I remember them perfectly, they were the cutest couple in the neighborhood. The boy was tall, dark and handsome. He had the looks to kill and she was just the opposite, plain, plump and short but very fair. And that is where their dissimilarities ended. They both had twinkling eyes and lips almost always curved into a smile. They were the sweetest because they treated us kids with much tenderness. Both of them were witty, bookaholics, and always together.
They were about 8 to 10 years older than us but would play with us kids too. They thought that the world was oblivious to their secret. Maybe it was, but not me. I was always a good observer and they were my obsession at that age so I observed them more keenly. I knew how their eyes lit up when they saw one another. The girl whom I called ‘Di’ would then have a shy smile on her person while he would keep talking funny things and make us laugh. I remember how he would stand on the terrace and keep waiting for her or keep watching her. I’m also aware of the many hours they would just keep gazing at each other through their windows.
There were other girls too. My own elder sister was Di’s age but there was no one as sweet, gentle and charming as her. Likewise, he was the best amongst the lot. He was a sportsperson, studious, soft spoken, gentle, caring and yet aloof. Saying that they were made for each other would be wrong, they just belonged to one another . We kids loved them because to us they were our role models in the department of love. They never went overboard, no holding hands or lust in their eyes. They were just perfect in each other’s company and understood one another without ever saying a word. They always seemed to speak through their eyes with much tenderness, feelings and longing. But openly they would always tease one another, playfully tug or poke at each other or be very competitive against one another. I wonder if they ever expressed their feelings. They just seemed to know how each of them felt about the other.
We kids would often sit and discuss them when not playing. And all of us wanted a happy ending for them. Then Di shifted to someplace else. I never saw him with any other girl, the way he was with Di. Later, I too grew up and moved away and never knew what happened to them afterwards.
Did they meet? Did they marry? Did they just drift away? What happened of them? I don’t know but whenever I think of pure love, perfect love, or love as it should be, it is they who always come to my mind. Sometimes my grown up mind wonders whether it was love or attraction between them? But whatever it was, it was beautiful. I would want to believe it was love and just wish that they carry their love for one another in their hearts, together or apart, and that they are in a happy phase wherever they are.