This is my take on the I ask You Write from ammani.

Somewhere in the dark recess of that wooden cupboard, there is a photo album. And somewhere the middle of the album is a photograph of Vaijayanti. She's leaning against a tree, looking up at something and smiling. What is she looking at? When was this photo taken?

http://jikku.blogspot.com/2006/11/i-ask-you-write-10.html


Fond Memories! It was a saturday I remember. I had just finished college and my parents had already started planning to get me married. The girl they had chosen was Vaijayanthi. We were neighbours and she a childhood friend of mine. As the tradition was, we had been there at her house next door to "see" her. And there she was all dressed up for the occasion. After the usual formalities, they allowed us to speak alone. Yes. Speak alone before getting married and that was in 1978. We were left alone in the garden in which we had spent time before playing and chatting, many an hour. And we were finally done, they decided upon the marriage to be held a month later.

I was supposed to start working in "Chennai" next week and my mother suddenly remembered we didnt have a photograph of the girl. They did not have a recent one too. So the plan was to take a photograph rightaway and I was the only guy who knew how to use the camera, see angles and take pictures. So there I was standing before Vijaiyanthi with a camera to take a picture of her which I could carry to Chennai.

And there she was, in the garden, leaning against a tree, shy enough to face me directly for the first time, looking at something over the tree and unable to stop smiling!