Gonna be a father again

Let me break the news..we are expecting our second child. We are very happy and excited about it. We hope we are blessed with a baby girl this time. (In India, it is illegal to know the sex of the baby before he or she is born.) But then it is something which is not in our control. So we will be happy with a girl or a boy. It's just that our first child is a boy, we would love to get a girl.

The EDD is on December 10th. That is the end of 40th week. The baby may be born any time around 38th week, which is last week of November or initial days in December. Our son Ekagra too was born in December.

Parenthood brings lots of joy. Of course, it has its challenges too. But the happiness part of it far outweighs the difficulties.

I'm waiting eagerly for the arrival of the new one.

36 years of parents' wedding

Today is the 36th wedding anniversary of my parents. On 13th May 1974, my parents tied the nuptial bond. It was of course an arranged marriage. One of my father's sisters (পেহী) was married in the village Dumdumia-Balisatra. That is my mother's village too. Then my mother's elder sister (জেঠাই) was married to the neighbouring village of my father's village Hatisung-Kujidahn. I think the the proposal for my parents wedding would have come from one of these two links. (I'm not sure. I'd ask them today.)  My father was the eldest of six siblings whereas my mother was the youngest of 12 siblings. There was a 10+ years gap between two of them. Did they meet alone to get to know each other? No, they didn't even talk to each others before marriage! My father's eldest sister (ডাঙৰ পেহী), who expired a few years back, and his youngest brother (বোপা খুৰা) met my mom before the marriage. And the marriage was finalized!  Very unthinkable if you fast forward the clock by 36 years; isn't it?

One success mantra behind their happy married life: I have never seen them fighting like many other couples. Whenever my father was angry, my mother was calm. Whenever my mother was angry for some thing (it was very very rare), my father kept quite. That way a fight never broke out between them.

My father is retired. My mother is working and will retire in 2015. They live in my native town Morigaon. Unfortunately, I am not with them on this day today. Just wanted to tell them: Deuta-ma, you've been the best parents of the world. I don't believe in gods that exist in temples. I see manifestation of gods in you. Love you.


I hope to celebrate the 40th wedding anniversary of my parents in 2014. (Last anniversary that we all celebrated was the silver jubilee year in 1999.)