There are many definitions of love, but at the core it means standing right next to your partner through thick and thin.
This story from Humans Of Bombay is a reminder of that. Narrated by a woman, this is a tale of unconditional love that crossed all hurdles on the way.
Talking about her husband, the woman reveals how they met. He was the son of her landlord when she was young. That’s how they both met and fell for each other. But thanks to strict parents, they had to come up with signals that only they understood.
We didn’t want anyone to find out, so we used signals. We’d shine mirrors–twice meant parents weren’t home & thrice meant they were. When I jingled my bangles twice, it meant we could meet–2 jingles exactly. We wrote love letters & tucked them in the light bulb in the staircase.
The secret meeting under the staircase, exchanging letters, the dates went on for a while and then one day he asked her to marry him. She said yes. Soon, the couple had a kid.
Which was a blessing, but the woman ended up losing sight in one eye due to pregnancy-related complications. This is when her in-laws told her husband that he should leave her. He obviously did not do that. In fact, after she lost sight in both eyes, he left everything behind and moved to Delhi.
‘It’s not too late to leave her.’ They threatened, ‘Leave the house & business if you want to stay with her.’ Within a year, I lost vision in both my eyes. When I broke down, Rajeev said, ‘I’ll never leave you.’ He left his family & we moved to Delhi.
This was a complication they had to accept, so she got herself enrolled in a blind school and started training for a new way of life. And through all her trials, errors and achievements, her husband was by her side as a pillar of support.
Rajeev even put ropes around the house so that I could find my way. I’d practice what I’d learned in blind school & listen to the radio. In the evenings, I’d cook; Rajeev would stand behind me & make sure I was okay. I’d cut my finger often; Rajeev would tie a bandage & say, ‘God & I won’t let anything happen to you’.
Things eventually got better and the couple is now living a great life together. And 31 years after their marriage her husband is still as caring as he was in the beginning.
We’ve been married for 31 years, but till date, Rajeev makes the little things count. Like, he doesn’t want to startle me when he rings the doorbell after work. So instead, he gives me a missed call–2 rings exactly.