Hi. I’m Nupur Parik-Pandey and you’ve joined me today on your very own poetry podcast, Straight From My Heart, and you know that every time we meet, we talk about real things, things that matter, things that we always end up talking about with our friends and family over cups of tea. Just that in our show, we also add some poetry in the mix to hopefully make it a more memorable conversation.

And today’s episode is about marriage, and ironically enough, I wrote this five years ago a little before my wedding day in this super naive assumption that marriage was just a change in address, that I’d be moving from my parents’ house to my husband’s house. I had no idea of what it actually meant to be married, but having said that, I’m actually proud of myself for the journey I’ve had with my husband in these crazy, magical five years. But more on that after today’s poem where I talk about this very tangible transition that so many of us experience! So here we go!

Marriage.

A home is a giant heart

With space

Big enough to house

The coldest of souls,

The sharpest of tongues,

The loneliest of monologues-

And turn it into a warm feast

Which waits for you

Even when you’re late

And even when

Your fury has burnt the meat

And soiled the linen.

I had a noisy home-

Sounds of phantom crises,

Gypsy whimpers and mumbles

About a clothesline,

A rain cloud, a sprouting dahlia,

A falling tooth, a new pencil,

A new melody discovered

By an unplanned accident.

Mighty pillars of adamantine

That could withstand

The loudest of rows

And the harshest of storms-

You couldn’t underestimate these-

Our home stood upon them.

I left it behind with a change of surname,

And a timid confidence

That told me that I

Would survive, indeed,

For I had nearly the same

Ingredients-

A giant heart,

Gypsy noises,

Phantom crises,

And a new addition in the form

Of your friendship,

Companionship,

Background cheer,

Morning kiss,

Parting hug,

Humorous commentary,

Kind support,

And undying love.

There would be a new home,

And I told myself

That we would be fine-

Not everyone is blessed enough

To be able to walk into the sunset

Hand in hand

With the other half of your soul.

So that was my poem for today. Did you like it? Could you relate to what I had to say? 

When I wrote this, even though it was five years ago, I remember the butterflies I had in my stomach just imagining the adventures that lay ahead for me with my husband by my side. In my opinion, it’s the most well rounded relationship you have in your life isn’t it, the one with your spouse? This one person has this insane job of being your partner, your friend, your lover, your most annoying enemy on some days, the father of your future children, you’re going to celebrate festivals together and make family traditions of your own together, you’ll deal with loss and death together, you’ll build empires and break walls together.

It’s not just the romance that sustains a marriage, one must strive for true friendship and honesty to enrich this partnership so that you aren’t just husband and wife according to societal norms but you’re real companions, true equals in this journey together. I’m glad and grateful and count myself as extremely lucky to be my husband’s wife (and he better order me some good food the second he hears this!)  but I’d also love to know the equation that you have with your spouse. Do write in and tell us.

With that we come to an end to today’s episode of Straight From My Heart. I hope you enjoyed it, and I wish everyone who’s listening in today a very very very very happy diwali. I hope you and your family have a wonderful, safe, healthy and happy time and make beautiful memories for life. Festivals are meant to be celebrated with those that we love, so today, even if your loved ones are far away, get on that Zoom call and make the most of modern day technology, right?

Anyway, until next time see you guys, and yes, please, go read some poetry will you?

 You can follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook – our handle is @MotorMouthPods

Check out more episodes of this show and other MotorMouth Originals on our website – motormouthpods.com

You can find music and other credits in the episode notes.

This episode was written and hosted by me, Nupur.

Sound production, design and mixing by Prateek Sharma

Our Creative Director is Gargie Sharma

Executive produced and created by Prateek Sharma, for MotorMouth Podcasts.