Winds of love

The dry-dusty February winds were blowing outside. The rays of the sun were fighting with the dusty wind to make an appearance. It was dull and dusty outside. The turmoil in the February weather reflected in the thoughts of Rashmi. Her world has been usurped by unfavourable winds, her memories gathering dust and her hope and happiness fighting a losing battle to emerge victory. She was fighting against hope and desperation. Her dull life was rendered colourless by dusty winds of angst and despair. She was not ready for this marriage. Not at all.

How could she be? Hadn’t she decided on not falling in love again. And can any marriage be complete without love?

She never wanted love to come to her life again. The pages of her life that was painted with hues love and compassion were torn off. She was too wary to even think of marriage. But as fate may have, Rashmi’s parents fixed her marriage with Raj. Her parents knew of their daughter’s turmoil. And they felt that marriage would bring an end to the misery of their daughter.

Raj was a decent guy. When he first saw Rashmi, he had madly fallen in love with her. To him, love at first sight was Rashmi. But he could always feel the emotional upheaval in her eyes. He knew something was bothering her and her apathy towards him tore him. He tried asking her if she was ready for marriage. But she was too afraid of baring her heart out to a man again. She could not afford to be at the receiving end of disbelief and mistrust again. Love has faded away from her life.

Rashmi loved her parents, and more the all, she had a lot of respect for her mother. She could not resist her mother’s request when she asked her daughter for a favour. No mother would ever want her child to wreath in pain. And she knew that all Rashmi needed was a little tolerance, some compassion and an unconditional love to overcome her grief.  Her parents found that Raj was a person who would understand their Rashmi well and wipe away the winds of disbelief from her life. They persuaded Rashmi to accept this proposal for the sake of their happiness and that they wanted to see their daughter happy and laughing again.

Against her wishes, Rashmi had to bow down to the love and respect she had for her parents and married Raj. One the day of her marriage, her mother came and told to her – “You cannot go searching for love dear. Its always around you. It will always find a way to reach to you….only if you keep your hope alive.”

Thus, began a journey of Rashmi…… to a destination she was not aware of, a road she never wanted to tread but yet she undertook the journey. Raj was aware of the mental turmoil that was brewing inside his wife, but he could never really fathom the deepness of her pain. Rashmi withdrew herself into a cocoon. She could never reciprocate to the love and compassion of Raj.

But Raj never gave up. He was adamant of bringing love back into the life of Rashmi. He tolerated her indifference towards him with more love and affection. He loved Rashmi and wanted her to forego her pain. He tried every possible step to make her realise that every pain has a remedy and that love is always waiting for her to embrace her. Raj was relentlessly trying to make Rashmi open her eyes to his love and compassion. He had patiently tolerated her indifference without ever saying anything to her. Because he knew that one day his beloved would understand the language of love that he had always wanted her to understand. He waited patiently for that beautiful day to come.

The love and compassion of Raj had slowly but steadily started to grow roots into Rashmi’s heart. The dusty winds of disbelief and broken trust had started to wane off. A faint ray of hope had started to warm-up her heart. The love and tolerance of Raj for the past two years have waived off her pain and gifted her a hope to believe in love again.

Two years have passed by since her marriage. The dry-dusty winds of February has started to blow again.  Rashmi peered through the window and saw the faint rays of sunlight fighting a battle with the dusty winds. There was a strange happiness in Rashmi’s heart…..a sweet hope….for a new future……and beautiful journey. Her mother’s words on her wedding day echoed in her mind – “You cannot go searching for love dear. Its always around you. It will always find a way to reach to you….only if you keep your hope alive.”

Rashmi thought to herself – “Love was always around me, protecting me, giving me hopes and nurturing me with tolerance and compassion. You were always there with me Raj…with your hope and love. I was a fool never to notice that love. I promise that this life that I share with you, shall always be full of love, compassion and tolerance. You are my sunshine, my wind of love…”

Love needs no special day to enjoy,

Love needs no special reason to believe,

A little tolerance and some compassion,

Is all that love needs…..

This short story is written as a part of the writing challenge for Write Tribe’s : The Language Of Love – A Contest