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THE MUSH REGISTER

LOVE ENDURES Steve Borgia, CMD, Indeco Leisure Hotels and Dr. Vidhya, Senior Consultant, Apollo Hospitals

Steve

Because of her, I had to alter all my plans. She was among a group of girls, and I found myself drawn to her. The attraction was largely due to her sparkling eyes, but it was her powerful and expressive voice that captured my heart. She was playing the main character in "The Importance Of Being Earnest" for an inter-school cultural programme that I was organising on behalf of a school (in Salem), where I stayed as a paying guest. I had just come from France and was engaged in research that encompassed development issues. Although the future was uncertain, I was clear about two things — I would not marry, and would lead a nomadic existence, moving from one place to another and contribute in whatever way I could to build the nation. Every dignitary was called upon to hand over a prize to one outstanding performer. For Vidhya, I was chosen. While giving away the memento, I felt a connection with her that was too extreme to ignore.

Vidhya

I was sixteen when I fell head over heels in love with him. My mother smelt it out one evening, when I was singing "Kanne Kalai Maane" to him, over the phone. She said, `It's not for nothing a girl would sing such a song to a guy.' My mother was in tears, when he spoke to her calmly, `I understand your situation. If my mother had been in your place, she would have committed suicide. I don't intend to marry your daughter without your blessing. We will wait till you see reason.' My mother said more than her daughter she was worried about the older people in the family. `How will they take it? Marriage outside the community is anathema to them. How will her grandfather react to this?' Surprisingly, my grandfather was tolerant and sympathetic towards our love. My mother single-handedly convinced all the others in the family, but it took time. We made the choice, but it was our families that brought us together eight years later in an incredibly grand and traditional wedding ceremony, at a picturesque place called "House of Peace" in Yercaud. Over 1,000 people lived there for three days and celebrated the union of two families, not just two people.

As told to

PRINCE FREDERICK

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