The best Valentine's day I had - Feb month contest

Hi Sowmya,

I liked your entry. There is something very genuine and innocent about it, and is well-written as well.

regards
Vidya

Dear Sowmya,
Your entry was very romantic. After so many years you are still romantically reliving the first v day. You are a nice person and I pray to God to shower you with more and more good things.
Regards,
meenu

Hi Sowmya, Vidya, and Farida
First of all let me congratulate (belated ) u guys on winning the ever lovable valentine's day contest.
Farida and Vidya - I request u to write up ur entries which made the hearts of judges filled with so much of love.
Sowmya
That was a nice and lovely celebration. U r very lucky to get such a nice hubby.
while reading itself, I am feeling the love. Then i have no words to say how u enjoyed the great day.
Anyway, I wish God, that u'll celebrate many more v'days with full of love and passion.
Congrats to all once again.
Gayathri.

Congragulations Chilbuli Imli and Sowmya on winning the Valentine's day contest. I am sure it must be very romantic to read, please post your entry real soon.

I have been travelling, so I could not access the internet. The news that my entry was one of the winning ones was conveyed to me by none other than our own Queen of IL. So, that makes me all the more elated. So that gives me the happ

Here is my entry.

A few years back at my parents' insistence, I put my profile on a matrimonial site on internet saying the usual things like " A beautiful well educated software engineer coming from a decent cultured family is looking for
.....".

I got the usual bunch of responses ranging from the banal to the bombastic. One response stood out , from this boy in America who claimed to be tall, dark and handsome. He went on to say that he was "strong enough to pursue his dreams but playful enough to pause and smell the roses". Normally I would forward the responses to my parents who would then proceed with exploring the alliance, but there was something about this one which compelled me to respond myself.

"Mr Tall Dark and Handsome - how come someone as "romantic" as you is pursuing an arranged marriage ?" - I said in an email. Pat came the answer - "I believe in traditional values". I replied to that, he replied back, and we bantered back and forth for weeks. Funnily enough the topic of marriage, which was the reason for the original correspondence, had almost been forgotten - our discussions focussed on topics of earth-shattering
importance such as "which Eagles album was the best" and the all-time favorite - Who was a better director - Tarantino or Scorsese?

Towards the end of January he said that he was planning to come to india in March on Spring Break and as he put it " Let's see if the sparks fly". "Can't wait" I replied back - Intriguing guy, I thought. It was an interesting time for both of us - we were both still getting other inquiries for alliances. I found myself not
really interested in the process but going through the motions to keep my parents happy.

Days rolled by and it was Valentine's Day. Opened my inbox to see a mail from Mr.TDH "Will you be my Valentine ?" it almost commanded. " Bet you sent one of these to all those other girls you are talking with" I jokingly<SCRIPT><!--D(["mb","
\nreplied. &quot; I haven't, but they all sent me one, asking me to be their Valentine&quot; came the ever quick witted
\nresponse from his university's email account. That Valentine's Day I felt unfamiliar emotions of separation and
\nlonging.Little did I know that things were about to get very interesting.
\nAt 10 am the office peon came to my desk bearing the most incredible bouquet of roses. &quot;sweet valentine, pick
\nyou up at 5:00 for dinner&quot; said the hand-written note. I was convinced that it was another prank from my
\nfriends - they had done similar things before, not sparing any effort or expense to play elaborate tricks on
\nme. Keeping a straight face, I said aloud &quot; Can't wait to meet my Valentine&quot;
\nThe hours dragged by - I sat in meetings with my mind a million miles away, doodling aimlessly. Around evening,
\nI got busy with some interesting work-related tasks and was startled by the ringing phone. &quot;Visitor for you
\nmadam&quot; said the receptionist. Before I could ask who it was -&quot;click&quot; - he hung up the phone. With trepidation I
\nwalked down to the lobby and saw this smashing guy waiting there. Full expecting a prank, but secretly hoping
\nfor something else, I approached the receptionist and asked, rather redundandly &quot;Where is the visitor?&quot; The
\nreceptionist waved to the guy.
&quot;yes ?&quot; I asked.
He seemed rather surprised - and said to the receptionist &quot; I asked for Ms. Vidya&quot;
\n&quot;I am Vidya Govindan&quot; I said.
\n&quot;I'm sorry, I wanted to meet Vidya Murali&quot; he said to both me and the receptionist.
\n&quot;Sorry sir, only one Vidya in this company&quot; said the receptionist.
\nIt was rather embarassing for all of us. He had a sheepish grin on his face as he said &quot; I was the one who sent
\nyou flowers this morning. Please excuse this comedy of errors&quot;.
\nI was relieved and disappointed at the same time. It wasn't a prank - seemed like a simple mix-up after all.",1]);//--></SCRIPT>
replied. " I haven't, but they all sent me one, asking me to be their Valentine" came the ever quick witted response from his university's email account. That Valentine's Day I felt unfamiliar emotions of separation and
longing. Little did I know that things were about to get very interesting.

At 10 am the office peon came to my desk bearing the most incredible bouquet of roses. "sweet valentine, pick you up at 5:00 for dinner" said the hand-written note. I was convinced that it was another prank from my
friends - they had done similar things before, not sparing any effort or expense to play elaborate tricks on me. Keeping a straight face, I said aloud " Can't wait to meet my Valentine".

The hours dragged by - I sat in meetings with my mind a million miles away, doodling aimlessly. Around evening, I got busy with some interesting work-related tasks and was startled by the ringing phone. "Visitor for you
madam" said the receptionist. Before I could ask who it was -"click" - he hung up the phone. With trepidation I walked down to the lobby and saw this smashing guy waiting there. Full expecting a prank, but secretly hoping
for something else, I approached the receptionist and asked, rather redundandly "Where is the visitor?" The receptionist waved to the guy.
"yes ?" I asked.

He seemed rather surprised - and said to the receptionist " I asked for Ms. Vidya". "I am Vidya Govindan" I said. "I'm sorry, I wanted to meet Vidya Murali" he said to both me and the receptionist.

"Sorry sir, only one Vidya in this company" said the receptionist.
It was rather embarassing for all of us. He had a sheepish grin on his face as he said " I was the one who sent you flowers this morning. Please excuse this comedy of errors".

I was relieved and disappointed at the same time. It wasn't a prank - seemed like a simple mix-up after all.<SCRIPT><!--D(["mb","
&quot;Thanks for the roses though - do you want it back ?&quot; I said.
\n&quot; No, I can't take back roses on Valentine's Day&quot; he smiled. &quot;Can't a tall, dark, handsome guy like me give
\nroses to someone like you ? he said, still smiling and now with a twinkle in his eyes.
\nIt dawned on me in a flash - leaving me speechless with wonder and a million other emotions.
\n&quot;But you were coming in March&quot; I mumbled, a permanent shocked look on my face.
\n&quot;Decide to come early&quot; he said, a permanent grin on his face.
\n&quot;But you sent me an email this morning&quot; I protested
\n&quot;Logged in from here and sent it&quot; He was enjoying this moment, this denouement for his little plot he had
\ncrafted for weeks.
\n&quot;But you....&quot;
&quot;Why don't we talk over dinner&quot; he interrupted, steering me confidently in the direction of his car. &quot; My god&quot;
\nI kept repeating, trying to process the flood of emotions.
\nThe rest of the evening was amazing. We talked and talked into the wee hours of the night. We ordered, had
\ndinner, kept talking, got hungry again and ordered again.Finally ( after we ignored numerous hints from the
\nrestaurant staff that they were closing ) the manager came up to us and said &quot;Sir, Madam, we have to go home.
\nPlease.....&quot;
\nHe drove me home and by then I had recovered some of my poise - good food does that to you.
\n&quot;So you're feeling smug with this little drama you enacted, is it&quot; I asked him. He had the mischievous grin on like it was stuck.
\n&quot; You do know my last name is Govindan right&quot; I asked him
\n&quot; It will change&quot; Murali said as he turned and sped through the night of that Valentine's Day.
\n",0]);//--></SCRIPT> "Thanks for the roses though - do you want it back ?" I said.</P>
" No, I can't take back roses on Valentine's Day" he smiled. "Can't a tall, dark, handsome guy like me give roses to someone like you ? he said, still smiling and now with a twinkle in his eyes. It dawned on me in a flash - leaving me speechless with wonder and a million other emotions.

"But you were coming in March" I mumbled, a permanent shocked look on my face.

"Decide to come early" he said, a permanent grin on his face.

"But you sent me an email this morning" I protested

"Logged in from here and sent it" He was enjoying this moment, this denouement for his little plot he had crafted for weeks.

"But you...."

"Why don't we talk over dinner" he interrupted, steering me confidently in the direction of his car.

" My god" I kept repeating, trying to process the flood of emotions.

The rest of the evening was amazing. We talked and talked into the wee hours of the night. We ordered, had dinner, kept talking, got hungry again and ordered again. Finally ( after we ignored numerous hints from the
restaurant staff that they were closing ) the manager came up to us and said "Sir, Madam, we have to go home. Please....."

He drove me home and by then I had recovered some of my poise - good food does that to you. "So you're feeling smug with this little drama you enacted, is it" I asked him. He had the mischievous grin on like it was stuck. " You do know my last name is Govindan right" I asked him.

"It will change" Murali said as he turned and sped through the night of that Valentine's Day.
<SCRIPT><!--D(["ce"]);//--></SCRIPT>

Dear Vidya (vmur)
Hearty Congrats...
I was waiting to see you online and then congratulate you.. fresh.

Lovely write-up.. so cute. So arrange pannina love marriage a?
Wishing you many more happy Valentine's Days in the years ahead with your enterprising,enthusiastic husband.

Regards
Sowmya

BTW I have already posted my entry.

Dear Vidya,
Hearty congrats for winning this contest,nice writeup chooo sweet,while reading I feel watching a nice movie.May god bless you and yours.

Dear Farida, Vidya, Sowmya,

Congratulations on winning the contest.

Jothi.

Dear Sowmya,

That was so romantic and beautiful. It was very eloquent.
Wish you many more lovely valentines days just like that one.

Jothi.

Dear Vidya(vmur)

Your entry was very good. Well written and romantic too.
Wishing you many more valentines days.

Jothi.