I am Ananya and I am in my teens. I am a real chatterbox and love to talk about my family. I am the only daughter of Mrs. and Mr. Anvar. My Mom & Dad never stop fighting with each other, but it really does not bother me, as they love each other too much. If I fight with my Dad, my Mom automatically supports my Dad and vice versa. 

My Mom Tamasvini or Tamas as the world knows her is an intelligent woman who according to most of her friends is a well-balanced blend of tradition and modernity. She is a highly independent working woman who is well respected at work. She is an excellent homemaker too. My Mom is not a beauty; she is normal height and just enough weight to make her look normal. She has long lovely hair, which she usually ties into a bun. She wears little or no makeup and is as simple as possible. What is attractive about Mom is her smile. She keeps smiling always and this attracts too many people's attention, and that is what attracted my Dad to my Mom. On the whole Mom is a simple lively character who anybody would love to be friendly with.

My Dad, Anvar is equally intelligent and excellent in work and he is no less in comparison to Mom in maintaining a wonderful home. Dad always has a crowd around him because of his intelligence and sense of humor. Dad is loving and kind and very understanding. As Mom puts it "If Anvar was not an understanding person then he wouldn't have stayed with me even for a day".

Unlike most love stories, when Mom and Dad met each other they were not in their teens. They were both well established in their profession. Mom joined Dad's company as his junior three months after Dad was posted in Europe. Though Mom joined in as his junior she proved that she was his equivalent in work. Dad realized that it was tough competition working with Mom. Very soon Mom was promoted, as a new cadre was created for her. Both of them were sharing a house with two others. That meant Dad and Mom had to bear with each other twenty-four hours a day, God bless the other two! 

As we all know time waits for nobody. Within a year Dad and Mom were the best of friends and worst of enemies. Their friends did not know what to make of their relationship. Each one would never accept that the other was better in any way, but that did not stop them from sharing everything with each other. They would have cooking competitions, writing competitions, running races, swimming competitions, in fact anything to keep proving to each other who was the best.

Dad would criticize Mom's writing and Mom would criticize Dad's cooking. There was even a day when Dad wrote a story just because Mom was writing a story for a competition but as luck would have it both of them were selected for the top prize. If they were two extremes, they were similar in so many ways as well. At Mom always puts it "We are both mad". Dad's criticizing did not stop Mom from showing what she wrote to Dad, in fact he was always the first one to read what she wrote and Mom was always the first one to taste what Dad cooked, and it still remains that way. According to Mom, Dad is always her best critique. 

When one of their best friends suggested to Mom that Dad would be a good life partner, all Mom had to say was "Did you not find any one interesting for me? He would be the last person that I can think of. And I would remain a spinster instead of getting married to him". And when someone brought up the same topic with Dad, he replied saying "I would love to have a lovely female for a wife, surely not Tamas". Little did they know what was in store for them!

Before continuing with the story I should tell you why Dad and Mom were single. Dad was looking for someone who was his equal in everything and Mom was single because she wanted to be single. If ever she thought of a guy the next second she would worry about whether he would give her all the freedom that she has now and whether he would fit into the family and whether he would love her just the way she is and so on. And the next moment she would decide against marriage. Mom is a perfectionist and it is very difficult to satisfy her. So she was sure at that stage that she would never find a man of her choice and will live single all her life. As a matter of fact she did not look forward to marriage like girls her age did. She was more interested in living life as it came. 

Things were nice and pleasant with the usual competition and fights of course till one day when Mom decided to take a month off and go back to her hometown. Mom was happy as she was going to see her parents after a year and a half. Mom thought to herself, "This will be the best time for me to prove how invaluable I am to that stupid guy Anvar, he keeps telling me to leave him alone" and Dad thought to himself "Yipee! I can live in peace for a month, Good riddance to Tamas". Finally the D-day came and Dad went to the airport to drop Mom off. After the usual hugs and Good byes Dad left for home a bit heavyhearted.

Mom reached home and the first thing she did was to call Dad up to say the she reached safely. Dad was relieved. Neither of them realized why they felt that way. After the initial excitement of meeting people and eating good food Mom realized that she was missing Dad. She would send him mails everyday updating him of what she did and where she went and Dad would dutifully reply to all her mails. If Dad had thought that he would enjoy himself when Mom was not there then he realized that he was wrong. He was ready to do anything to bring Mom back immediately. 

When Mom came back a month later Dad was relieved and Mom was happy to be back with Dad. But both of them being Leo, their egos stopped them from telling each other how much they missed each other. Time went by and their love-hate relationship only got better. If they loved each other more then they hated each other more as well. Dad waited for the slightest opportunity to point out where Mom was wrong and Mom would always keep her eyes and ears open to find faults with Dad. 

Days moved on to months and months to years, Dad and Mom grew in each other's love. At work if one was promoted the other had to be promoted shortly as well. The CEO did not want to split the pair as he felt the healthy competition was good for his company. By then Dad has realized that his dream girl was right in front of him, in fact living with him. 

As it would happen in all romantic movies and books Dad waited for the right day to tell his mind out. Though they were together always, for some reason Dad could not open his mind at all. Dad knew everything about Mom, but he was not sure what would Mom's reaction be if he proposed to her. He was sure that Mom didn't expect him to dress formally, take her for a candle light dinner, and go down on his knees with a dozen red roses and a diamond ring to propose to her. (Actually the list is mine; I'd love my hero to propose to me that way.) Dad had always heard Mom complaining about men, he was sure she was not interested in men or marriage. Still being the optimistic him, he was waiting for the right day.

On that ill-fated weekend (that's how Mom puts it) Dad and Mom were out on an Adventure holiday. They were out doing white water rafting when Mom fell out of the raft and was soaking wet when she was pulled back in by Dad. (Actually Dad loves this part, as he was Mom's real life hero saving her life). Somehow when Dad saw Mom wet, shivering and helpless he wanted to hold her and tell her how much he loved her. He felt that this was the moment he was waiting for. Dad took her hand that minute and professed his love for her. Mom was shocked and surprised, though she knew she loved Dad she did not expect him to propose. She remained quiet through the rest of the journey. They just had the evening left to them before they returned to work and Dad was eager to know what was going on in Mom's mind.

Dad took Mom to the bank of the river away from the entire crowd and said "Tamas I am still waiting for an answer". That was when Mom opened up. Mom just replied "I love you Anvar, but I am not sure whether I can live with you as your wife." Dad sat there waiting for Mom to finish. Mom continued, "Anvar, I am a perfectionist and you know that. I was always looking for some one to fit into my family perfectly and whose family I would fit into with ease. I am not sure about you fitting into my family. Again me being an adamant person, am very difficult to please. Also to make things worse you know that both of our tastes differ in so many aspects how can we even think of a happy life together?" 

Dad started feeling relieved. He could handle this situation. Dad had spent a vacation at Mom's place and he knew he was comfortable with her immediate family and her parents were comfortable with him. He could convince her about that. But he needed more time to talk to Mom about the rest of the things. 

It was Dad's turn to talk now. "Tamas we have lived in the same house and worked together for so many years now. We know each other better than anybody else. Don't you feel that it self is like winning half the battle? Won't it be difficult to meet someone new, start afresh and get to know them? Yes, I do agree that I like my corn flakes with loads of sugar and hot milk while you like it with no sugar and cold milk. This is just the first thing in the morning and we know as the day goes by our differences only show up more. But are we not coexisting with each other all the same? Love and marriage is all about coexisting and not superimposing. I don't force you to do what I want and you don't have to force me to do what you want as long as we don't hurt each other. I know if I am possessive about you and close you in my fist you will only feel suffocated and you will want to escape but instead if I hold you in my open palm you will be there free enough to move all over but still on my palm. That is what I want. I want you to be mine, but I don't want to shut you up in a cage. We would still be the same Tamas and Anvar after marriage; the only addition will be that we will be sharing our bedroom as well. And please don't worry about the petty fights that we have everyday, those little fights only make life interesting. And don't you think it is good to know that at the end of the day there is always a shoulder to lean on?" Dad finished. 

Mom slowly got up and gave her hand to Dad for him to get up, she looked straight into his eyes and smiled that wonderful smile of hers and he got his answer even though she did not open her mouth. As they walked towards the car holding hands Dad and Mom knew that a wonderful life awaited them. 

"Anvar, give me the keys, you drive like mad on the highway" Mom screamed. One more fight started, but this time it did not matter.

I've heard this story a hundred times and told it a hundred times but still this is a story I wouldn't mind listening to specially with my Dad telling it and Mom adding the special effects here and there. I guess you all enjoyed the story too. Till we meet again, it is I Ananya signing off!