Love is in the air

Incongruous behavior, insatiable quest for knowledge is what describes me- Shreya Kamal

 

I sit at my office, the sun beaming in with all its pride. Sometimes I so hate you. Wish one could change the season according to one’s mood. This set-up is so inappropriate to my mental state. I see that pictorial masterpiece of the frame. The picture perfect frame- of me and Kamal Kashyap that Sampada our friend gifted us. Mom used to complain about me using "€œsweets" to refer to kamal before my in-laws or any of my relatives for that matter. It all seems so alien now

 

In the subway when I was traveling back home. This day hadn'€™t been more beautiful than ever. It had just been three months since I got married. After the elaborate wedding at India, we got back to the place that played with our destiny- New York. The train was crawling screeching and halting at every little station that passed by or at least that's how it seemed like to me. I wanted to rush home. I looked out and saw a carpet land right next to the window and there he was- Kamal sitting on the carpet with the Aladdin-like clothes. I scurried to the window waiting it to open up. A mighty halt met me and I realized my silly fantasies and got ready to get down at Amsterdam Avenue. Finally it came. I was very fast-paced. Today, I had decided to get back home, set right the mess in which our house was, cook the yummiest food that kamal would enjoy. Oh yes, forgot to mention It would be a candlelight setup to celebrate our three months of tolerating each other. With all these thoughts filling my mind, I stopped at the Indian grocery and picked the essential. Carrot, Cucumber tomatoes for soup, capsicum, tomatoes, onion for salad, atta and radish for the brilliant mooli paranthas, paneer and peas, and other greens for the peas pulao and paneer sabzi. (Too elaborate I guess). Meeting Julia –my neighbor on my way, I described to her my happiness and she was very amused at the way Indians celebrate and value little things in life. At this point I am telling you, we Indians are born that way. We don’t want to lose what we have. And if it is a person, you do not want to even joke about it. And for those Indians living at a home away from home, this is more important. Shreya –me is very keen on celebrating little things in life. Now you know why three months after marriage matters to me a lot. I opened the door like how a hungry animal would if it knew its prey was inside my door. In 15 minutes, the house sparkled with the lighting that we purchased at Home Depot last month. Finally, I wondered, it came to be of some use. It added to my romantic mood. I carefully collected those multi-colour pebbles that I been saving for long and rolled them out of my hands into the exquisite glass bowl. I saw the pebbles merrily dancing and sliding by the side of the glass bowl as though relieved to be out of my hands. I called up amma and told her I love her. Asked her last minute tips for the grand meal. I prepared the meal, the appetizers and the dessert in a jiffy taking all care not to heat them even for an extra minute. The doorbell sang. I hopped and danced to the door in my white dress that seemed to merge with the lighting. I checked myself in the mirror right beside the door for any last minute touch up that would be needed. I looked like an angel. There he was standing mighty, tall, dusky, handsome, messy hair- which I like the best in him. I could see that he was tired. Not giving him a minute to settle into the atmosphere that he was being welcomed into, I gave him a huge bear hug and told him to be ready in 20 minutes for the celebration for which I have been planning for the past 3 days. Kamal – looked around like a lost cat, thinking for a second if he was in the right house. Our house had never ever been so beautifully lit. We do make an effort to keep the house tidy but sometimes a house is a house only if it’s messy. I saw him limping down the stairs but just ignored it thinking it was one of those old cranky jokes. We went by the pool side and took our places at the table that I had put there with the lovely white lace drape flowing so perfectly over the table only to match my dress. As we ate the lovely meal, I started talking about those days when we used to meet to get to know each other better, those days when both are parents used to call anxiously to know whether we liked each other. He kept listening and laughing at the same time. As we finished our desserts. I felt a hand hold me hard and swing me into eternity. As I swirled and turned and tossed, I wanted to look back and see who it was. I wanted to know where I was being pushed into. I wanted to be there by my house enjoying and swallowing every little thing of this beautiful day. I wanted to keep replaying this every year. I had a wet feeling. A feeling that I was going to drown into reality. And then I felt the hand hold me again. I cleared my eyes to see the truth, the life that lay ahead of me. Then suddenly that hand seemed familiar, only to notice that it was Kamal. We had thrown ourselves into the pool. We floated with ecstasy. Singing merrily, dancing around. I thanked god for what had been showered on me, for the love I got. It was a day to remember, a day to relive