It was Monday morning of 15th
Feb, a lonely and a quite sad day for him. The Monday morning was not the reason
for his dullness; the real reason was that he had to celebrate this year’s Valentine’s
Day alone, without her. She had gone to visit her parents and was at her home
town, whereas he was walking towards his office. He was taking heavy steps
towards the building when he got a call from her. It was unusual for her to
call at this time while being at her parent’s place. He got a silent chill as
he realized that something was not good.
He picked up the phone with a
little hesitation, “Hey there! Well it’s a pleasant surprise that you called me
so early.”
“Hmm…” she replied.
This ‘Hmm...’ was a sign of
danger as he further inquired, “What happened to you? All well?”
“No. Things are getting very
bad” she said.
As his heart was cringing he
stopped walking and said, “Can you please elaborate and not shoot puzzles?”
“Yes” she said, “Papa is not
going to agree on our marriage! With every passing day he is gets more
impatient. I don’t understand what I should do. My mother and grandmother have
also put down their weapons as they think that papa will never agree on this
marriage.”
He was listening very patiently
as this was the girl he had planned on spending his life with.
She carried on after a little
gulp, “I don’t understand why everyone is going against us! What wrong have we
done? These questions crawl in my mind all the time. What should we do?”
He had no answers to her
questions as he too was a boy who was in love with this girl. He didn’t have
the right answers which would fill the blank space in her heart. Still he had
to tell her something. He couldn’t just leave her on her condition.
And he answered her question
with a question, “Sweetheart! Do you know what all these people are doing?”
“No…” she said with a little hope
in her voice.
“They are just bringing us
closer” he said, “I sometimes think about all the toys that I used to own as a
kid. I don’t remember any of them but just one. And the toy I remember is the
one that I actually never had!”
She was very seriously listening
to his words.
He continued, “When I was a kid
I once got sick and my dad took me to our family doctor. The specialty of that
doctor was that he had very unique toys that he would let his child patients
play with so that he could distract them from the whole process of the checkup.
Now that day he gave me a box. It was a grey metal box with flower like designs
engraved on it and when I opened the box a little plastic doll with a pink
frock would start dancing on a melodious tune. I liked that box more that any
other toy that I ever had.”
“Then”, she said.
He laughed and replied, “Then?
Then I remember is that I never owned that box. And what my parents tell me is
that I cried so much for it. My father tried to purchase one for me but it was
not available in the market. At least this is what dad tells me!
Anyways, Slowly I realized that
I will never have that box but I waited for the next time when I’ll go to that
Doctor and see that little doll dance.”
She said, “Interesting story, but
why are you telling me this?”
He said, “I am trying to
explain to you the essence and the beauty of the unachievable. Now just
understand, I never had that box as one of my own but the craving of having it
was what made it so special. I had so many toys but all I could remember is the
one which was in front of me but was unachievable. I even remember the color
and design of the box, the doll, the doll’s dress and even the music. The bond
that was there in between me and that thing was what made it so memorable for
me. The doctor and my parents would stop me from taking that box with me every time
that I visited the doctor but every time when they stopped me, they were
actually increasing my craving for that box. Not being able to achieve the box
was what made it so special!
Now just put yourself in my
place and put me in the place of that box. What all people are doing right now is
to push both of us apart. But that is just adding fuel to the fire. It is just
making us realize that what we really mean to each other and how important it
is for us to be together. Nothing so beautiful and serene can ever be achieved
so easily and if you achieve it with no fight, it’s simply not worth it!”
His words were making sense to
her and a smile had started appearing on her face.
“Yes, you are right! We will
actually understand the true worth of our relationship only after we earn it.
And that is what we are doing right now, earning it! Each time when we head for
a fight we’ll stop and remember these days when we fought for our love.” she
exclaimed.
“Exactly and on the contrary we’ll
have awesome stories that we will tell to our children and grandchildren. Isn’t
it?”
Both their minds were at peace
now and they were heading to a wonderful day. He was not sure that from where
these thoughts came from, but it was real and impactful.
“OK then, I’ll go now. My boss
is waiting for me with a whip!” he said.
She giggled, “Hey but in your
story you never got the box with the doll. What do you have to say about that
Mr. Philosopher?”
He smiled and replied, “Well, the
doll is not in the box now, she is out of it and this time no one can stop me
from taking her home with me!”
by Ambuj
