us all on May 21, 2020. For those who do not know  who Bala was She was my first cousin, eldest daughter of my father's sister Rajalakshmi. Our families were closely linked right from the days when we were neighbors in pre-partition days in Karachi. Though I was born in Karachi, in 1944  we landed up in Mumbai as refugees during the partition. The two families with some  other handful of South Indians ended up in Dombivli, a distant suburb of Mumbai. We continued to be neighbors. In 1958 we moved to Sion, my father having purchased a flat there. As luck would have it my Athai's family also landed up close to Sion, in the then Koliwada now known as GTB Nagar, continuing to be close by. I am writing below a short narration about her life. I was very close to her and used to admire her courage. After the sudden demis