Why is February so special!

The month of February is very special to me for two reasons, my dad’s birthday and the month when I met my Best Friend Forever. And of course there is Valentine’s Day, although, even being a hopeless romantic all my life, I’ve never felt compelled to celebrate this particular day! I still watch DDLJ at every chance I get and sigh heavily at the chemistry of Raj and Simran, but personally I’ve never wanted a Raj in my life. I mean come on, a Uni drop out, practically living on Dad’s wealth, goes on an extravagant Euro tour with Dad’s money, flirts with a girl on the tour, gets her drunk and into his bed and then stalks her all the way to India. Not my type!

So this BFF happens to be my husband who I met on the fateful day of the 19th of February, 12 years ago! We used to be internet friends and NO we were not out of an online dating site as back in those days we didn’t even know anything like that existed, especially in India. I had to muster up a lot of courage to face a stranger whom I didn’t know at all. So I chose a busy road in the middle of the afternoon, my deo in my bag (we didn’t have pepper sprays back in those days) and my inner Kung-Fu master ready to pounce if needed. He was late and as I was wondering if it was actually a bad idea and whether I should leave, a red car stops right in front of me. Out comes a tall, dark and quite handsome man with glasses and a boyish grin, extends his hand over the car roof and says, ‘’Hi I’m Val. You must be Rhea”! I don’t know why but I remember that first line as if it was yesterday, may be because I was totally floored by that voice and that boyish charm, though I still like to claim that it was never a “love at first sight”! 

Many of my friends have asked me later on that who made the first move, who proposed and whether we were dating or not. To be honest, neither of us proposed, we don’t know when we crossed the line between being just friends to becoming special friends. I just know that we were meant to be, and that on 19th of February I found my best friend, my confidant and my guide. 

I still make special something for Valentine’s Day, as I’m a hopeless romantic. This year I made Rasmalai, not only for my husband, but also for my other best friend who lives in London and who I  found through internet as well. But that’s a story I will tell another day. :)

And for the first love of my life, my Dad. 

Happy Birthday Baba. I love you and miss you a lot. 

Here's the recipe for Rasmalai or Rosho-Malai as we call it in Kolkata.