Rediscovering Love

“Have some poha, Janu… believe me it’s very tasty… just the way I make it at home… you will love it.” The conversation between a woman and her man raised my inquisitiveness and forgetting all my decency, I so desperately wanted to peek into the other side of the hotel wall and admire this loving wife… her caring nature. The sweetness in her voice did not deteriorate even for the 18th time she coaxed her man to have his breakfast, in spite of the occasional grunts from the man. After hearing this one-sided conversation for almost 30 minutes, I finally opened my door hoping to get a glimpse of this unique, romantic couple… There she was…an elderly lady about 55 years old, blissful, contented, smiling face with a prominent red bindi on her forehead- her hair oiled and tied back – she rushed to the housekeeping fellow, “Bhaiya, can you warm this poha a little- perhaps he will like it then” she said to him smilingly. Suddenly, there was a thud- a glass fell down; she rushed back to the room almost ignoring me. I was watching her closely – her futile but sincere attempts to feed her man. By now, I could almost pen her story- her man partially paralyzed (must have been recent!) was bedridden and she, his devoted wife was now his nurse. As she finished her task successfully, she came out to the verandah- wiping out the sweat from her forehead, she smiled at me and sat besides me with her cup of tea. “Oh, today was very tiring! He is otherwise very cooperative,” she was assuring me there. I smiled back and hesitantly inquired, “He has paralysis?” “Yes, since last 18 years,” she replied back. What!!! 18 years! And since last 2 decades, she has been nursing him this way- like a mother to her child, with so much love, so much compassion and dedication. I could not believe it. She nodded- this was not all. All though her life, she has faced several obstacles- first, her son was born a handicap- he could not walk. “I used to carry him to school every day and rush before the school finishes, and carry him back home fearing that students may push him.” It was her indomitable spirit that he could complete his graduation, learn several languages and is today employed with a good company. Before one responsibility was through and she thought now she could relax, her man had a massive heart attack and was confined to bed. “There were two things I could do- crib and cry for the rest of my life or take this in my stride and move on. I took the latter. I thought, if this would have happened to me, what kind of treatment would I have expected from my better half- to be understanding, to pamper me, to shower all the love, to make me feel special, isn’t it? So what, god has only switched the roles. It is just that instead of me, god chose my man to get all these pampering. So I treat him exactly the way that I would have expected him to treat me if I would have been ill like him. When a man and woman marry, they don’t marry for short time happiness, but they vow to stand by each other through thick and thin. It’s a commitment of lifetime. It is my responsibility now- from his bath to breakfast, medicines to exercises, helping him pursue his hobbies to reading out newspapers and magazines- more importantly I know, I have to enjoy doing these for him, without any complains!” This is true love! Every quarter, she travels with her man to some nearby places, away from the city life so that he feels fresh and not depressed. She travels to nearby places because of his disability that prohibits her to venture beyond 3 to 4 hours of travel. In this fast moving age, our level of patience, endurance and tolerance towards each other is slowing diminishing. Our egos remain high, and sensitivity to each other is low. Resulting from all this is our vengeance – which ultimately cause us pain and suffering. We are hurt by the slightest of the remarks and we leave no stone unturned to hurt someone. This lady whose only aim in life was to selflessly serve her man without expecting any returns compelled me to rediscover the meaning of love in life. She was an epitome of the simple thought that you don’t need a special Valentine’s Day to express your love- if, you truly love someone…