We met ...

When I first saw him, mean as it may sound, he was just “ a guy “ whom I was going to marry. We’d chatted and talked and contrary to today’s day and age we both had based our choices mainly on our parents’ views. We both seemed to gel on quite a few levels and honestly speaking, I was beginning to quite like the fellow. Besides which, he had a nice home and even nicer family. The decision was made purely based on liking and practicality. I’d resigned myself to the fact that love would come after marriage or even the possibility that it might never come But of course, at quite other levels the simple doubt was, “ Would it work? “ .People can be very different from what they seem or rather, the words they use.

So, here I was, with butterflies in my stomach, not quite encouraged by questions from thunderstruck people like “ Aren’t you nervous? “ or “ You’re getting engaged? But you haven’t met him right? “ or “ Are you sure you want to do this ? “. And there he was, on a flight to Kuwait, hoping to find the same person he’s talked to all those months.

The first time I saw him at the airport, my mind went blank I think. I was thinking,” Is this for real? Here is the person I’m about to commit my whole life to and I’m not even sure if I know him. What about love? What about the magic of finding the One? “. I forged ahead, hoping for a miracle. We went home. For the first few days, it was difficult even to relate the three people I had in mind. The person I spoke to, the person on chats and web cam, and the person in front of me and i guess, neither could he. Unknown fears started gripping me. I guess, my trait of being out spoken or brash even, quite helped me out in those days and before I knew it I had opened my mouth one second and feared having inserted my foot into it the next. But there I was, having put myself out there, at the mercy of a person I hoped I knew. And there, I did find him. The few talks we had after, helped me put the small pieces of puzzle together slowly but surely. I realized the essence of the friend I’d hoped to find and before I knew it, we were opening up doors of each other’s lives and giving willful entry for free passage.

The D-day came, and though horrendously nervous, I was quite excited at the prospect of spending my life with the “friend” I was finding. After the engagement, things changed drastically and the equation between us changed too, almost magically. Maybe it’s the effect the ring, the one object that lets you Feel almost immediately, the hold you have on another’s life. We started talking the nights away with seemingly trivial matters, growing closer each minute. And how. When together, it felt like we’d known each other forever. The comfort we found with each other was like a warm blanket in the dead of winters. I knew I was beginning to fall in love with him.

I think it was more to do with the fact that when I was with him, I felt secure. As he put it once, a person has desires to be stable in two fields of life, financially and personally (referring to relationships). Materialistically, yes I had all I could desire at the time, but personally I was quite unstable. I had an emptiness within me, which before him, I could feel every minute and had lost all hope of filling either. I had never met anyone remotely like him. Being with him, I could feel that I was in safe hands and that what I thought and felt mattered to someone. I must say, even though completely new to the idea of being in a relationship, he was quite willing and open to exploring every new facet with equal understanding and enthusiasm. Besides which, the views he had, opened to me a whole new perspective. It was like seeing a new dimension to life that I had missed seeing completely. Day by day he seemed to become the kind of person that I’d hoped to get married to in my dreams. Due to my past and known experiences, I’d been warned of not to have any expectations and thus every contribution he made towards “ Us “ held meaning for me. After all the lessons life taught me, and the time I spent wondering what they meant and why I needed to learn them, I finally seemed to be getting the answers. Every stolen moment, every gesture, every thought or smile shared, every feeling opened a floodgate of emotions, which even I couldn’t comprehend. I started feeling lucky to have him and was thankful for the gift of Him in my life.

Then few days later, on a morning he said to me that before he leaves, he’d like if there was no doubt whatsoever in my mind about him or us and I felt completely loved. What touched me the most was, no one had shown that kind of consideration to My feelings before, ever. Someone had once told me, that love begins with care and certainly seemed like I was well cared for. Later that same wonderful day at the mall, standing in front of him it hit me like a ton of bricks. This was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I was in love. The completely gaga, head over heels kind of love, swept me away. Any doubts I had were washed away like something written on sand. I started missing him, even without him ever having left me for he was to leave within the next few days. And I think he saw it in my eyes, as I felt him realize that at that moment no one could have loved him more.

The next few days passed in me fearing his departure. In 10 days, my life seemed to have taken a U turn for the better and into a completely new direction. And now I wasn’t alone. Just 10 days. Before he came I was nervous that he was coming, and by the time he left I had tears in my eyes with the thought of him going, for I didn’t want to lose this new feeling so far. After he left, once again we went back to chats and mails and messaged and calls but now everything seemed different and beautiful. The desire to be together, like a volcano waiting to erupt and heaven forbid, if I can make it to the day we meet again. Till then, I know I shall be on tenterhooks, gloriously basking in the love that I share with him, cherishing each moment and rejoicing the many more to come.

I know I am blessed. Not many people get that lucky. I found a life partner and the love of my life in the same person and had the time to realize the value of the two as well. Now I truly believe, everyone meets his or her partner some day. I’ve started believing in miracles, the every day; seemingly unimportant kinds even, for what happened to me was a miracle. For never in my dreams had I expected the person walking out the doors of the airport to transform from “ a guy “ to “the guy” in my life , my soul mate - the kind of man I'd dreamt of marrying since forever !!!

No one knows what tomorrow holds, but for now I’m glad to have someone so wonderful walking beside me on this unknown journey, called life. For I know, that no matter what happens I will always have someone to love and cherish and call my own, making every moment a little lighter , a little brighter.




*** True Story !!!!