15 July, 2014

Best compliment given by my husband

My husband is a man of super few words. But he has has strong view points, opinions and beliefs. He certainly has a mind of his own which cannot be influenced (definitely not by his wife). Everyone who knows him, is all praises for him- for his work ethics, his giving nature, his intelligence, etc.
Recently he was describing tango, Argentina, milonga, etc to his friends. I was quietly listening to the conversation and feeling so proud. They were the best words with which any Indian husband could describe tango. In his words, " Tango is beautiful. It is so sophisticated. When I went with her to Buenos Aires, I saw why she loves it so much. It is so artistic. When people dance and embrace, they do it so gracefully. It does not feel or look bad or wrong. It is an art."
He was saying it with so much love and respect towards me and towards tango, he completely won my heart.
Indians are shy and orthodox. Close embrace, touch, etc. is something that Indian mentality does not accept too kindly. For an Indian husband to accept his wife doing tango with so many different men or vice a versa is a BIG thing. Not just accept but understand and encourage her passions.
Why talk about only Indians? I have met Argentine women in Buenos Aires, who told me that they did not tell their husbands when they came to a milonga. They lied and said either they were going to their children's or some friend's houses.
People, who do not dance tango, for them it is difficult to understand the dynamics. Sometimes we dance with people and we do not know their names or even their faces. We just remember how the dance felt.
There are countries, cultures and communities which are even more shy and intimidated with the idea of close proximity, touch and embrace with the other gender, than India. e.g Japan. Tango has flourished there beautifully.
In India, Tango is less than a decade old. It is still a baby. We have a long way to go. We are getting there.