Love's labour, Lost and found

I may be verdant in matters relating to Love but I do know the essence and the mysterious feeling called Love. My friend remarked that everybody in this world has to be in love at least once before they graduate and when you think about it, you know all too well that he was right. Over the course of time I have seen many a love story in the big picture and read about quite a few of them. Many learned say that love is confined to the screen and books as it exists only in a realm of dreams. The following true story may or may not encapsulate their thoughts.

I will give you the protagonist names by the end of the story for a more riveting read. As of now, Sanjeevni is the girl and Ramnath is the boy of this story. Sanjeevni is married to Sampath and Ramnath is married to Alisha.
Sanjeevni and Ramnath met during their college years and what followed was a good friendship. Sanjeevni always regarded Ramnath to be a good friend and a close aide. She often confided her problems and secrets to Ramnath who ever so willingly helped Sanjeevni in her day to day studies and tiffs. It all started in Cubbon park when Sanjeevni and her sisters went for their morning jog. After a good jog they spotted a cute golden brown Dachshund puppy. Unable to hide their excitement they rushed to the playful puppies and started cuddling them. Little did they know that the puppies belonged to Ramnath and his carefree friends. Quickly they got acquainted and thus began a whirlwind time.

What happened in the early winter morning were to have insurmountable consequences as Ramnath had fallen in love with Sanjeevni the moment he saw her.
I use the word love here very carefully because when you love a person truly it remains so for the rest of your life. There is nothing you can do to change or alter a fact. On the other hand, one can also puppy love wherein you don’t necessary love the girl but the infatuation is so overwhelming that your reasoning and logic shadows your feelings. In such a case, you realize the infatuation in a matter of weeks or even years. Therefore, when I remark that Ramnath fel in LOVE with Sanjeevni I literally mean he was in love immaterial of the fact that today he is married to Alisha as stated in the beginning. (Was that a spoiler?)



On the other hand, Sanjeevni’s interest in Ramnath was solely confined to his puppies. Sanjeevni being a Tom boy and the ever so cool happening Mount Carmel girl; as she liked to refer to herself, was oblivious to this sown feeling and continued to treat Ramnath like a clown. The two met quite often with friends as Ramnath could not muster the guts to call her alone for fear of her bullying or beating him. He remained the sheepish shy boy who was happy to be able to meet Sanjeevni and listen to her endless talks on obscure topics. He tried hard to impress her like every other boy and his antics ranged from taking her to the most expensive hotels, cute gifts and drives in his dad’s car. 25 to 30 years back young boys driving cars in Bangalore was a rarity and Sanjeevni was more shocked than embarrassed about the rich brat, Ramnath.

Soon one thing led to another and Ramnath was deeply in love and dreaded her absence. After much encouragement from his friends he decided to spill the beans and propose to Sanjeevni. He bought her a box of chocolates and a bunch of red roses from Botanical garden, specially imported from Amsterdam. “WHAAAAT!” was the only word Sanjeevni could cry out after his valiant efforts and she ran home with fear running through her. Once she told her mom and brother about Rmnath’s intentions, they burst out laughing at Sanjeevni. Both of them knew this was coming and claimed that she was only too naïve to not understand Ramnath. Angered at their responses coupled with the inability to understand or make a decision she decided to continue her normal way of life. Ramnath was only too happy to have her back in talking terms and continued to offer her support and though he loved her, dared not speak about it. Sanjeevni knew Ramnath’s feelings but remained indifferent towards it and maintained that Ramnath was an ugly looking clown and a good friend.



Soon marriage was knocking and Ramnath made his feeling towards Sanjeevni clear to his parents. Ramnath’s parents asked Sanjeevni’s parents for her hand in marriage, provided certain ‘requirements’ are fulfilled. These requirements will range from gold cash and other ornaments for the marriage to take place. Sanjeevni’s parents being strict orthodox traditional people refused the offer and got her married to Sampath, a disciplined and self made man. Ramnath attended the marriage and approached Sanjeevni near the water filter and asked her if she loved him. To which, she gave a cursory stare and left immediately.

Ramnath continued to call Sanjeevni and kept in touch with her. Sanjeevni struggled with Sampath due to various financial problems and continued to live eke out a living with basic necessities in the hope for a better future. The cool happening Mount Carmel girl was now a laborious mother of a cute boy and she took care of all the household chores from cooking, sweeping, gardening, washing etc… Ramnath was still a bachelor and took over his father’s business with revenues as much as 4-5 crores a month. Amidst all the fame and name he still missed Sanjeevni and her ways. After a year, he called Sanjeevni in hope that she might change her mind. After that call, he finally gave in and relented to marry Alisha, his cousin.

Today, Sanjeevni has a son of 20. Ramnath has a son of 12 and daughter of 18. The two of them still keep in touch and speak often. They occasionally meet up when Sanjeevni comes to Bangalore and on one such meeting with Ramnath’s and Sanjeevni’s friends Ramnath poignantly pointed ‘Love never dies, never ends, but remains like a shadow that stares ever so diligently’. He still loved Sanjeevni and still cared for her after nearly 20 years of their meet in Cubbon park. He still has a Dachshund and remembers every minor incident that took place.

Love truly transcends our capacity to reason. It knows no logic and you cannot put your mind and use a calculator to determine the percentage of love. It is a mystic and strange ‘feeling’ encompassed with sublime bliss. A toast to true love, to Ramnath and am glad my mom met such a wonderful human being.