Waving to her from the bus stand, I hoped this be a dream. She waved back at me. Her face smiling, and full of joy. Not perhaps fully knowing how I felt about her. My love, not confessed, filled my heart with pain. Should I have confessed? What if i would have had? What would have happened?  Too many questions, not a single answer. My love was clouded by uncertainty of the result. As the bus started, I snapped out of the thought. Saying Goodbye, we parted our ways. She was going away and I was left with a heavy heart.

As I turned away, a voice asked, "You love her, don't you?" I turned around to see an old lady smiling at me. She was in her Sunday best, sitting by the stand, a glow on the wrinkled face. Her curled up gray hair and brown eyes made her even more beautiful. Her soft voice still ringed in my ears. I replied "yes i do”. “And you have not told her yet!” she added. “Well, not yet. I am just waiting for the right time.” I replied trying to sound convincing. She said with an investigative look “And how long have you been waiting for it?”...well the truth was it seemed like forever but I just said to her “We have known each other for two years now. May be it is a bit too long!”

She smiled and said, “Better get to it before it is too late!” There was truth in what she was saying. But taking love advice from someone two generations apart did not seem logical. I mean that four letter word had changed so much! How can we even compare the times and the thoughts! May be my thoughts were too strong to keep hidden. The old lady promptly said, “You would be thinking why to take lessons from such an old lady, right. What would she know of love in these times!”. “Oh of course not” I said trying to be polite, “But it is true that you have no clue of the customs of today.”

I sat down on the chair next to her. Somehow I felt I was obliged to tell her about what the world was getting to. She turned to me as I sat down, waiting for me to speak. I continued “The world seems to have changed perception about many things in the past century. One of them certainly is Love. People don’t look at it as a taboo any more. Actually it seems more like a phase people pass through. People now are not obliged to fall in love with the first person they find suitable. It has become more like a ‘trial and error’ methodology you see.” The old lady at this point gave a small giggle. I felt I was going in the correct direction. Maybe I would be successful in helping the lady gain some insight in the matter. Not that she needed to exercise it in practice.

So I said”Today love is looked at many more aspects than just the ‘made for each other’ approach! I would not blame you for not knowing it. After all you come from a generation when carnations kissed. I mean...” I could not think of how to put it to an old lady, but then it happened so that I did not need to worry about that. She took up the cue and said” You mean when speaking of sex was forbidden!” I could hardly believe my ears but there it was...she had said it! Respect!..

I exclaimed “Yes, exactly. Today, sex among many other things like status and affluence have become an integral part of a relationship! And it mostly makes or breaks the relationship for you. People don’t hang on for love! People have lost the crux of Love and have deviated from it to other trivial matters. How am I to know that what I expect from her, the love, the unconditional affection are the same what she expects from me! What if she has a different meaning to our relationship! Then why should I jeopardize what beautiful relation we have for something uncertain! Do you understand me? Love has lost its credibility. How do I know what to do with it! ” I looked at her to find her unmoved by my speech. Perhaps she would never understand the circumstance.

“And you say you are waiting for the right moment. Or is it just that your insecurities and your believes have stopped you? Two years you have known her and you cannot find out what she loves you for?” she asked. That was a question I had asked myself a dozen times. And I had reached no concrete conclusion to what the answer was. Perplexed as I was, I realized that perhaps I was the one who needed an insight on the matter. I spoke up and tried to get all the thoughts in line. I said “NO...yes..well.. I mean..she is definitely the one I would spend my life with. But the world around has forced me to think if it would work out well or not. What if we lose the love we have held so long? What would our future be like!! And..and...”.

But before I could put my thought into the sentence, the old lady started laughing indiscriminately. First I felt I had made a fool out of myself by sharing my thoughts with her. But then she started to mellow down. The laughter slowed down and ended in a smile on her face. She seemed to have lost herself into a memory. With the same smile, she looked at me and said “ I just remembered a young fine lady who sat here at this same bus stop, who had ran away from the aisle on her wedding day, sitting here crying about the same insecurities which troubled her since she decided to marry her true love.” I was taken aback by those words. What was this lady talking about? How could she feel the same way about love two generations ago!

She continued to talk while being in a state of trance. She said “I was fearful that our love was too weak to sustain the world we wanted to build. Even I was scared of what our world would turn out to be like. So I ran and came to this very spot where I had met him and we both had fallen in love that very instance. But he wasn’t scared. My love came to me, here, and assured me that together we could go through any difficulties the world threw at us. And there is no greater strength than the one your true love gives you. You see my boy, the times have changed, the people have changed, but our hearts have not. If you are ready to uphold that very love you share, than no force can make you part ways, ever.”

“Go to her” she said “assure her of your love. And I am sure; your true love will stay with you forever!”  Saying this, the old lady got up. An old man on a scooter stopped in front. They smiled at each other and she sat behind him as if they were newlywed. She gave me a final glance and said “Go and may you be blessed with true love all through your life.” And they rode off. What I had gained from this little encounter was immeasurable. For two years I had held this turmoil in me and the lady brought me out of it. Seeing the happy couple, who had been through the same, I hardly had any doubt about how beautiful the future would be for me and my love.

It was time for me to jump into what was meant to be. Without any hesitation, I went to the ticket counter and took the ticket for the next bus so I could see her and tell her how I felt. I was sure that this was a start to a wonderful journey I would make. And I would be joined with a person closest to my heart.