He met her at a party. She was so outstanding. There were many guys chasing after her while he was so normal. Nobody paid any attention to him.
At the end of the party, he invited her to have coffee with him. She was surprised but she accepted the offer out of politeness. They sat in a nice coffee shop and he was too nervous to say anything.
She felt uncomfortable and thought to herself, "Please, let me go home..."
Suddenly he asked the waiter, "Would you please give me some salt? I'd like to put it in my coffee."
Everybody stared at him for his strange request! His face turned red but still, he put the salt in his coffee and drank it.
She asked him curiously, "Why do you add salt to your coffee?"
He replied, "When I was a little boy, I lived near the sea. I liked playing in the sea where I could feel the taste of the sea which is just like the taste of the salty coffee. Now every time I have the salty coffee, I always think of my childhood and my hometown. I miss my hometown so much. I miss my parents who are still living there."
While saying that, tears filled his eyes. She was deeply touched. That must have been his true feelings from the bottom of his heart. A man who can express his homesickness must be a man who loves home, cares about home and takes responsibility of his home... Then she also started to talk about her faraway hometown, her childhood and her family.
That was a really nice talk and also a beautiful beginning to their story. They continued to date. She found that he was actually a man who meets all her criteria of a good partner; he had tolerance, was kind hearted, warm and careful. He was such a good person but she almost missed him! Luckily, his salty coffee brought them together! The story became like every other beautiful love story where the princess married the prince and they lived a happy life together... And every time she made coffee for him, she put some salt in the coffee as she knew that's the way he liked it.
After 40 years, he passed away and left her a letter which said,
"My dearest, please forgive me, forgive my whole life's lie. This was the only lie I said to you - the salty coffee. Remember the first time we dated? I was so nervous that I actually wanted some sugar but I said salt. It was hard for me to change what I said so I just went ahead. I never thought that could be the start of our communication! I tried to tell you the truth many times in my life, but I was too afraid to do that as I have promised not to lie to you about anything... Now I'm dying and I'm no longer afraid of anything so I wish to tell you the truth. I don't like the strange bad taste of salty coffee... But I have had salty coffee for my whole life! Since I knew you, I never felt sorry for anything I had ever done for you. Having you with me is my biggest happiness throughout my whole life. If I can live for the second time, I would still want to know you and be with you for my whole life even though I would have to drink the salty coffee again."
Her tears made the letter totally wet.
Someday, someone asked her, "What's the taste of salty coffee?"
She replied, "It's sweet."
Music Corner
Anupamaa
