In my work, I deal with a lot of teenagers and people in the prime of their youth! So, the scenes of two-together are not new to me…
I have seen many types, in various poses, sharing different equations – She holding him tight on a bike…he holding her close to his deo-rich shoulders! She sitting in the class leaning towards him…he caressing her foot with his! They sitting on a bench silently brooding on the future of it…they animatedly discussing the disillusionment with zaalim-zamaana (read parents)! He pursuing her to come to his house when no one is there…she pursing him to come to her house when everyone is there (to meet the zamaana) etc. etc.!
I thought I had seen it all, until…I saw those two…
………………….
I was driving to work… it was around 8:20 am and the song playing on the radio was the title-track of Ishaqzaade! It is a beautiful melody… romantic yet with a tinge of sadness, determined yet with a shade of despondence! Touching lyrics, woven into a tune that goes from mild to mad to mellow, backed by the percussion hugging the piano-guitar combination at the peaks…And every time the ‘Ishaqzaade’ word would be sung in resonance, I couldn’t help but get Goosebumps!
…It was during those Goosebumps that I saw from distance a couple on the road side… Seemingly from lower -middle class (must be in their mid 20s), they were holding each other’s hand! Given the backdrop of the song playing, it brought a smile to my face… But as I approached closer, my heart sank for a moment… something started moving upwards inside my chest… my throat got choked and not until I crossed them that I realized…I was crying!
…I had just realized that… both of them were blind!
Attribute it to what I saw, or what I was listening to, or their coming together at a crescendo…after a long time, I experienced such catharsis… But at the same time, I also got reminded that there is no ‘more divine’ sight in the world than two persons really in love!
Real love doesn’t excite…it assures! It fills you with calmness of a quiet lake lying cozily in the lap of its hills…no restlessness, no ripples…Sheer serenity, born out of a faith deep-down-inside that now nothing could go wrong!
Closeness is beautiful…And to me, the ultimate form of closeness in love is not ‘two persons looking at each other for eternity’ or ‘embracing each other aloof from the world’ or for that matter taking it to so-called ‘the next level’! To me… the gesture which epitomizes it is two hands holding each other – feeling in that tender touch the coming-together of two souls…finding in that firm hold an unsaid promise of a lifetime…
I am sure that after watching those two together…Love would wish that it remains blind! …always.
