Together

I have been with my husband for Two Thousand Five Hundred and Ninety Four days now. That’s a little over seven years 🙂 And yet, I can count on my fingers the days we felt truly together. These are precious days. These are days that are etched in my memory for being special and for making me feel special. These are days that are precious for making me believe that we truly belong together!

It was October’08 and we had been married for just about eight months. We were in Delhi then and the air had just about begun to cool in the evenings when he suggested going to Nainital on a weekend break. (Nainital is a popular tourist destination around Delhi)

“To a hill station?”, I was hesitant since I am a water baby and I don’t do mountains well.

“It will be worth our while!”, he replied with child like enthusiasm.

Of course I had to agree. We reached Nanintal early on a Saturday morning braving an overnight road journey and did all manner of touristy things that day. The next morning we checked out of our hotel by noon and had ten hours to spend before our bus back home. After doing a few more touristy things and lunch, we settled on the lakeside promenade. It was a glorious day. It was a bit overcast but not dreary. It was cool enough to give you the hill station feel but not freeze your bones. There was a slight breeze that fanned you but did not interrupt conversations. In short, the nature Gods created the perfect ambiance for us to just be there and talk. We spent about six hours on the promenade that day. We were just sitting by the edge of that lake facing each other and talking. We talked about everything under the sun, played games, told stories of our childhood, shared dreams for our future. It was a day that we spent being ourselves and discovering things about each other that we had not known earlier. Now why was it so extra ordinary and precious you ask? Well, you would not if you experienced something like this. In our everyday lives, we hardly get opportunities to really talk. And when we do, it is almost always time bound. There is some chore, some need that would jump up for your attention. Be it the biggies like moving to a new city and finding a place to stay, or the small ones like your child needing a bath! On an activity filled vacation, you are busy going from one place to another, seeing sights and clicking pictures. Once we did all of this and realised that we have loads of time on our hands and nothing really to be done, we were able to truly relax. It was one of those times that we were wrapped in a cocoon of our own, even in a crowd. The only thing that really mattered was us and what we felt, what we thought. What mattered that on that day, we were just together

More than six years have passed and while I may not recall each and every conversation, I recall each and every emotion. I recall the happiness I felt, just enjoying the company. I remember the dreams we created about our future. I remember talking about having children and how many of them!! I remember the warmth I felt inside even in the cold 🙂 All those feelings that filled me with confidence of a great future together. It gave me a new found optimism that life will be good. Even with its ups and downs. We will hold together. I remember the feelings of amazement that two people, so different at the surface can decide to make a marriage work. Yes, I remember all that. Looking back, it has been good… no, it has been great! For that, I am eternally grateful 🙂