I got married in the year of 2013. The best part of a wedding is the honeymoon. We planned to visit Italy for our honeymoon, well it was Roma, Venezia, Firenze & Pisa i.e. Rome, Venice, Florence & Pisa. I had never been to a foreign land before but, my husband had visited a few countries before. He was very supportive and kind to me. He had prepared me with do’s & don’ts in the foreign land. I was so happy to visit this beautiful country; it is a perfect honeymoon place. Elton John said, “I love places with an incredible history. I love the Italian way of life. I love the food. I love the people. I love the attitude of Italians” I believe in what he said by my heart.

Ours is an arranged marriage, I was never fond of applying henna on my hands & legs. But I was the

bride and it was customary to apply it. Having a beautiful and intricate henna design on my hands was still fine, but who is going to look down at my feet? The designer forced me to have it applied till my knees, I told her I am going to wear a short skirt to my wedding because an hour of our time wasted must be seen by everyone. She shrugged as if I was nuts. The bride was ready with henna applied on hands and legs & this was going to stay on my body for at least ten more days.  

On our first day in Roma, I was wearing a knee-length summer dress. We were so much in love, giggling and walking with hands held together, enjoying the culture & food and the buildings. While we were sitting on a bench on the street, an old lady came to us and spoke something in Italian. All I understood was “Amore Amore (love)’! Ah! So beautiful”. Everyone was staring at my legs with so much fondness. Another lady looked at my feet and then my hands and said, “Oh Indian bride, beautiful, pretty henna, Dio ti benedica (God bless you)” She had no idea I was already blessed to be in their country. We also took a vineyard tour near Rome, while the tour guide was explaining us the history of the vineyard, he asked us from which part of India we were, to which we replied, “Mumbai”. His quick reaction was, “Shah Rukh Khan, Mumbai, India, Bollywood.” Wow! All he said were just words which did not even form a sentence, but I felt his heart. When we were in Venice, the Italians greeted us after seeing the henna on my legs with Namaste bella copia (beautiful couple)!