Five Years!

Five Years! Wow! I can't believe I have been married to my wife for 5 years now! And I have known her for almost a decade now. I am not going to say it has been a very smooth one, nor am I going to say it has been a very rough one. Like any relationships, we had our ups and downs, our highs and lows. But for some odd reason, in retrospect, I do not remember the downs and the lows. Just the ups and the highs.
I remember the eve of our wedding day. My Dad had arranged this party for friends and family. And I remember, he suddenly made a request to all the guests which was not part of the agenda. He asked everybody to give one piece of advice about marriage to me. Slowly advices started pouring in. Wives and husbands used this opportunity to point out the flaws of their spouses. It was hilarious. Not much of those advice stuck to me that day, except one! I think it did because it was not a cheap attempt to demean a spouse, but a real genuine advice. This was from one my uncles and what he said not only stuck to me till now, but it would be the motto of our marriage. He said "On your wedding night, tell your wife that she is your best friend, and make sure she remains your best friend". It was amazing! Mind boggling. And honestly unexpected from an Indian man. So I heard him that day and buried that one deep in my heart, and till date my wife has been my greatest friend. I hope and pray that the good Lord will give us the strength to remain best friends forever!

Five years have gone by,
Quick, but yet so slow,
Until, the day to heaven we fly,
I pray our love will ever grow.
Deepak Benjamin

Keeping up with the Joneses!

I am sure you have seen the new Ford F-150 commercials with Jerry Jones in it. I like those commercials, although Jerry Jones has not exactly been on my favorite persons list lately. But anyways it talks about how, "to keep up with the Joneses" you may not be able to buy The Dallas Cowboys or afford your own football stadium, but you can start by driving the truck he drives in the first place. I think it is a brilliant commercial, because each one of us are guilty of trying "to keep up with the Joneses". True, most of us are smart enough to not even think about keepin up with Jerry Jones, but there are The Smiths next door or the Kumars at work or the Browns at church. I understand that it is an inherent nature of man/woman to always want what he/she can't afford/don't have, but where do you draw the line between passion and obsession. It is very hard and the line is very thin. First there will be Jones1, then Jones2 and soon there will be so many Joneses that keeping up the Joneses would have somehow become your sole reason for existence. And that my friend is a bad place to be in!

So the word to keep in mind is "content". If we are content with what we have, I tell you life will be so much more simpler and not to mention happier! Think about it! :-)

Peace!

Poem

Bumped into this poem today! Seemed very interesting and true!

First Dentistry was painless
Then bicycles were chainless
And carriages were horseless
And many laws enforce-less

Next cookery was fireless
Telegraphy was wireless
Cigars were nicotine-less
And coffee caffeine-less

Soon oranges were seedless
The putting green was weedless
The college boy was hatless
The proper diet fatless

New motor roads are dustless
The latest steel is rustless
Our tennis courts are sodless
Our new religion Godless

Peace!

Hancock

Ever since the movie "Hancock" came out in June, I have been itching to watch it, not only because I am a big Will Smith fan but also because it seemed interesting. But somehow I never got the time to watch the movie. But yesterday, I finally rented a DVD and watched it. Although, the reviews weren't that great, I must say, I thought the movie was pretty cool. I agree it has a weird & complicated story line. But I think the movie conveyed a priceless message! "If you want to be strong and productive with a long life, stay as far away as you can from your....wife". No no wait a minute, thats not what I had in mind! It came out wrong. Let me re-phrase it!

But I think the movie conveyed a priceless message! "If you want to have a strong and productive life of serving others, you have to sacrifice something! No pain no gain" There you go that sounds much better! :-)

Peace!

Excuse me Doc!

Not too long ago, I blogged about how I feel sorry for folks with 2 or more kids and how hard it is for me to find time with just one kiddo. (Read it here) Anyways, since then, I have been trying to organize myself a little more and I was slowly getting into a routine and stuff. My wife even agreed to stop working evenings and just do mornings. This way things seemed to be ok. But 2 weeks back my son and my wife had been to San Antonio. We had a good time of rest and just before we left, D complained of indigestion. So we skipped meeting my buddy Mark in Austin and headed straight home to Big "D". But the indigestion stayed on for a day, then two and when it was finally a week, we decided to go see our PCP. So I skipped work and drove her to the Doctor's. My wife went into to meet the nurse while Jay & I played outside the doctor's office. She wasn't gone for 10 minutes, before the nurse summoned me. At this point I was really worried. Instantly I was reminded of our "Indian" movies, where the Doctor calls the husband solemnly to break the sad news. But as I walked into the room with Jay, I saw what seemed like a smile on the nurse's face and nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to hear next. If you hadn't guessed already then you are like me, but if you had guessed it then you are right! The nurse told me with a gentle but elated voice, "Your wife is pregnant"! I don't think I have ever used the word "Excuse me" more emphatically before, like I did that afternoon. And she repeated again, "Your wife is pregnant, you are going to have another baby". So, I asked the most ridiculously stupid question I could ever ask a medical professional, "Are you sure?" And she showed me the pregnancy test and told me with a smile, "Yes! She is sooo pregnant" I didn't know what to say! Quietly we checked out and headed home. The drive home was a weird one. A silent one! Many thoughts went through my mind the for the next 48 hours. But finally I got around it and accepted the fact that I am going to be a Dad of two kids. Now almost 2 weeks later, I am excited although I have no idea how I am going to handle it. But I know somehow "we" will. At one point we weren't even sure if we will have kids. But today we have a sweet boy and a another in the oven. And for that I am grateful!

Peace!