"I Love U"

"Your husband will probably kill me but I have to say that I fall in love with you a little bit more, every time I hear you."

I heard him say the words to me. 

It was not the first time I was hearing such words. 

I knew they were harmless words of appreciation.

I had just ended my speech regarding God, so no way, he was disrespectful or flirting....

Still, the words made me pause for a second.

How easily we use these words now a days. Not just words of love but of hate, as well.

In the East, the words "I love you" used to be very sacred. The first time I ever uttered those words were for my husband after marriage. No, I never used them for even my parents or siblings as there was no need for it. The love I shared with my family was so deep and practical that it did not have to rely on words for self expression. The actions said it all. Same was true for friendship. 

I did use them for my husband because that kind of love was unique and needed special expressions. It was a relationship like no other and the one that did require explicit declaration of love, though, in the East, even that is often expressed shyly, in the privacy of a bedroom only.

When A Woman Lets You Hold Her

WHEN A WOMAN LETS YOU HOLD HER

When a woman lets you hold her...

She entrusts you what belongs her

She walks straight, with head held high...

"She is safe", whenever that grip assures her

She wants the world to see you two..

As she is yours, when you are all beside her

She will not walk ahead of you but, that...

does not mean, you can push her or drag her

It is not merely that body, you touch...

She lets you caress the soul of her

No longer can she see herself, as one...

Forlorn, the picture thus eludes her

Do not shatter the dream, my friend...

Your hold can truly make her or break her

When a woman lets you hold her...

Cherish, for you are now, a real part of her

Her Surprised Decision

Sixteen years and three children later, he said to her...

"Yes, I am having an affair with another woman.

Don't be a conservative...go find an interest elsewhere!"

She stood rooted though he had pulled the rug from under her feet.

She fought, pleaded, reasoned, argued....and said in the end...

"Marry and make an honorable woman out of her. 

I cannot see you sin. 

For me, there can be no one if not you. 

I will not get a divorce....

I want to keep the door open for the father of my children."

She learned the basic difference in the natures of man and woman.

She had given him all. He was her everything. 

He had everything, yet he wanted some more.

She had never imagined that she would share her husband with another woman but that day, she made a decision that even surprised her. 

Four Floors Apart

A shiver ran through me as I stepped into the hospital elevator.

Only a few months ago, I had spent five terrible days on the twelfth floor.

My physician friends had tried, teased and slightly mocked me.

They said, there was no need for me, to stay.

Nothing in the world would make me leave.

Leaving the kids with others, I stayed right there, beside him.

On the twelfth floor!

The cardiac floor!

The floor where they tried their best to find out...

Why my husband's heart was acting, in that strange way?

It was not his age....

Nor were there, any other obvious roots!

The nurses were sure gorgeous, but still not the cause.

His heart had gone wild, way before the bed baths ;-)

Five days, did I say? 

They were centuries...of turmoil and pained thoughts.

I'm so glad that the nightmare was over, after five days, with a cure at hand.

Today, in the elevator...

A thought occurred to me...

Eighth and twelfth were only four floors apart,

Yet the emotions on both floors were two poles apart.

While scare touched the heart at one...

Just four floors down, joys where at large...

With a smile of my own...

I pushed the lighted number...

To go see the baby of a friend, on the eighth floor...

That was where, a new life was at it's start.

SUCCESS

Success!
People measure it in terms of wealth, property or money.

Sometimes it's associated with achievements. Medals, positions or titles.

Family, children or friends are indicators of success for some.

Happiness, most certainly, is attached to it a lot.

Attainment of one's goal is defined as success but the most interesting definition I found was "the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors".
They all made sense but seemed incomplete.

I felt that those were shallow definitions of this multifaceted term. There was much more to it than that. Something was missing...and then it came to me..

Contentment is success. Coming to terms with one's own self is the biggest success. Doesn't matter if the world thinks of a person as a failure. As long as that person is at peace with the inner self, s/he is successful in this life.

THE CHASE

She smiled a lovely smile at me...

But once she got my attention...

She mocked, teased and ran away!

Insulted, shocked and daunted...

I took on her pursuit, bewildered...

How come she was running away?

She was mine and I was hers...

Surely our fates were entwined...

How could she throw it all away?

I ran and ran, after her, obsessively I ran...

Like a passion, I followed her...

She had to know, I wasn't going away!

She turned around and came to me...

Smiled that capturing smile of hers...

And murmured, "Who was running away?"

She put her arm around my back...

Whispered, "Darling, I'm your destiny ...

Look back and see how far have you come away!"

I turned around, acknowledged and smiled...

She whacked me then and sprinted ahead...

"Come, I have to take you far far away!"

Innocence Sabotaged

A SILENT STRUGGLE

It was by accident that I stumbled upon his secret. In an emotionally weak moment the wife let out the closely guarded secret. I could not believe and asked her twice if what I had heard was indeed true. I had known the family for some time now and could never, in a million years, have imagined this about the husband. To me, he was a popular, successful, charming friend with a man next door appeal. What I did not know or could have ever imagined was:

He was born 80% deaf of hearing!

He was diagnosed with a 80% hearing deficiency in his childhood. He could hear 20% of all sorts of frequencies without a problem but he could not hear 80% other frequencies at all. If played at full volume, he could pick up a few vibrations but at normal pitch, it was difficult for him to catch them. In his childhood, the doctors informed the heart broken parents that there was no cure or even hope of a cure for such a birth defect.

The most amazing part was that his defect did not show at all. To all appearances, he was a healthy, normal and a very happy child. No one could have guessed his handicap. He was intelligent and smart.  The parents did not want to disclose his problem to anyone and it became a secret over time as he soon learnt how to lip read to overcome his hearing problem. This did not mean that his life was easy. He had a rough childhood where no one understood his dilemmas, his fears and his shortcomings. So much so that at times, his own loving parents would end up scolding or slapping him for not picking up the phone on ringing or opening up a door on a bell. He coped so efficiently with daily life and normal routines that it was very easy to forget about his struggles.

A sensitive soul, he did not share his inner struggles with anyone. No one knew how he longed to hear a hummingbird sing or the sparrows chirp. No one knew how difficult it was for him to understand at times why people suddenly started running to evacuate the buildings or malls because he could never hear the sound of that blaring fire alarm. He read about all these things in books. He never discussed with anyone how he always guessed at the spoken words by hearing a fraction of the whole sound. He had never, in his whole life, heard the complete sound!

He kept all this inside. He never shared it with a soul, not even his wife. I guess, God made him stronger that way. It was his own way of putting aside his constant hurdles. He faced them without showing them, without wearing a tag to get sympathy. He was too honorable to get pity from anyone. He created a small world for himself where he was most content. He worked hard to overcome difficulties in life. He competed with perfectly normal people and out did them without ever revealing his weakness. I guess, when God deprives a person from one, He sharpens that person's other faculties. In his case, it sure was the case.
He led a most normal, happy and successful life with God's blessings.

His wife made me promise that I would never discuss the secret with him. (She did give me permission for this blog). I'm never going to but I cannot help marveling at his humble nature and extraordinary abilities every time I meet him. I will never do it but there are times when I want to approach him and salute him. I want to tell him how much honor and respect my heart holds for him. But I guess, somethings are better left unsaid!