Over the next three years I watched my friend through this love. Their love affair was tumultuous to say the least. Their differences that had once brought them together, now tore them apart, he knew he couldn't marry someone of a different religion. She was willing to sacrifice all she had for one lifetime with him. I did eventually meet this boy, deep into the relationship. I met him after watching my friend drown in love for three years. Her face no longer glowed with love, it was now desperate. She lived in a constant fear that he would leave her. Leave her all by herself. His face did not glow. He could not meet my eyes, during that dinner. His entire energy was ashamed and embarrassed of the betrayal he was sure to commit.
They say that all great love stories end in tragedy. This one ended in marriage and a broken heart. He eventually chose his family and his religion over his love. He married a girl that his parents had arranged for him. My friend and her broken heart lost hope.
Over the years I watched her spiral out of control into her misery. I tried to help, but I just couldn't. The weight of her grief was too heavy for me to carry. After three years of consoling her, and standing by her side, I had to cut her off. She was taking me down with her.
It's been two years since I talked to my friend, and I always wonder what has become of her. Yesterday as I was waiting to cross the street I noticed the man in the car at the stoplight staring at me. Our eyes met, there was recognition... and there he was: married, with his wife, and his newborn child. He had the look of quiet desperation in his eyes. I realized something that I had never thought of before. Maybe his life was the more tragic. My friend has a chance to find her new love, to move on. He was sitting in that car staring at me remembering her. And I saw it in his eyes.
Gandhi once said, "A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave." My friend was very brave...
1 comment:
If you have not already read "The Portrait of Marriage" by Pearl S Buck, I advise you to do so whenever you find time. People brought up in western society are intrigued by the low divorse rate in Indian traditional marriages.
Although it has changed a great deal with increase in the number of separations after marriage, still it is only a small fraction.
Love that binds two persons becomes that much stronger if it binds two families. Marriage is based on the principle of sacrifice to make one's spouse happy and to some extent also those who have been making that person happy till he or she has reached the stage of getting married.In modern times most of the Indian parents seek happiness in the happiness of their offspring. Most of them do'nt impose their wishes to make their child unhappy. The only thing that most parents desire is that their child will inform them of his/her views. The case you mention is very strange in this light.
Post a Comment