Till cricket do us part

Natasha More is deep into her shaadi preparations,with the D-Day fixed for mid-2011. This 20-something personality development trainer gushes as she recounts the ‘Proposal’. “I have been dating my boyfriend (now fiance) Anuj for hardly a year so I was completely caught off guard when he proposed to me! Our parents are happy with the match and I’m ecstatic,” she blushes. They will have a traditional Maharashtrian wedding,but with a zing to it. “After the rituals are complete,we will also read our own vows at the ceremony. I have always wanted to (courtesy Hollywood films),and I’m already putting my thoughts down,” she smiles.

Homemaker Preeti Dutt and her hubby Sankalp looked at personalised vows as an ‘avoiding fights’ solution. Their ceremony on November 23,2010,had all the fun and traditions of a UP-Bihar wedding. “I didn’t even realise when the pandit finished reciting the seven promises! But I knew it was about him protecting me and me being with him through sickness and health. Both Sankalp and I wanted something even beyond that though – we wanted to address the aspects that lead to a great relationship,” Preeti says. So what did they do? “We created a wedding website,but to make it slightly different from the rest,we added our own vows like ‘I promise to learn and cook your favourite dishes just like your mom does,I will not disturb you when you watch cricket (this is applicable only when India is playing)’ and so on,” she adds.

In the four years of knowing each other,Preeti noticed that they would argue over things like him holding her handbag in public or him praising his mom’s cooking much too often. “Our vows revolve around these aspects to prevent us from bickering,” says Sankalp,adding,“We both said our vows to each other before the wedding as well as after the wedding,in the presence of my family. In fact,a lot of our friends are now copying the idea.”

One such friend is Priyanka Baruah. This working professional will be tying the knot in November this year with her fiance Pradip Dutt. She smiles,“I was quite inspired after reading Preeti and Sankalp’s vows. Pradip and I have jotted down just a few vows right now,which we will fine tune and add to in the coming months.” So while Pradip is all set to promise that he will remember every important date – birthday,anniversary and so on,she vows not to threaten him that she will go off to her mother’s place every now and then!

Ask Rutuja and Priyadarshan Dumbre,who tied the knot in 2010,about the vows they took,and you instantly get a smiling answer of a promise full of love – “I promised her eight years back (when we started dating) that I would be a loving,caring and faithful partner for life,” says the doting husband.