A love so abiding!

The night sky was dark blue with the stars twinkling. There was this moonlit ambience. The cool breeze stroked the cheeks making them pink. Neil and Nitu were gazing the stars. As they lay under the serene and silent sky on the beach. They could hear the waves rising and kissing the shores to silently retreat and march again. They could hear their heartbeats in unison with these waves. They had so much to talk about but, this time, they were inarticulate to express their exact emotions. They were sitting close enough yet were distant and feeling short of words. One wrong word said, could cause more misunderstandings.

Neil and Nitu had taken a break from work to spend time and clear things between them. Neil was a businessman, running his own company. He had to attend meetings, go on business tours every month, had to attend conferences, business parties. Nitu was self employed too. She was a wedding planner. She had to run up and down the town for venues, catering, decorations, bridal shopping, salons etc. Both of them were married for 3 years now.

They had fallen in love at first sight. They had met at a wedding. Neil could not take his eyes off when Nitu was on the stage dancing to the tune of 'london thumakda'. Her thumkas made him go crazy. The song changed to 'Bole chudiyan bole kangana, hai mei ho gayi teri sajana...' and Nitu ended up pointing towards Neil. Their eyes met and Nitu goofed up all the remaining steps. She barely managed to finish her performance and got off the stage. Her friends were surprised to see Nitu flabbergasted. Nitu was the best dancer in their group. How could she goof up? Nitu somehow escaped the glares. She had to stop by the drinks counter to get something to heal her parched throat. She ordered a 'Mojito'. She drank the cocktail bottoms up and as soon as she turned her face, Neil was standing besides her. She wondered, "Am I hallucinating?". But then she heard him say "Hi, I am Neil. You are a very good dancer". "Its actually him", she came to her senses.She had totally fallen for him. She stared at him for few seconds and fumbled, "Oooh! Thanks, ummm...I am Nitu".

They dated for 2 years after that. Neil had already started his own business. He was doing good, at his young age. Nitu was a fresher, she had just made her new venture with wedding planning. She wasnt much busy either. They had plenty of time to spend with each other. They celebrated their birthdays, all their anniversaries - first dinner, first clubbing, first kiss..... They were so much in love. They were almost inseparable.  Finally they decided to tie a knot and be together forever.

After marriage, lot of things transformed. They became more and more busy with their work. They were always short of time when it came to spending time together. The love they had, seemed to be diminishing slowly. They were just worried about earning more and being successful. They started having clashes and quarrels over small things and their points of view. Neil started underestimating Nitu's work. Nitu didnt appreciate Neil either. They were always finding faults in each other to show 'how one is better than the other'. More than a couple, they had become competitors now.

The distance between them was increasing continuously. The scenario had started bothering them. But none of them wanted to stop and give it a thought, as to - Whats going on in their married life? Are they really happy? Do they care for each other?

One fine day, at a friend's party, Neil and Nitu got into a serious fight. They lost the sense of where they were, what they were saying. Their friends were worried for them. They couldnt bare to see the hostility between the couple who was once deeply in love. The friends decided to help them out by making them take a break and introspect. They forcefully made Neil and Nitu to go out on a holiday to the same destination as their honeymoon's.

It was the same beach they had strolled along, holding their hands, during their honeymoon. It was the same sea that had witnessed the promise they had made, of being together forever. Nitu smiled gently as she recalled the way Neil had made a 'tiara' of wild flowers and placed it on her head, last time they were on this beach. Neil glanced at her. "She looks so beautiful when she smiles", he thought. Nitu broke the ice and said, "How naive we were back then Neil, a simple tiara of wild flowers was enough to show how much you love me". The scene flashed infront of Neil's eyes too. "You look beautiful when you smile, Nitu", he said. Neil hadnt seen her like this for a while now. Nitu looked into Neil's eyes and blushed. Neil continued, "When did we change into money vending machines Nitu? Why couldnt we stop and retrospect things?". Realisation had dawned upon them as to how wrong they were. Nitu held Neil's hand. Neil and Nitu looked at their wedding rings. "Its a promise we made, to be there for each other always, to never fall out of love", Nitu said, while toying with her wedding ring. Neil quickly got up and rushed somewhere. Nitu was confused. Neil went to a corner at the shore where there were wild flower bushes. He came back with something in his hand. He had made a flower ring this time. Neil got down on his knee and said, "Will you marry me again?". Nitu was overwhelmed. She was teary eyed. She noded her head in a yes and brought out her left hand. Neil held her hand and placed the flower ring on her ring finger and said, "Nitu, I wont give you another chance to get mad at me. We have been through alot of ups and downs. We have done and said things we shouldnt have, to each other. I am sorry for all that". And he kissed her hand. Nitu wiped her tears and said, " I could have slowed down on my pace too. I could have chose not to argue. I am sorry too, Neil". They hugged each other and reconciled. They held their hands and made the promise again, a promise of being together forever in this abiding love!




                                                                                                              JUI.