~ Story of true love!
Love is a feeling, a feeling that tells you that you want to be with each other till you are alive. It is a soothing gesture; it is like the freshness of the dew drop, like the rain on the tired leaves. It is the light that makes the lens of life colorful. But prose and poetry apart, it is important to merge it with a pinch of practicality. It is not just about all the good times in life but about being there for each other during the bad times, during times when everybody around seems to have left.
I always saw love as something more on the surface level and never thought of it in the deeper sense. This just happened recently that my definition and the way I perceived love has changed. Love is not only about the ‘loving feeling’ but about respect for each other, admiring the other person for being what he/she is, it is about the point of view. When this is true, the person you are in love with is the most beautiful person you have ever seen. It is so not about the outward appearance, it is all about what you feel.
Mini was new in town and got to stay as a paying guest with an old couple, the Daves. She was running from city to city in an attempt to get over a seven year old relationship. For her love had lost all meaning. She had become cynical and everything nice around her made her suspicious. Mr. and Mrs. Dave had a son who lived in the US and came once in two or three years to see his parents and this left the couple all by themselves. The old couple had been together for 47 years. The way they lived made Mini think that they were weird, but soon she realized that they were totally in love with each other.
Every morning Mrs. Dave would make tea for both of them and then they would sit in the balcony talking about the flowers and the weather and about everything. By lunch time while Mrs. Dave was preparing lunch, Mr. Dave would get a flower for her and place it in her hair and would sing some old song for her and give her company in the kitchen. Mini heard him once telling his wife, “Serve me the food; I’ll just get your dentures”. Or when Mr. Dave spilled some food on himself while eating, Mrs. Dave would jokingly say, “Oh ho when will you grow up!” and after dinner Mr. Dave would give some melted chocolate to his love (because she couldn’t bite hard chocolate).
One evening after noticing that Mini was lonely, the Dave couple insisted on her joining them for a quick neighborhood walk. She finally agreed and joined them. This is where Mini’s entire mind set changed. The small jokes they cracked at each other, the age old stories of their marriage and kids, or how they laughed when either of them tripped and told each other, “Looks like somebody is getting old.”
The time they spent together, eating, cleaning, and going out for walks changed the meaning of love and life for Mini. The love they had was pure love, where the other person didn’t feel uncomfortable or embarrassed about the flaws of their partner. Instead they stood by each other and led life like they were one. The wrinkles, the saggy skin, the loud coughs, the hunch or anything else for that matter didn’t bother them. The fact was that they were together because they had developed real love, the selfless and magical love where flaws didn’t matter. It was the togetherness that made all the difference.
The wrinkled & wretched bodies may wither away, but true love always, always stays young on the inside. This is what makes them live together, forever!
Just so, beautiful. You expressed and narrated really well!
Thank u so much Sourav!