For better, or worse, Let me say it in verse
I love you,
Oftentimes, I’ve heard her say,
but more often than not,
I feel it, even if she’s away.
And while I’ve been married
for donkey’s years,
The beauty of it is
It always feels
Like yesterday
And especially today,
The eve of St. Valentine’s day.
It’s that
time of the year, when our thoughts turn to our sweet hearts. Those we have now, or those we have had in the
past. Luckily for me, it’s the same one, so there is
no confusion.
But I warn you - Let your thoughts not turn to
her too – Please concentrate on what I am saying! Many years ago, shorter than those on donkey,
whatever you may think, I fell in love. Ah, now I can see the interest in what
I have to say!
How did I fall in love? It was not an accident.
In accidents, there is no premonition, no hope and lots of injury. I had premonition, lots of hope and very
little injury, all because we were classmates, and were in close proximity, not
too close you understand, to have all of
those.
She was
this pretty, supple, simple and soft spoken girl of my dreams.
Sadly she hardly spoke to me, but I could see
her often laughing and enjoying a joke with her friends. This made me jealous.
It was the first indication that I had fallen in love. I’d never felt jealous before.
I had visions of her laughing and joking with
me too, but didn’t quite know how to get her to go about it.
As luck would have it, we were children, of our
parents no doubt, but also of destiny.
My passion, other than my wife, is my interest
in the written word and I was the editor of the college magazine. One of the pages was dedicated to
achievements. It was slated to contain photos, names and awards. My wife was
good at sports and she had won something, I don’t quite recall what (this does
not reflect on my love for her), something in long distance running during the
college sports - no wonder she has stuck
with me for so long, and I needed her photo.
As it was a break between semesters, I had to
get it from her. And I was excited at the prospect. At last I would have something of hers with
me to cherish!
I found
out her number from the office, went over to my friends place (we didn’t have a phone in those days) and called
her up. She in the midst of saying the family rosary. Her elder sister picked
up the phone and when I asked for her, she asked me, Who’s speaking, and I with
a quavering voice, said her classmate. She said nothing further, but called her
to the phone.
Obviously everyone had stopped praying and was
keenly observing and listening to her, - A kind of prayer in itself.
She was known at home as a quiet child – not in
our home now, but in her home then!.
So the ears were all peeled back in anticipation.
Hello I said, Hi she said, I said I need your
photo for the magazine. She didn’t waste words or time. She said she had a
black and white photograph, which she would come to college the next day and
give it in the office. She asked if that was ok.
All I could do was say yes. I had more important things on my mind. I took the plunge.
She had been giving me one word answers till
then, and so when I asked her if she is interested in me romantically, she
quickly said “yes” I was elated and over
the moon.
Much later, after the donkeys ears, were fully grown, I
came to know the mystery behind her quickly sayin “yes”,. She told me and this is her words: “If I had said no, you would ask why and I would have
give an answer with everybody listening, besides, I think I wanted to say yes,
and was waiting for you to ask”
Fortunately for me and unfortunately for her,
she is a principled woman. Once she says
something she stands by it, and she has stood by me all these years,
that’s why tomorrow is special. And by the way I have not given back the
photograph.
The
first idea of romantic love (there are many other types, including Toastmaster
love J
) came from the god, Eros, in Greek mythology.
We
can only love someone else to the degree to which we love ourselves. This is
the prerequisite to receiving life’s greatest treasure: love! If we do not love
ourselves, we unconsciously put an unfair burden on our partner to love us
twice (once to fulfill our need for self-love, and once to fulfill our need to
be loved).
“How do I know whether I am truly in love?” and
“What is love?” are questions that are often posed. Theogony
describes Eros in the following enthralling terms: "…and Eros, the fairest
of the deathless gods; he unstrings the limbs and subdues both mind and
sensible thought in the breasts of all gods and all men
I believe that true love is only possible between
two people who are right for one another.
And how to recognize this wonderful feeling?
Well,
love is a feeling that you can realize if you compare what you feel when you
find yourself in some unusual situations such as these!
Like these.
1.
When
you’re on a crowded metro in Mumbai during the rush hour, and your face is
submerged in someone else’s armpit and your toes are being crushed by someone
else’s feet and all of a sudden, right in front of you, a seat opens up. You
sit down and feel contented.
2.
When
you drape freshly washed and dried clothes, unironed on your overworked and exhausted body. It’s a
wonderful feeling when something so familiar can make you feel so fresh and so
renewed.
3.
Getting
packages in the mail from back home during summer camp or boarding school.
Nothing matters any more, the cramped camp or school conditions, the discipline,
the bug bites etc. It’s just the happiness of opening the package that keeps
you going.
4.
The
first couple of seconds on a rollercoaster as your cart climbs slowly up the
lift hill. Leaning back as your pumping heart is making a scene and you’re
building up the strength to scream and you’re wondering if you can’t turn
around now, but you really don’t want to. You want to feel the ride!
5.
When
you really, really, have to pee but the line at the bar is 17, and cross and
uncross your legs waiting impatiently to get there.
6.
Taking
a shower after a long hot day, and as the warm water splashes on you. You close
your eyes and think you are somewhere else….
But remember, falling in love can be a bit like
acid reflux – the stuff that causes heartburn? Your chest will begin to burn and it’ll suddenly become quite
difficult to swallow… while it lasts. It’s also similar to that feeling when
you wake up at 3am and realize you don’t have to get up for work yet. That you
still have time to go back to where you left off and try again,– Wonderful
feeling – For better or worse!
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