There is a beautiful song known as "Those were the days" sung by Mary Hopkin in the '60s.

I don't know about others, but I have comitted a few mistakes, which if avoided, would have made me and thereby my parents, happy.

In 1978, I was working in a Public School in Kotagiri, near Ooty, India. There was a colleague; she was daughter of a retired Government Officer. When she introduced me to her father once, he was so happy and asked me to help her tone up her English language skills. As it was a boarding school, she also had to reside in the teacher's quarters and used to go home only on weekends. When doing so, she used to ask me to give my used clothes so that she would get them washed. When the weather was too chilly, she used to take her pull-over and monkey cap away and put these on to me. She relished my singing. On the first page of my songbook where I had written my name, she would add her name so that it would be 'Josephine Guruprasad' and ask me as to how nice the name looked (Her name was not Josephine; I am not letting the readers know her real name for ethical reasons). I was such a fool that I never understood it's meaning (when watching movies I used to close my eyes when fighting, death and romantic scenes were shown, because I didn't like them). I too liked her but never had the guts to tell her so. At that time I had another colleague by name Mohan (His real name is different but I am refraining from letting his real name known, for ethical reasons). He was my classmate and from the same area where we lived in Vellore. He was previously working in a nearby school in Kotagiri and resigned for some reason. I got a job for him in my school. When I told him about Josephine's interest in me, he asked me not believe women. I believed him foolishly. When leaving for Bhutan, I didn't even give my address or phone number to her. I just gave a pen as parting gift (though I had romantic feeling for her). I should have continued to communicate with her from Bhutan; but unfortunately I didn't do this. She was a bit short, soft spoken, dark and good looking. She was from a tribal community but from an educated middle class Hindu parentage. At that time my sister Jyothi was not yet married. Much later, after my marriage failed, when I told my parents about Josephine, they told me that if I had let them know, they would have spoken to her parents, got the marriage fixed and got it done immediately after my sister's marriage. Years later on return from South Africa, I sought a job in the same school with the intention of meeting her if she were not married. To my disappointment, she had got married and settled in Kerala. As my cousin said the other day, there seems to be some thing known as fate and it cannot be changed.