Love That Changed My Life…

All it was, was a regular flyover. Nothing romantic. Nothing extravagant. Just a regular flyover, cars whooosing through, trains passing beneath, a sudden breeze of wind that brought along city’s dust with it. That’s all it was until it wasn’t.

I never talked with them. Not even once. I don’t even remember their face. But somehow, they stayed with me longer than many people I know.

It was around my 12th grade, I was living away from my home. Just another student chasing the uncertainty of life. Hustling entrance exams and the pressure that came with it. Life was a complete mess. And amidst of this mess was this flyover.

Every night after dinner, my friend and I used to walk up to this flyover, sit besides the pavement to wash our chaos by the breeze passed by. The roar of cars, thunder of trains, and the oddly satisfying breeze, a chaos in itself that calmed ours. It doesn’t make sense on paper, but trust me, it made sense alive.

And then one day, I saw them.
An old couple.
He rode an old Bajaj Chetak that smelled like nostalgia. She sat behind him, her arm resting on his shoulders. They parked the scooter at the edge of the pavement as they sat besides each other near it gazing stars.
No phones….. No words…. just gazing at the sky… the stars….

They returned. They returned the next day, and the day after.
Same time, same scooter, same feeling.
Nothing extravagant about it. No grand gestures, no dramatic kisses and no background music either. Just two people in their 70’s, sitting together under the sky. Away from the chaos…. As if they had been doing it forever.

And me? Ha….. I was just existing there. Watching them arrive. Watching them sit. Watching them be. It didn’t mattered how drained I felt, it didn’t mattered how stressed or homesick I felt. Because at the end of the day, watching these two made it all worth living for.

This is when these two changed me unknowingly. Because here I was, young and naive watching two people who clearly have been through storms, seen life, and yet still choose to show up for each other. Not in grand restaurants or vacations…. But on a flyover…. under the street lamps…

They never needed an audience, but I decided to become one anyways. I never had the courage to talk them. Not because I didn’t wanted to, but rather because I didn’t wanted to disturb something so beautifully untouched. Something so divine.

That couple taught me something without saying a single word:

Love isn’t loud. It isn’t always about expensive gifts, constant messages or planned surprises.
Sometimes, Love is just showing up. Showing up everyday, together.

Thats when I decided, I don’t want love if it’s not like this.

I don’t need some flashy fireworks or something rushed. The love I need is the kind of love that waits. I need someone, who even at 70, would still ride with me just to gaze at stars in the sky.

I never knew their name. I never talked to them. Not even once. I don’t even remember their face. But somehow, they left a mark deeper in my heart. They refined what “goals” meant to me.

And even now, time passed, but when I feel overwhelmed, I go back to that very image in my mind:

A boy sitting in chaos,
watching a love that looked dreamy,
the love that stays with you forever and ever….

Have you ever found love in such simple gestures? I would love to hear such experiences in comments. Let’s share such memories that will stay with us….

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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