Companion...thy name is Love!

On my journey to Chennai this weekend, I came across a couple who sat next to me in the Aerospace bus to airport.

Unlike me, who was traveling to the final destination of the bus, they got down several stops before me. The striking thing that I found in this couple is the care and affection they had and showed for each other.

I don’t know whether they were husband and wife or just companions or whatever state of relationship they were in…the thing that mostly mattered were that they showed complete confidence in each other and trust that we could see through.

It so happened that I got inrigued and started watching them as their common conversational language was English. Though they did not either speak as perfect tech savvy types or try to ape the westerners with an accent. They spoke perfectly well that each of them could understand each other and respond.

It was by mistake they got into the bus I was in. They have been regular in their travels that they assumed this bus to be one of their regulars. They had offered a fare of Rs.40 to the bus conductor for their trip and found out that it actually cost them another 40 rupees, for their trip.

That is when they come to know it is not their regular bus and need to get down exactly one stop before their place and walk up to till there.

The conductor asks for a name for their place they want to get down, but they don’t seem to get the place correctly, they just remember the place they need to get down.

The guy is so much in his thoughts that he keeps repeating to her…not sure where this bus is going and where they need to get down.

The girl comforts him by saying, they can take an auto from the stop as it would cost them another 20 rupees only and she has done it several times. He just nods to her and tells her that it is actually far…and calms her before she gets worried.

They keep talking to each other and she points to their bus that they usually take, when it plies past them. At this he just nods and his forehead worry lines tells us that he is thinking at the stop they need to get down.

After much thinking, he tells her, I think we need to walk a long distance. At which she says, ok will walk by, what to do?

She now gets into thinking; I see her tapping her fingers on his lap and lost in thought. Then as if out of revere she says, yes, it will be far…I thought about another bus-stop when I said we will take a auto, no use we wont get auto’s there…we have to walk.

At this, the guy laughs and says, so at last now you have come to a conclusion… at this she says something further that is understood only by them.

I could see both smiling at each other. A passenger next to them opens a conversation with the guy and he almost repents to him taking the wrong bus. He tells him that they usually take another bus and when she stopped this bus, he did not check it. Now, wondering how she will be able to walk so far.

Just before their stop is come, the bus conductor asks them to get ready and he stands up taking the bag she has and moves forward. He cautions her about the step beneath her feet and asks her to be careful about the step.

He moves forward in the empty bus…keeping a watch over her and instructing her to catch hold of the rods that are provided for support in the bus. He twice lets out a cry to be careful and looks onto the road in front of him.

He finds that it is the same place where they have to get down, he strikes one of his beautiful smiles and looks at her with a relaxed and pride look. They both smile and nod their head in acknowledgment and the bus stops at their stop.

He gets down first not before asking her to be careful and then gives her a hand to hold on for support as she alights down the bus.

The bus slowly moves on and I find them walk hand-in-hand towards the long road that unfolds in front of them.

I wonder, for almost a century now, I believe that sweeter are the conversations you have in your own mother tongue and the sweetest journeys are when you share it with your loved one.

I was proved wrong…the conversation can be as exciting and beautiful as long as you are talking or sharing your feelings with someone you like and love. I could not strike a resemblance to any language as their mother tongue and they seem to be conversing the way they did sometimes, by laugh, by touch, by smiles, by looking at each other, and not the least by talking …

For an instant, I felt the warmth of love and affection and companionship in all one package! I was moved by the amount of worry that guy had for this woman…his worry lines almost spoke his heart and the amount of care he bestowed upon her…they way he led her and took her hand…helped her alight the bus. She is being given a royal treatment. May they be blessed together!

PS: The couples were in their old age, the man must have been above 60 years of age and the women must have been the less or same age as him. They just made a wonderful couple.

(Read Again...)