moving on

the latest change in the small world that i live in is that my brother got married on the 15th. Prashanthi (my Sister in Law) has made him quit smoking, they have set up a house together, they both seem very much in love and i can already see a change in him as he is taking on the responsibilities which come with a marriage.....

i happened to be the best man for him. i thought i had to just hand over the ring to him when he had to put it on her finger. turns out that i ended up getting very emotional standing there watching the entire ceremony at such close quarters....i could feel something turning inside of me as i realised how serious a matter this actually is. there was a time when i hated the whole idea and then there was a time when i tried to find a life partner and didnt succeed. what changed in me on that day was that i suddenly realised how committed one has to be to enter into this institution of marriage. its not about the number of people who attend, its not about the gifts that one gets, its not about what you wear, its not about all the things that we can see.....its the blessings of God, the blessing of your parents and the love which becomes the foundation for things to come......

i felt a chill go down my spine when the following was said:

Do you, (DASH) take (DASH) to be your (wife/husband)? Do you promise to love, honor, cherish and protect her/him, forsaking all others and holding only unto her/him?"

I, (DASH) take thee, (DASH) to be my wedded (DASH),to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish,'til death do us part........

i think it takes a lot to say and mean this.....to be so committed to someone else is like the deepest love that can exist......

i think i have the balls to do this.....to do everything required to make someone happy, to go that extra mile, to push myself at work for that someone special so that she can have whatever it is that she wants, to be there when she really needs me, to understand an emotion and respond accordingly, to move out and start a family of my own, to work on it every day of my life throught anything and everything.......

my brother has moved on and become like my father, a man........i know he will do all of this and more just like my father does.......