He was an NRI, I, a simple girl from India. He was outgoing, me an introvert. He was ambitious, me living life as it came. Yet, we bonded together. Don't know how! May be opposites attract was just coming in action, and I was holding my heart which was constantly running out to the man in front of me. This man, who could be my life partner, not for this birth but for the seven next ones as believed in the Hindu way of living...I was falling in love for sure!
Love, an overrated word, and I think the most googled word too. Who is not in search of this divine feeling? When our families met and they fell in love with each other (as happens only in India, marriage is the coming together of two families to be one!) , then we were introduced. We knew that the moms have liked the moms, the dads have bonded well and talked their secrets of trade together, the siblings have discussed, gossiped and made friends with each other, it was only me and 'Him' who were aliens to each other, except the bio-data stats we knew. We were put up to meet at a place which was replicating a small village in Rajasthan. The atmosphere was no where romantic, but was traditional. I wonder, if the parents knew the kids would drown in love and be lost in the romantic sea, so guard them with traditional ambience. Voila! how right were the parents, as always!
'Him' and I started talking, and to our surprise none of us felt we could be talking to our future partner. We hit upon our school days, our love for reading, music and poetry. We laughed together, and I still remember our families going crazy by our look and wondering, "hey, are they gonna be married or staying friends". That ease of talking, laughing and sharing prompted us to like each other. "A husband is a friend forever" was the kind of husband I always believed in. I wanted a best friend with my hands in his hands. I wanted to see my 'bestest' buddy's face every morning I woke up. I wanted to roll in laughter at a comedy movie with my closest pal who won't stop laughing seeing me rolling! Yes, I was definitely falling, you could say, drowning in love with 'Him'.
The evening went relaxed, we finished our awesome Rajasthan cuisine and came to realize we liked same food too. The love for music, the friendliness, the mutual comfort in talking, the dream to become someone in life, the family values we shared ...yes, I think it was an YES. The moment we bid goodbyes, I still remember the way he said, "it was nice meeting you, Shaifali"! My heart leaped and I was nervous, because somewhere in my heart I was saying the same, "it was nice meeting you!".
No wonder, the night turned out to be a day, I was wide awake. I was listening to his voice as I lay awake that night in my bed. I was happy to have found whom my parents adored and whom I liked, and with whom I wanted to experience the word "Love". The following days were restless, he had said YES. We were going to be engaged! It was like a love story where I have found my prince charming with whom I could make rare, pure, everlasting love come true. The day I met him, the day we said 'I do' was like a Platinum day of love for me. I have realized it was he I wanted to spend my life with, it was he that was meant for me and I for him!
After 9 years of being together, of being happily married, I can say it was a Platinum choice I made. True love, like Platinum does't fade away by the mundaneness of everyday chores.
I wear 'Him' like a smile, like a piece of my soul and I live happily.
"In the cacophony of the world
In the thick piles of work
In the mundane chores of everyday
In the bustle of crowd
In the bargain of the compromises
In the race of time,
...I just took a second
I peeped inside my soul!
I found you-
Rare, Pure, Eternal- my Platinum!"
I know, next year is going to be my Platinum year of continuing eternal love, my Platinum is going to buy a Platinum collectible for me!
*I wrote this heartfelt, real and unshared confession for
Platinum Day of Love contest on Indiblogger.
**The image of the hand-cuff bracelet is a capture I took to show my life partner what he should gift me ;). I clicked it while traveling around the globe with him, on a SouthWest flight in California from their 'Sky Mall' promotional magazine!
