13th June 1941 – Date of Birth of my Father. Had he been alive he would have completed 83 years, and would have begun his 84th year. What is the day on 13th June 1941? It was Friday! Friday the 13th?! No wonder, and very appropriately he never believed in God. And 13th June 2023 – happens to be Tuesday.
13th June 1962 – The date of marriage of my father. This was Wednesday. He got married to my mother on this day at 12:30 AM at Vemulawada. Had both of them been alive they would have completed 63rd marriage anniversary today.
In other words, when my father got married, he was hardly 21 years old. And my mother 17 years! They had lived together for 34 years… till the death of my mother in 1996. After her death, my father lived alone for 27 years with an unwavering devotion in his memory. Forget, getting married again… he did not even look at another woman. Such was the devotion. It is rare in anyone’s life, that the birthday and the marriage day falls on the same date.
My father never celebrated either his birthday or marriage day. He used to say “Everyone celebrates their birthdays. But how many people know why they are born?” Thus, in his opinion one can celebrate birthday only after knowing the purpose of the birth.
He had applied the same logic for his marriage. However, it was my mother who used to make very quietly ‘Semiya Payasam’ (a sweet dish made of vermicelli, milk, sugar and dry fruits), used to serve all of us hot with a suppressed pleasant Monalisa simile on her lips. On certain occasions, father (after having eaten) used to gently & sweetly admonish mother about the necessity of celebrating.
My father treated me as a friend, not as son. He used to be secretly pleased when I used to wish him ‘Happy birthday’; used to feel sad (after 1996) whenever I congratulated on his good fortune of getting the most beautiful girl on this planet earth as his wife! On his marriage day I used to taunt him (with love) that how such an ordinary looking man like him got the sexiest woman ever as his wife! I wish I could see that pleasantly proud smile on his lips once again!
The photo that you see above is taken at the RAVI STUDIO, Sultan Bazar, Hyderabad, AP on 16th June 1966 – three days after their 4th marriage anniversary. This nice beautiful photo is in black & white.
About the Author
Dr. K. Raja Gopal Reddy is a seasoned internationally qualified Insurance professional.
What you are reading here, may not answer all the questions we have, but has the absolute power of asking unsettling questions which increase the interest in the strange world, and show the contradictory wonders lying just below the surface of the commonest things of life. Look at this disturbing but beautiful thought of Friedrich Nietzsche “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him”.
Dr. Reddy can be reached at: raja66gopal@gmail.com