There comes a point in life that drives us to the conclusion that a partner is essential. A solitary life lived may sound joyous and entertaining but humans, being the social animal, need a warm heart and a tight embrace. Albeit, from time to time. This drives us to the question, how do we find the correct one?
It not an easy task by means. It borders on the impossibility. Partnerships, especially the ones which harbours trust, friendship and fidelity do not happen, the way they show in movies. The love, at first sight, is merely a conjecture. An apprehension belied by the response of the heart and the frivolous mind. The meeting of these two organs is a juxtaposition dipped in steep dissimilarities.
One is a mass of muscles, whilst the other is a jelly enmeshed with neurons. One beat, whilst the other treats. The human body is a wonder that never ceases to amaze me. It however has its limitations. One of them is hopelessly falling in love. This interlude of unequal response towards something as important as affection and relationship tends to make this entire exercise, one of intrigue and discovery.
It is amidst this turmoil, that she bumps into him, on a hot summer afternoon. A momentary glimpse of each other and a quick and apologetic smile later, the strangers make their way towards their destination. Murphy’s law works everywhere. It is quite a pragmatic piece of evidence suggesting the way life deals with its cards. People whom we bump into and probably would like to carry on bumping are always travelling diametrically opposite to where we are.
It is never the occasion where we can travel together. Savour the moments and create new ones. Build new conversations and talk away to glory. Then perhaps ensconce oneself in a distant utopia and build castles and weave dreams. Reality strikes back. You wake up. You were walking towards your destination. Alone. The man you bumped into has probably already reached his.
On a positive note, diametrically opposite paths help one collide into the other. One gets to build up a crescendo of opportunities and then in one flourish, hold hands and run away. I guess that seems to be too far-fetched. But then love, by its very nature is a repository of far-fetched choices. One seems to opt for the improbabilities, when in love. Celestial bodies too are in danger of being robbed of their places. The universe suddenly becomes a finite place and utterly outpaced.
The lovers are no longer bound by earthly rules or the laws of physics, whichever seems plausible. They are now in a different dimension. A place that is not ruled by mere mortals but they alone. A void filled with colours only they can see, a caucus of instruments playing the most mellifluous tune, a smorgasbord of kaleidoscopic wonder. Lovers see what we don’t. They see a path that never ends, while we as blind realists play the mortal tune. While they hop, skip and jump, we drag our sorry selves, existing in an otherwise colourful world. It’s just that our colours got shortened to monochrome.
It all starts with a bump though. A sudden crossing pf paths. A quick look and an act of ignorance. These momentary flashes of meets are just a small jigsaw in a huge puzzle called fate. So herein lies another question. Did fate bring us together? Were we meant to meet? Was all this part of the long list possibilities? Or was it just a coincidence?
In hindsight, it can be both, depending on the belief of the individuals. Logically they are all coincidences or as they say,” being in the right place at the right time”. The suspense behind finding someone suddenly is certainly one of the high points of every human life. The surprise factor plays its part well. It acts as a kind of kick that blows the testosterone up.
But is love scary?
Well, a garden of roses does have thorns. Also, the fact of the matter is that no one promised life to be a bed of petals. Those dreams that were weaved, were simply that, dreams. Reality strikes soon enough and the harshness of this travel reveals itself. Tempers fly, trust is questioned, the companionship wavers.
But does it break?
It’s a mixed bag. It seems love doesn’t always have full control of circumstances. There are quite a few factors that play their part. But that is not what we are looking for today. That is a discussion for some other day. Let it be known that the heartbreaks and so does companionship. Some times.
What we are trying to decipher today is how to find love in the unlikeliest of places and that is everywhere.
Let us rewind and get back to the scene where they bump into each other. Almost as if fate was playing a deliberate hand. What would be the chances that this strike would culminate into something worthwhile? Seems that the odds are stacked against the motion. It might just be an accidental bump that keeps happening on our busy streets. How often do happy accidents lead to better things? There are no statistics to play around with. We simply do not know. We would love to know. But, alas, for matters related to that mass of muscles, it is all a dance of uncertainty. We will never know.
However, it is a fact that love appears at the most inopportune time. None of us has any control over it. Even if two people cross each other more often than not, it will still bide their time. It is walking with a leisurely gait. At times, it darts across the street and doesn’t mind the oncoming traffic. It is a risk-taker one moment, while at the other it is simply a humbug.
It is an epitome of indifference one second while on certain days, it will put across a smile and wonder, “Is He the One?”
