Come February and love suddenly becomes the most sought after emotion human race has ever experienced! From colleges to workplaces and restaurants to shopping malls everyone seems to be basking in the glory of love. It’s almost like celebration of a (pseudo) festival. Pinks and reds become colours of the season as roses and chocolates gear up to grab some limelight. Romantics are heroised and petty beings like me are looked down upon for being unromantic, boring creatures. But I believe, “True love is not so much of a matter of romance as it is of anxious concern for the well-being of one’s companion”. Well for decades together 'love' has intrigued authors, poets, painters world over, each trying to portray the phenomenon through their work. It's amazing to see how a single term can have multiple meanings and interpretations.
For someone like me who never really got thrilled with the idea of expressing and celebrating love on a dedicated day once in a year, finding ‘the’ love of my life certainly had to be ‘different’. I met my husband through a matrimony site and we started chatting as normally as anyone could. We connected instantly, thanks to his amazing sense of humour and our mutual love of food. We gradually discovered many more common interests right from procrastinating, doing absolutely nothing on weekends, watching TV endlessly to some better interests like reading books, listening to music and cooking together. For us it was nothing less than a perfect match, justifying the age-old belief that marriages are made in heaven – indeed!
Following a brief courtship of about 10 months it was a yes for marriage from both of us. All my friends who were initially excited on hearing the news were utterly disappointed on finding out that there was no formal proposal with bent knees, no roses, chocolates or heart-shaped cake, no candle light dinner or a late night drive. All we did was catch up on a movie (Chak-de India) followed by a hearty meal at one of my favorite places in town. Thus began our journey – simple and joyful.
It’s been 10 years of togetherness and we are still the same. There haven’t been any I love you’s or long lovey-dovey phone calls, no surprise birthday parties or romantic anniversary getaways. Never have I felt the urge to get decked up when he returns home from work nor does he need to compliment me when I look good. For us, love manifests in the most mundane acts like having that first cup of tea together, sharing the day-to-day happenings, shopping together (even if it means monthly groceries ),laughing on the same kind of jokes, cooking each other’s favorite meals or even visiting the doctor together when the other is sick.
What worked wonders for us is that we have accepted each other the way we are, never weighed each other down with expectations or comparisons, never shied away from apologizing to the other and have always given each other the space to pursue a life of our own. We complement each other in ways more than one and that’s what makes us a complete package of two happy individuals who make a happy couple who in turn make happy parents raising a happy daughter in the happiest family ever!
