Meet the parents.

There's a tradition for the newlywed couple to go and meet the bride's parents before the 8th day. I believe in olden days this was practiced to ensure that the bride is happy in her new family. I like these little nuances of traditions still being practiced. The visit was a gastronomic delight for me. Till I was there, I just ate, ate and ate. There were sweets, mangoes, fish, chicken, sweet curd and what not. I don't remember when was the last time that I ate so much in a single day. It will easily take a week to digest all the food that I gulped down in one single day.

Having nothing much to do, we sat in her balcony and chatted. She told stories about her childhood, her buddies, her family and relatives. She pointed at the windows in her neighbourhood from where young boys used to look at her when she was younger. There were lots of stories. I guess that's one good thing about spending a life-time in one single place.

My in-laws' place is a small town near Kolkata. It was once a French colony and I am told that there's still a good amount of French influence in the architecture and life in general in some parts of the town. There are French institutes and churches by the river, which is somewhat odd for such a small town. We wanted to get into the church but it was closing down. I will have to keep my exploration plans for later. In the evening, we (I, Mrs Adda and her sister) went for a stroll by the river. The cool breeze after the hot days did taste sweet. Before we realized, it started raining. We ran and took shelter under a huge tree. The rain still found its way through the leaves and drenched us. Once the rain got a little less strong, we decided to head back home as it was late and dark. I wanted to walk the couple of kms back home, in the rain. On any other given day and situation, I would probably have done that. But freedom of thought and freedom of action are two different things. We took a cycle-rickshaw back home, still getting wet in the rain. It was our first rain together and we enjoyed every bit of it. I will remember this evening.