“Baby I got you something.” “Really??”
*Standing amidst greenery on a rainwashed Sunday morning*
*Frumpy look on her face* *He gives her a beautiful
lil elephant keychain*
“I got this from Pune for you” *She smiles*
“You like?” “I love it baby” *They seal
the moment with a kiss*
Hours later, in an unfortunate spell, that lil
elephant was lost to nature at Chinchoti trail. It may sound small and
insignificant but to her it meant all (I still remember losing that elephant. I
had carefully clipped it to my backpack and then it was there no more).
It symbolized 1 of many unexpected moments of love
shared with Abeer. We didn’t elaborate on us, not yet. I was Miss PDA and he
was the actual shy 1 who only boasted of his openness and escapades from the
past. When in India, I was the bold 1 and he the domesticated NRI (I’m smirking
at NRI). With him I started with not wanting to feel anything, to feeling
something and yet keeping my head on my shoulders, to losing my head from my
shoulders but quickly screwing it back up and finally losing it all together. I
guess the last stage marks the completion of the 100% absolute-in-love and
this-time 4-real stage.
But through the last 7 months of togetherness there
has been stark likeness and absolute opposite mayhem. The mere 3 days between
our bdays would make me think we could be the twin Pisces fishes but our personalities
speak otherwise. You see the love is there but the magnitude and the expression
is different. It’s like we are reading the same script but in different
dialects. Occasionally, the phonetics of that dialect connects us and love is
requited. Other times, a simple mistranslation or miscommunication is enough to
loosen both our screws. Hence, the twin fishes are upside down and opp. facing.
I think that people need the opportunity of expression
too. Without a fight there is no opportunity for attention. Without a dialogue
there is no openness. Without disagreement there is no chance to learn the
differences. Without disengagement there is no moment for melting into each
other. Without issues there is no extension of our personalities to explore the
warrior and protector within us. Without sickness and bad times, there is no
proof of our loyalty. Without distance there is no realization of the value. Without
boredom and mundane-ness there is no creativity. Without the real deal there is
nothing left fighting for; no refreshment of our expression of love. And we
have done pretty much all of it.
When you look at your object of affection, you
adore them. Your pride yourself in your choices; that you got lucky. In their
absence there is a natural need to feel a rare sense of why can’t he/she be so or
behave or have so… Then they appear in front of you and you realize, you have
something that no one else has. And for some inexplicable reason you are unable
to relinquish THIS one. Like the Great Gatsby. Rich, powerful, intelligent,
ambitious, handsome, blessed yet haunted by a green light that ultimately
destroyed him. We can have it all – or so appears to the world. But that 1 soul
is all it takes to bring us to our knees. There is a sense of question as to
whether we ever deserved them and all of their personality showered on us. That
when they did, we partially acknowledged the love to satisfy our personal friend
– Ego; but Ego was sacrificed when love turned its back on us.
There are these moments of tight knots. They squeeze
and burn within. Makes you choke up and struggle to breathe. Face flushes and
emotions refute control. But the moment love turns a kind eye toward us, the
tremendous feeling of 360° relief and humility is like a pressurized aircraft
cabin with emergency exits opened at 37000ft. I felt that recently and am going
through it. The distance separating us is 1 I have miserably failed to cope
with. His absence reduced me and I found myself being a teenage love-fool. An eg.
would be my buying Starbucks coffee with his name on the styrofoam as a momento
to the weekends he spends waiting patiently for me at the neighbouring Starbucks.
That they know him there and occasionally prepare free samples and Americanos,
are testament to how long I make him wait. Something I wouldn’t have done at
all this weekend in order to spend every breathing second available. No, he did
not go to the moon. Just Manali and Spiti and Kasol. They make me forget my leg
and want to join him there.
Then again I think of the times I said something I shouldn’t
have or did something I could’ve reversed. There are moments I don’t wanna take
back and stay mad at him. Exactly what good comes of it – nothing. This relationship
although far more volatile with the good and bad remind me of others as well.
Parents and siblings. In the ‘Pursuit of Happyness’, Chris Gardner while going
through the worst moments of his life, still maintains aggression, softness, and
borderline sanity. The 1st few times I saw the movie I loved him and
felt that it was about his journey to stockbroker-stardom. Truth is it was all
about Chris Jr. (his son). He struggled to live, eat, breathe and survive only
for his son. His pursuit for stardom was more in his son’s eyes and future than
in the multimillion dollar corporation he dreamt of. His humiliation and
struggles reducing him often were reversed only when he ensured the safety and
sanctity of his love – his son.
Love, when given and received unexpectedly is the
most cherished. Love, when asked and coerced, rarely feel authentic. When in
love with love, it remains a dream. When in love with reality, it feels
authentic. When in love with the idea of love, it just fails. Been there, done
that. Now I just love him and wait for his return. Hoping to feel something:
expectedly unexpected. <3 
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