City of Dreams

5.

Most of the problems of the world stem from linguistic mistakes and simple misunderstanding. Don't ever take words at face value. When you step into the zone of love, language, as we know it becomes obsolete. That which cannot be put into words can only be grasped through silence.

A scrumptious meal put together by Rita maa and Shehnaaz with some basic ingredients yet delivered a unique taste and flavor. After having a delectable meal, Sidharth and Preeti went down with Kaushik to bid him goodbye. While coming up to the apartment Preeti asked Sidharth playfully which felt ambiguous to him, while she was having a teasing smile, "How come you fell for Shehnaaz? She doesn't look like your types!"

"What do you mean? Not my types!! I have a type?" not falling to her jest, he lilted.

"Don't take it otherwise, but you know what I mean. You always were into mature, independent, intelligent, career-oriented, model, sexy type women. She is like a total opposite of that and actually so different from you, as matter of fact! So innocent, fresh, childish..." she was interrupted in between when Sidharth scoffed and smiled.

"Right... right... right...She might be imperfect, but she loves me perfectly! Childish, still mature enough to handle me... bring me out of the misery... innocent enough to show me the other side of the coin, still not gullible to manipulate... fresh, natural, pure without any gimmicks" he added but he paused and thought of what his sister hinted.

"Wait... Childish as in age? I know I am older to her... 13 years older to her!" he mumbled, though he has not insinuated anything about the age gap but has constantly been bugging in back of his mind if that might create any future insecurities.

"Aree pagal... age nahi but as in nature, you know! Waise I didn't know you guys had that age gap! But I guess age is no bar to fall in love. It's the soul that finds the mate which remains forever young if you found the right person whom you care, love and will cherish the entire eternity"

They reached Sidharth's apartment, and he saw his mother and Shehnaaz in the balcony attached to the living room engrossed in a talk. He could not take his eyes off from her, his face softened, bringing a soft smile in his face. He saw her phone in the table, her purse spread in the sofa. He cleaned that up and kept the phone inside the purse, keeping it aside. He sat down in the couch spreading his legs in the table without blinking an eye on her.

"Wow, you are head over heels attracted to her Sid. I have never seen you like this! Even with Richa... you know... you were childish in your relationships; she was the one mature and handled your temperament, your stuffs... But here it seems to be the opposite with her... You are like so into her Sid" Preeti spoofed looking at her brother's action.

"Maybe she is the one for me P... it's just not attraction, it is much more than that. As if she is a part of me and I found her eventually. Her voice calms me, her touch soothes my inner turmoil, her presence gives me stability... holding her hands, listening to her nonsensical talks, looking at her, everything makes sense just her being with me! You know how I at some point came to a realization and choose to close myself off from the world, but she made me realize that the happiest people are the ones giving, who are open and move forward. She has some power over me, I don't know what, and I am ready to surrender myself to her!" he said his heart out to Preeti, who was elated to hear his bothers confession.

When a member of a family is struggling through depression it just not the person going through the ordeal but also the family members who often feel powerless to see the person you love going through it. With Sidharth they too struggled with mixed emotions, fear and anxiety, irritation and anger. The ensuing guilt and living with such hard feelings over time was a distress for them. Seeing her brother soulfully flourishing, holistically opening to brighter life, seeing a genuine smile in his face was a delight. How much she had wished to see this day!