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Good Morning. I used to meet Mrs Sharma every time I visited her daughter’s house in Belfast. On one visit I asked her about her life, and particularly her marriage, as, newly married, I wanted all the advice I could get.
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Mrs Sharma was married for more than fifty years before her husband died. She ex-plained that her marriage was arranged when she was fifteen. She laughed to re-member how she had three children before she was twenty one and how, as a mother, she was herself a child while playing with her children.
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I asked her if romance was a factor in her marriage. She looked at me directly and told me of the moment she fell in love with her husband.
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In their first year of marriage her husband was leaving the house and asked her not to touch something he had placed on the hall table. After he left she immediately examined the object, it slipped from her hand, and it broke. She put it back on the table. Her husband returned, looked at the broken pieces, looked at her, and walked away.
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She told me that’s when she fell in love with him. Bemused, I asked her to explain it to me. She told me that if he had chastised her she would have nowhere else to go for comfort or support. He was her support. She realised by how he acted that he would never blame her, or accuse her, or make her feel vulnerable. He respected her and would protect her even from his own ego. That simple act set the tone of their whole marriage – a happy marriage.

I marvel at this story Lord. It is simple, powerful, and dignified, like the lady who told it to me. And I thank her for helping me understand how profound a relationship marriage can be, and how true romance is born of true sacrifice. Hare Krishna 321