Epistle 45: Principles of Love
A/N: Hey there everyone! :D :D Here is the next update. :D :D
Happy Reading! :D :D
19th May, 2004:
Why is it that every time I think that things are getting better, they go back to square one?
Exactly how many times am I going to be blamed for thievery by Baa now? Is the woman barking mad or does she really think that she can get away with it after accusing me of robbing anything and everything like a hundred times in one month? Seriously, I don't blame Ishaani for losing her cool this often with Baa and for having the choicest of wishes for what should happen to her at times (even though I'd still say that it's wrong to say things like that, but who'll explain this to the stupid girl?).
Today, Mota Babuji decided to take me to the National Stock Exchange and let me do the trading for him for the first time! Now you can only imagine how happy I must have been. And when I come home, there's this waiting for me. Thankfully enough, before I could have lost my temper and told her something, Mota Babuji beat me to it and gave her a good piece of his mind (as well as mine, too) and got her to apologize to me. Well, she looked like she'd have preferred eating an egg for breakfast rather than apologize to me, but she had to do it nonetheless.
Fine, let it go. No use talking about something I know isn't going to change anytime soon.
So coming to the more positive aspect of the day, I actually did intra-trading for the first time today! Yay! All this time, Mota-Babuji let me handle the theoretical aspect of how trading was to be done and would take me along with him as an advisor to the BSE building. But for the first time, he let me try my hand at it. And oh my goodness, it looked so brilliant and simple when I watched him do it, but it's only today that I realize how crazily insane and hard it is to even get yourself heard above the din that's created.
Okay now, I could have done much, much better, but I just got brain-washed with the horde of people and the awe with what I was actually doing. I didn't generate the most fruitful of trading profits for the day, though Mota Babuji seems to be very proud of the way I carried myself over there. He says that I was calm, poised and exceptionally well-behaved for a first time trader, and he said that I had all the qualities of becoming a valuable stocktrader in the future.
But what was surprising today was the conversation that Mota Babuji and I shared while returning back home. Like always, the two of were discussing about today's markets and how the steady growth of the SENSEX seemed to be a booster for several of the portfolios that we were managing when he car came to a halt at the signal. One of the street hawkers came up to us with a couple of bouquets in his hand, knocking at the window constantly.
Mota Babuji gave the man a pensive look before rolling his glass down and buying the brightest bouquet in his hand for a 70 rupees, the hawker walking away showering blessings upon both of us. I looked at Mota Babuji curiously as I saw him smiling at the bouquet while sniffing it, looking satisfied. The bouquet was an amalgamation of red roses, yellow tulips, white lilies, and the blue-purple bells of orchids (Ishaani's favourite).
"Why'd you buy them, Mota Babuji?" I asked him curiously. Mota Babuji gave me a soft grin, looking not unlike a teenager caught doing mischief.
"I bought them for your Falguni Maa. She loves them," he replied, the love in his voice evident.
"But didn't you just give her flowers yesterday?" I questioned, now slightly puzzled. Mota Babuji turned to look at me with a sage look on his face.
"Well, you must always know how to keep your woman happy, Ranveer. Never let the romance die away from a relationship because after a couple of years down the line, that's what keeps your relationship going. Not love, but romance," he replied me, his voice warm. "You're going to turn eighteen this October, it's about time you start picking up on tips," he added rather playfully and I blushed.
"There's no use for these tips, Mota Babuji... I have no one," I sighed, my voice desolate in spite of the colour in my face.
"Well, just because you have no one right now doesn't mean that you won't have one in the future," replied Mota Babuji astutely and I'm certain that I flushed harder. He gave me a broad smile before I asked him stupidly.
"You love Falguni Maa a lot, don't you?" Mota Babuji gave me a serene look before speaking gently.
"Much more so than you can imagine."
"How?" I asked him stupidly, and I distinctly heard Baba gasp from the driver's seat.
"Love isn't something you devise, Ranveer. It just happens," he confided to me as he gave me a scrutinizing look. "And it's a very weird question, coming from you," he remarked suddenly, turning to look at me more closely now. I sunk a little more into my seat.
"I... I didn't mean..." I stuttered but trail off when I don't find anything better to say. Mota Babuji gave me a keen look, now speaking softly.
"I know what you meant to ask, Ranveer. What you wanted to ask was how I could love your Falguni Maa so much when she doesn't love me like the way I do," he exclaimed, and I let out a cry of shock unconsciously. And so did Baba. Mota Babuji lets out a small chuckle before speaking once again.
"Love is a very curious thing, Ranveer. One-sided love even more so, because unlike other kinds of love, that's only yours to behold. It has the power to make the love of one suffice for two, and it's something that only you can behold because that's your right. Only your right," emphasized Mota Babuji passionately, and I have to admit that I was bewitched with the fire in his eyes.
"Doesn't it bother you, but?" I quickly questioned again, my curiosity now completely aroused. I could hear Baba clicking his tongue in disapproval.
"Why would it?" he replies, his tone now supple. "Your Falguni Maa cares for me and respects me the most. She's made my family her own and has embraced everything so warmly. She's given me two lovely children in the form of Ishaani and Disha. Why would it bother me?"
"I thought marriage was built on love," I remarked swiftly. He smiled in return.
"Marriages are built not only on love, my son," he began me quietly. "There's a lot of other things that go into a marriage. Faith, honesty, trust, communication, understanding, romance, friendship... love is also a part of it, but not the whole."
"I don't understand," I confessed, now frowning at him. He sighed.
"Ranveer, more often than not, there are several people who are madly in love but can never be together. And then there are several people who enter into the binding act of marriage in spite of not being in love, and yet they manage to find love eventually," he replied patiently. I stared at him blankly.
"But aren't those two separate things? Love is a bond, marriage is just an institution," I countered, and he gave me an amused look.
"And this is exactly why your Falguni Maa and I share a bond. My love alone is enough for create it. You've answered your own question," he added triumphantly, his eyes glinting happily. I gave him an unsatisfied look.
"But still, Mota Babuji... doesn't one-sided love hurt?" I asked him, and he suddenly turned pensive again.
"Hmm... if you want an honest reply, yes it does at times," he admitted honestly with a sigh. I could see that twinkle from his eyes momentarily disappear. However, it was back again the next moment, even stronger than before.
"Even I'm human and living with a one-sided love is not easy for so many years. I've been in love with your Falguni Maa for ten years now and have been married to her for eight. But there isn't a single day when your Falguni Maa doesn't fail to teach me something new about love, even though she may not share the same kind of love for me that I do for her. There are two fundamentals about any relationship that you must never forget, Ranveer."
"And what's that, Mota Babuji?" I pestered inquisitively. He shot me a loving smile.
"Compromise and sacrifice. No relationship can work without these two," he replied, his expression now fatherly.
"Sometimes, Ishaani and I always wonder how is it that you and Falguni Maa have such a happy marriage when she doesn't love you..." I whispered, more to myself than to him. But then again, this fact wasn't hidden from him either.
"Ranveer, there are several realms to love," he says, while I listen attentively as though this was the only chance I had to grasp all of life's secrets. "Love isn't something that you measure as white or black. There are several shades of grey in between as well. Love is something that isn't simply reflected by words or promises. No, love is something that can be seen with actions as well. Like a wise man once told me - pyaar ek se zyada logon se ho sakta hai, par aashiqui sirf ek hi se hoti hai."
I nodded my head, taking in the weight of his words as he continued.
"Like for instance - every morning, your Falguni Maa always keeps my handkerchief and briefcase ready for me when I go to take a shower, knowing that I'd get late if I spent time assembling up everything at the last minute. Or she straightens out my tie so that I can look perfect and crisp in front of my employees and colleagues. Or she gives me a call at exactly 8:45 in the morning to ask me whether I've reached my office or not. Or she waits up for me in the night in the room, just so that I have company when I'm working late into the night and I don't fall asleep working. These tiny little things are all forms of love, Ranveer. She may not see me as her true love or some fantastic prince from the fairy tales, but that doesn't mean that she doesn't love me. You see it?" he asked me, slightly breathless. I finally did.
Sitting silently for a few minutes, I decided to break the silence with another stupid question.
"Will I ever find someone like that for me?"
"If you are lucky, you will," replied Mota Babuji quickly, eyeing me keenly now. "You may not necessarily end up with the person you love, but always remember that love is never the same. It always changes with every person. No two people can love the same."
"What's hate, Mota Babuji?" I questioned suddenly. I still don't know why I asked this, but I did nonetheless. He looked at me, slightly confused, but replied promptly nonetheless.
"When love is buried under anger, resentment, ego, hurt or betrayal, it becomes hate. Hate is crossing the line of love to the opposite side. There can be no hate without love," he added, now looking even more bewildered with where I was taking the conversation to.
"Then why does Baa hate us?" I asked him, the reproach evident in my voice. Understanding passed along his features as he answered uncomfortably now.
"Ah... I'm afraid that like love, even hate has got several realms," he replied carefully. "One such realm of hate is where it simply exists without a foundation. Mostly on the pillars of solely humiliation, dislike, revenge and prejudice."
"How do you know so much? How are you so wise?" I wondered out aloud out of the blue, now sounding completely awestruck like always. I can get really embarrassing at times.
"Life, son, life," he quickly replied back, now chuckling softly. "Life teaches it to you as it throws challenge after challenge, where either way you'll always emerge from it with a lesson and an experience to safeguard. Life is like a portfolio. You cannot have it running positive all the time, or negative. Like the markets, even time keeps changing. No man is ever born to perish with the same fate, Ranveer. He's always born to change it."
"Will I be able to change my own fate?" I asked, this time looking at him with an eagerness that must have really looked foolish. Somehow, Mota Babuji always answered all of my questions without even the slightest trace of annoyance. That's why I love him so much.
"If you work hard enough, I don't see why not," he replied, and I bombard him once again with the immaturity of my teenage hormones.
"Then why do people say that we're born with our destiny written?"
Mota Babuji now looked genuinely surprised this time. Evidently, he was not expecting me to go this way. Giving me an engaging look, he spoke cautiously this time.
"It's because we are all born for a purpose. No man is born without one. He may not know it, but every man manages to bring a change into this world, whether it may be as infinitesimal as a proton, or as humongous as this galaxy. God gives every man the tool to re-write his destiny, and yet he ends up at the finish line with what is ultimately written for him," he added, his eyes suddenly meeting my own with a passion that didn't go unnoticed by me.
"Is that true for all things, Mota Babuji? Even love?" I questioned him shrewdly, and he smirked now.
"That's a very curious thing you ask me now, Ranveer," he replied and something of an undercurrent passes between us. I'm not sure that I understood what it was that I saw in Mota Babuji's eyes, but it was something along affection. He continued.
"I'm afraid, the rules of love aren't simple because there aren't any rules to it. But I strongly believe that if two people are meant to be, nothing can stop them from re-uniting. Whether they are star-crossed lovers or soulmates. Nothing can separate them," he ended strongly, giving me a subtle look.
"Then why are romance-tragedies so common?" I asked again, now embarrassed. God, the amount of crazy stuff I've asked him today was surprising!
"It's because people perceive them like that," he confessed, and he lost me from here. "If there isn't a happy ending to your story, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's the end of it. That's just your untold story. I believe that every love story has a time if it is meant to work out... It may not be your time now, and it may definitely not be a glorious farewell. But there will definitely be a time where your paths will intersect again and your untold story finally becomes the part of a new one."
"I'm confused now," I admitted rather shame-facedly while he smiled. I'm confused even now as to what he meant.
"You're too young to understand about it, son. But trust me, when you grow older, you'll remember this conversation one day. I've entrusted a lot of secrets to you today, and I hope that you'll be able to connect that dots when the time comes," he told me enigmatically and I'm reminded of Love's mysterious statements at once.
Pushing her aside from my thoughts as another thought bloomed it way into my mind, I look at the bouquet in Mota Babuji's hand inquisitively.
"Um, can I get a flower from the bouquet?" I requested politely, and to my sheer delight, he smiled in response.
"By all means."
Mota Babuji removed a blue orchid from the bouquet and handed it over to me and needless to say, I was unable to hide away my astonishment.
"Don't look so surprised, Ranveer. She's the only girl you'd ever burn down this world to make happy. Goodness knows the amount of mood swings she keeps getting these days... She'll be happy if you give this to her," he said with a wink and I blushed once again. Before I could reply, Mota Babuji exclaimed out aloud that we'd reached home.
The car came to a halt at the gate and I sprung out from the car, waiting for Mota Babuji to do the same. He got down gracefully and made his way into the house, I following him quickly. Before I could enter however, I spotted Ishaani sitting idly in the garden, plucking out the grass agitatedly. I simply walked over to her and patted her shoulder, her neck instantly snapping up so that her fired-up eyes met my own tranquil ones.
I handed out the orchid that I'd hidden behind my back and she gasped in surprise, looking short for words. I gave her a goofy grin as she looked at me, bewildered.
"Life's full of pleasant surprises," I whisper, handing over the flower to her.
She gave me a blank look before her face broke out into the biggest of smiles, her happiness radiating in the air around me so that suddenly, I could feel a new euphoria burst into it. She took the flower from my hand and mouthed a quick 'thank you', my heart suddenly going all pitter-patter. I swear I was on Cloud 9 that this on-the-spot reckless action worked off well.
I quickly waved her goodbye as I ran towards the main door, instantly more awkward when I saw Mota Babuji waiting for me. It was obvious that he had witnessed the entire scene between us. He gave me an amused grin before we entered into the house, shaking his head with a thought only he had access to. Neither of us knew that Baa was in wait for us.
And yes, I'm not wasting another paragraph on her, so I'm skipping straight forward. I don't see the sense in repeating the same words over every three pages, since she tells me the same thing every three days. By the time the whole thing was done, I realized that Ishaani had overheard everything. Needless to say, it was so embarrassing that I walked away without speaking another word. She knows me well enough by now to know that when I refuse to meet eyes with her and ignore her completely, it's the times when I want to be alone. She understood, and didn't follow me.
Never mind, let's move ahead. I returned back to my room straight after everybody were done with their dinner. Baba had taken Papa out for an investor's meeting, so it was just going to be me in the room tonight. I had barely shut the door when I noticed something on my pillow, catching my surprise. Quickly walking towards it, I saw the same blue-purple orchid that I'd give Ishaani hours ago beside a bowl of butterscotch ice-cream, an unconscious gasp escaping my lips. But what really caught my main attention was a note that sat beside the bowl of ice-cream.
Opening the note that had her characteristic neat handwriting, I chuckled softly as I remembered Mota Babuji's principles of love from earlier before. Oh, there was barely anything that I understood from that conversation, but I was confident that I had already started upon the path of my destiny. Eventually, I'd know what he meant by it all. Oh wait, before I forget about what she'd written in that note - here it goes.
Ranveer pulled out the note from underneath his diary and smiled to himself before quoting her word for word. Sighing in a daze-filled happiness, he admired her writing in the note for a few minutes before putting the note on the page of his current entry and shutting the book.
Life indeed is full of pleasant surprises, and you are the biggest one in mine.
Constructive criticism will be more than welcome and sorry for any typos. :D :D
Next chapter:
Epistle 46
Edited by LadyMeringue - 8 years ago
CID
Bade Achche Lagte Hain Naya Season
