Today I married my best friend

We first met on Deepavali Day in 1972 when I was 12 and he was 15...that seems like a lifetime ago...he was to me just my brother Chandran's classmate from St John's School...and we all called him Netto. He can remember what I wore...a very short dress...well I used to be very slim and had great legs...and on all his consequent visits to our home he only remembers me watching TV with my thick glasses which I wore...so of course there was no attraction between us because he only wanted to be my brother's friend. He used to come to my house on his noisy British bike and just stand outside to talk to my brother.

Then in 1981 when he was a policeman he had come back for a course in Johor Bharu and used to come back to Kl to visit his widowed mum and he used to frequent my home to come see my brother...but Cupid had his ways when we found that we were attracted to each other...of course now I wore contact lenses...and we started to show interest in each other. I got my friend Sooria to invite him for her 21st birthday party because she was going to invite Chandran for herself..and he obliged and came. And it was a full moon lit night and we instantly fell in love and from that day on we started courting and two years later brought us to the altar of marriage.

Today 28 years ago I walked down the aisle in  St Anthony's Church in Jalan Robertson Kuala Lumpur as a young Hindu girl marrying the love of her life a young dashing Catholic man. And as I walked down the aisle with my eldest brother Sugu holding my arm...I thought to myself that all my dreams have come true to have a church wedding..and all my small prayers made at the chapel in Convent Bukit Nanas since I was 7 have been answered by The Good Lord. The wedding was beautiful...and as we stood in front of God and Fr Amalanathan and all our guests to take our vows...as young as we were I was 23 and David was 25+...we meant every word we said to each other..and as we stood on the stairs of the church after the wedding...my mum turned to me and said' You have married the man of your dreams so remember not to nag him as that will drive him away from you'. What sound advice that I practice till today with my husband and children. It was a splendid wedding with much pomp and splendour as David got married in uniform and as we walked out of the church we had 4 sword bearers to lead us out...getting married to a man in uniform is indeed grand. The reception was held in the then Kum Leng Chinese Restaurant in Jalan Pudu as it was tradition in The Netto family..since David's parents , his brother James and his wife Gladys and sister Anne and her husband John did...got married in St Anthony's and had the  reception at Kum Leng. And after most of the guests had left...we left Joe , David's cousin to settle the bills and we went off to The Merlin Hotel which is now  The Concorde on Jalan Sultan Ismail where we spent our first night together as man and wife.

Our honeymoon was memorable as we drove David's old Beetle to Genting Highlands , Frasers Hill and Cameron Highlands over a week and it was perfect.. It was in Camerons that I first tasted strawberries and cream in the Rajah Brooke Lounge.It was a whole week of just being with ourselves and discovering the wonder of us in the midst of nature and the rolling hills. We came back to David's mum's place after a week to see Anne and John off and after a couple of days we went off to Kuching to start our newly married life together...away from everything and everyone...and just the two of us and a whole new relationship to discover....the best thing we did as a newly married couple....and our lives began.

And today after 28 years...I can say I am more in love with David than I ever was...and I am truly thankful to God for having given him to me...and David is a gift I will always treasure all the days of my life...until my breath is taken away from me. My dearest darling you are my best friend and I am so glad I married you on that Saturday 28 years ago.

Our 25th wedding anniversary 2008

Our family