Finding True Love

“We share a common caste.. An amiable age difference of me being elder to him by a month and a half which he loves to tug at… A common foodie interest of ‘Alu ki khurchan’ and ‘Manchurian with Rotis’… An active interest in Dragon Ball Z… we share a lot in common.. like him playing with my hair… patting my head… Me leaning against him when he is driving… Could this be a mere coincidence or was it written?”

For the girl who thought it was more than just a coincidence, life had been on a roll, with a good educational background, a restricted but close-knit group of friends and a life filled with dreams and realistic hopes. Not opposed to the way in which most girls would reply if asked about the dream man they would want to be with, she too harbored hopes to find a man that was humorous, intelligent, sensitive, good-looking and caring by nature. She wanted a man who was chivalrous… but knew the way to treat a girl right. And she thought she had found the one…The guy she was with, was caring, good-looking and was true in his feelings. And how she felt that he really was the one, and started to believe that you need to sacrifice for love, step down from the decisions you take, consider not making new friends just because he doesn’t like it. She really believed that she would be able to please him as long as she was around, and he felt there could never be another girl that was so tailor-made for him, she was exactly the way he wanted his girl to be. And he made sure she stayed that way.

Not far away from where she lived, lived a guy… with whom, she believes now, she must have crossed ways as she remembers seeing his dog, an adorable Dalmatian, around her place. He was very well-read, intelligent, caring, and reasonable and fit perfectly into the definition of ‘Tall-Dark and Handsome’. It had been about four years since they had lived minutes apart from each other, belonged to the same communities and yet, they had never come face-to-face.

March 8.. . was the day they met. Highly unlikely and unbelievable unless you believe in the ‘Karmic connections’, that bind the souls of the ones that are meant to be together. He had been to perform at a concert in her college; she got talking to him as his songs were intriguing and sounded much more addictive when he sang them. Mailing ids were exchanged. And they started chatting after a few days from the ‘special day’. The talk was strictly formal in the start but ended up with him asking, “Would you mind if I asked you out for a cup of coffee?” She replied, “I would love to, but I have to be back at college on Saturday, I feel awful.” She really did feel awful, because he was interesting and attractive.

Talking to her, he felt that he wanted to know her more, know the way she thought, the way she was, the things she liked, because of the sole reason that she seemed intelligent and interesting to talk to.

He tried calling her up again after a couple of days. It so happened that day she was busy that particular day on an important assignment and was not able to receive his call. Being an apt astrological blend of Aries and Capricorn, armed with a fierce ego, he never called a girl a second time, if she was not responsive. He did not like hanging around places where people would deem him unnecessary.

But as Fate would have it, she called back the next day, and that was the day when everything turned in favor of them. They spent 7 hours on the phone, chatting away the whole time. They found out that they liked Alu ki khurchan, loved eating out of serving bowls, discussed the way Gohan destroyed Cell with his Kame-ha-meha attack. In the middle of the talk, he asked her if she was single. She felt a twitch. She wished she was single. She had loved the way he had animatedly listened to her the whole while. She wished she could be there… be there to give him a warm hug when she came to know what he had been through, she wished she could run upto him and tell him that she wanted to be his for her whole life. But she couldn’t. That was the first time she had realized the true love that she had dreamt about and talked about forever was at the other end of the line, and not beside her. But there was nothing she could do about it. There were constraints, she did not know if he felt the same for her. And she was with someone. She could not take the risk.

He was dismayed, after a long time. How many girls had he met… flirted around with… been in a serious relationship before. But this girl… had beaten all of them hands-down. She was the most ‘interesting chick’ he had ever talked to. She was witty, funny, believed in commitment, liked the same things as he did… and resembled a lot like his mother and sister back home. He still describes her as being ‘Desi and Modern at the same time’. She held a flavor of India that he had grown up witnessing at home. The girlish way of gossiping with the independence of a modern day woman; she was all that he had ever wanted. Yet, she could not be his. He was heart-broken, after a very long time.

They both had a hint that they had developed feelings for each other, amidst the silent romance of the night that had passed by. He finally mustered up the courage to tell her, “I think I love you.” She wished she could tell him she had started loving him too. And it seemed the most natural thing in the world for her. And that was when she decided, she couldn’t let him get away.

After a stormy winding up of old obligations, they were finally together. They went out on their first date, a drive to the nearest ice-cream shop. They never ate ice-cream, merely held hands and stared into each-other’s eyes for what seemed like eternity. He had brought her a rose, which she still preserves to this day. Today, after eleven months, they are still as crazy about each other as they were when they had first kissed. He still does the one thing he never used to do, tell her that he loves her insanely every single moment that he can find. She is as committed as no one can ever be, and still considers him as her lucky charm, the one that turned her life around.

True love does not mean big sacrifices. It does not mean giving up on your identity. It shows in the smallest of ways, which you cherish as long as you live. It means being there when the other needs you; gently holding him when he is angry; giving up on those devilishly desirable shoes to gift him his favorite Chelsea jersey, just to watch him break into the most precious grin, building up trust and giving them he space that they need. It means being there for each other and putting them before you. True love…. It was not about what they felt… it was about the way they had felt it.