Love Story of a Real Life

Movies and theatres portray a very different kind of love stories, with all the glitterier and joy and a notion of happily ever after

Although no real love story is happily ever after, how many of them are love in its true sense in the first place,

Couples scream, shout, cheat, and make each other’s life hell

But amongst all the horror tales is a story of a couple with love in its true colors. Yes it’s not happily after, but it certainly left a happy mark

Each day at 7:15 in the morning at a metro station my house, stood a couple, waiting like all of us to board the metro. The couple was not unusual, regular talks, sometimes just usual silence. They were married so no mushy romance seen, but still there was something very unusual about them. I didn’t know their name so i named them Mr. Desai and Mrs. Desai

Each day as they boarded the train and took a seat, the husband would take out the newspaper and the wife started knitting, a red sweater. With occasional talk about what happened the last day or chit chat about the neighbor’s tantrums the journey went on.

As each day passed, the routine remained the same, the same talks about the annoying neighbors ,relatives and sometimes in-laws. The same boarding of the train and sitting in couch number 2

The only difference was the pattern that appeared on the sweater being knit by the wife. One day the chest formed, one day the back, one day the neck took shape and finally one day the left arm was completed.

Then suddenly the couple wasn’t seen the next day and the day after and the day after.

It felt empty, almost as something was missing from my mundane life. I looked around, tried missing the train in hope that may be they were late and slowly adjusted to them not being there anymore

I really didn’t know them, not even their real names, so although disappointingly, I accepted the absence

Then one day, I saw Mr. Desai standing there at the station, waiting for the train

Something was unusual, something was out of pattern and I realized that he was alone. I gathered up my courage to go and ask him how he is. He starred back, and said something that embarrassed me" isn’t you the one that stared me and my wife in metro". An awkward silence followed it and as the trained arrived I and Mr. Desai boarded it and took a seat next to each other. 

After few moments of silence, i asked him where his wife was; he said "woh nahi aayi" and looked away

The tone hinted me of anger and I assumed a household quarrel. After all which sane couple didn’t have a fight. 

But something in the silence provoked me to ask again about her, and then came a reply," she left me few days ago. She had been battling with cancer for long and couldn’t make it”. He had pain in eyes and my heartfelt out for him. And then in almost funny way I noticed his attire for the day. He was wearing the same red sweater with the beautiful pattern on it................ but only with the left arm of it