I spent a year, no, two of my teenage years mooning over a boy I thought was cool and unusual and anti-establishment. Looking back, At 17, everything the 21-year-olds must have seemed impressive. But turns out he ended up so unfathomably ordinary and conventional, in the most Indian uncle way, at that. Unhappy and bored, in a joyless marriage, with a kid and in the same job for 15 years and everything.
And, I, somehow lucked out. After all my "interests" following the above mentioned, I ended up picking a boy, who for the world seemed like the definition of nice. And, yet turned out to be a rarity -- funny and interesting and most importantly, someone who defies all labels. A monk that's uninterested in the pettiness of man and yet is unfailingly kind and generous and forgiving of the human condition.
I didn't realise this at first. I thought because the smart jerk was my type, I'd bore of him quickly. That he wouldn't be able to keep up with my witty repartee. Or appreciate my eccentric charm. Because who would I be pebble with, or trade insults with, or laugh hysterically with?
Turns out, the recipients of those were, are, and will always be, my friends. Among whom, I now count him.
But his is the company I seek after a day of miserable corporate vermin. Or when my family drive me crazy. Or when I need shelter from the madness of the outside.
He's the sanctuary. The source of light and warmth in my world. I often feel like a human that stumbled upon his world -- the world of elves. Where there's purity, and grace and wisdom because he's there.
So that's where we've built a home. A home that's filled with peaceful, happiness and love.
10 years on, everything I thought to be true, just isn't. And, everything I didn't know to value, I have found.
