Her name was "Lizard" and he was "Listen". Atleast that is what I thought from ages 3 - 8. He called her "Lizy" and she addressed him as "Listen"
Both were stationed at a field posting in the upper Himalayas and it was there that they met. The brats are on full-scale giggle mode when she gives them glimpses of the 28-29 year old, besotted young one she once was. The young officer had his charm on full volume but she feigned disinterest. She is quite proud of the fact that he along with his dog would climb up the slopes to meet her, every evening - come snow or shine. And she throws me some shade when she tells her grandaughters that he could pick her up with one hand, she was that slim; unlike their mother who is fat. The last time she said it, the younger one told her,"Ammachi, it is about time you stopped body-shaming Mummy". 'Manangatta', she retorted and I ran for cover. No one else gets away with talking to the tigress like that!
Love was him writing poems and shayaris for her, sketching her portrait in pencil, singing to her...she would blush and how! The jihad was just as epic; volcanoes erupted and had me quaking under my bed like dogs on Diwali night.
Turns out her name is Lizy, short for Aleyamma, the Malayalam version of Elizabeth and his name is Devaya. It had me fretting and fuming for quite a while; "How dare he steal a part of my name?!" 27 letter long, my name befitted the royal that was me (all this raged on, only in my 8 year old brain). Ah, the bubbles that life burst and the rose tints it shattered would make a magnificent soap opera. Fun fact, he is popularly known as "Jesus" among family and friends in his hometown. His mother (my gran) was chuffed and beaming when she narrated the story. A French Bishop was visiting Mercara and happened to meet her. On seeing the baby in her arms, he remarked, "What a bonny little one. Just like baby Jesus!" The name stuck...
Big C, crept in rather insidiously and took him away in Y2K. Tried it's stunt with her in these COVID times but she swatted it away with help in no small measure from her very patient (with her) doctors and some amazing medical technology. She attributes it to her faith, her prayers and His Grace. And brooks no argument. Today marks 50 years to the day, they put their signatures on paper and registered their union under the Special Marriage Act.
If it were not for the lockdown and our co-morbidity, we would have been on the winding roads of the upper Himalayas, trying to get as close to the place they first met. Then to the Golden Temple to listen to the "Shabd-Kirtans" and feed the fish in the pond. "No other place on earth, makes me feel as much at peace", she says. Our last stop would have been Jalandhar, her favourite city. A special celebration of their life together, some roads travelled with him and some her own...
As I passed by her room at dawn, the lamp was lit, the fragrance of the incense stick wafting through... she was as usual hunched in prayer, rosary in hand. Her love for "Jesus", immortal.
HAPPY 50th ANNIVERSARY, LIZARD AND LISTEN...
