My memorable Anand Karaj picture
Last night, I had a beautiful dream.
My grandchildren, Gobind, Jania and Geet, were sitting around me when one of them asked:
This photograph was taken at the time of my betrothal. From that day onward, I kept it close to me in my wallet. It marked the moment when the seed of a lifelong bond of love and commitment was first planted, a bond that, with time, continued to grow and flourish.
“Dada Ji, you and Dadi Ji have been married for 54 years. How could you keep loving the same person for so long?”
I smiled, looked at Harvinder and replied:
“Who told you I have been loving the same person for 54 years? I have fallen in love with many different Harvinders.”
They looked puzzled.
The signature photo on a boat when on a honeymoon in Nainital lake in Sep 1972
Forty years later, back where our honeymoon began in Nainital Lake, same place, same togetherness, a lifetime of memories in between.
I explained.
I first loved the beautiful young Harvinder with whom I began my married life.
Then I fell in love with Harvinder the mother, as I watched her lovingly raise our son Shiv.
On our First Anniversary, a picture taken by my Jija Ji
Raising Shiv was a thrill to enjoy! In lake Ulsoor, Bangalore.
A High School Valedictorian from Silver Creek High San Jose in 1992, poses with proud parents.
Later, I discovered Harvinder the partner, standing shoulder to shoulder with me through the challenges and responsibilities of life.
As a CFO of my software consulting company worked hands in gloves with me to raise a successful modern company and in the process filed for about 250 high tech and experienced engineers from UK, Singapore and India. A glimpse of comp organization chart.
When we came to America and started afresh, I discovered yet another Harvinder. She worked hand in glove with me as we built a successful business in the IT industry and later expanded our interests into other businesses, investments and ventures in India and the United States.
A playful brother and sister with an amazing bond. I have hardly ever seen them quarrel, always teasing, laughing, and enjoying each other’s company
Snow time in Lake Tahoe
Raising beautiful children has been the greatest gift of God on us.
Then came Harvinder the grandmother. While continuing to support our ventures, she helped Shiv and Shilpy raise Gobind, Jania and Geet, particularly while Shilpy pursued her demanding full-time career in the IT world.
In Pahalgam 1982
Had a lot fun time traveling together all over the globe, Blue Mountains, Sydney.
And today, after 54 years, I love yet another Harvinder, the woman who understands my silences, shares my memories, advises me in our affairs, worries about me, laughs with me and continues to walk beside me.
My grandchildren listened quietly.
Los Vegas - a moment that became a lifeline.
Then I told them:
“That is the lesson I want you to remember. A long marriage is not about loving the same person in exactly the same way for fifty years. Neither of you remains the same.”
Your partner will become a spouse, perhaps a parent, a professional, a caregiver, a grandparent and, eventually, your oldest friend.
Enjoying the roll of Sardar and Sardarni with a sweet dish in Badbar in May 2026, we stood together with courage and determination to reclaim our family farmland encroached for many decades away.
The secret is to recognize and fall in love with each new person your companion becomes.
I suddenly woke from my dream and looked at Harvinder beside me.
Jania’s 18th - a special treat
I smiled.
Perhaps my grandchildren had given me the question, but 54 years of life with Harvinder had already given me the answer.
In the midst of flowers
Love does not remain young by remaining unchanged. It remains young by discovering each other again and again.
.Juhu Beach , Mumbai in 2025. Standing together at the edge of the ocean, looking toward the far horizon. Without looking back, we carry the strength of our journey and move forward, hand in hand, toward new horizons and our next adventure.
That is the lesson I would like Gobind, Jania and Geet to carry forward and someday pass on to the generations after them.
