An Affair to Remember: Perfection Personified

Finding the time to meet S.C. was difficult enough from my engaging schedule. Even more challenging was of providing a reason of the time spent to a plethora of friends from school, college and colleagues as well as home. This was when my worst handicap proved to be my advantage.I worked late hours on most days and sometimes on weekends. These working hours/days provided me with the perfect alibi for the late hours on other days and "some" weekends (God bless DST Patches !!) spent.

Perfection Personified=>
S.C. was an epitome of low maintenance, she used to be dressed elegantly, decent clothing though not expensive ones. Comparing with her "Target" and "Filenes Basement" for no reason, I felt like I was shopping at "Banana Republic" or "Saks on the 5th". But S.C. carried herself with such elan that she never needed to enhance it any further.
The number of visits I had made to a salon/parlor exceeded hers by one ;)
Would have spoilt her looks anyway

S.C. had another great quality and that was of "patience". She probably had a store somewhere deep in her soul from where she kept on drawing and her reserves never seemed to end. She did not mind me canceling pre-decided dates, timings on account of work and added hours. S.C. quietly spent her time reading, till I reached and always welcome me with an eager smile. I used to be irritated with myself but felt it really amusing that she never mentioned the late appearances but focused on the time spent together. The only solace for me was that S.C. too used cell phone to a minimum, especially during office hours. Unanswered, missed calls on my instrument did not deter her from calling me later in the evening. S.C. never seemed disturbed, worried or bothered about these "trivial" (her term) events and this disturbed, worried, bothered me to no end!!

Once she showed me pictures of her room, a modest one compared to today's lavish ones but it was so neatly maintained, not one item out of place. S.C. was so particular about arranging stuff, I sometimes called her Monica instead !! She remembered Birthdays, Anniversaries not only of first cousins but of seconds and their spouses and kids without help of a Birthday Alarm, which I use to impress others ;) My falsely pretentious "kawach-kunDals of particularity had taken a beating like never before and now they were lying on the floor, cracked permanently
Heck, she was even good at driving even though I did not dare give my 2nd love in her careful hands.
I was also gleefully surprised when she mildly chastised me for bringing her some cliched "White Teddy with a Red Heart" in mid-Feb.

I always tried to find some chink in her armour which I would be able to focus and beat her (not physically, mentally) at atleast one daily activity. I gave up and finally concluded, the only thing I did ever "defeat" her was in gorging on food. S.C. was a healthy eater but she was no match for me. I was way better her than in all sports, but lets not take our focus from day-to-day activities for the moment.
Though we were as different as day and night, rather as different as solar and lunar eclipses to be exact, we did connect on most issues. We never had any differences of opinion on any topic and on most occasions would arrive at a consensus without compromise.

The most amazing moment came when we were once shopping in a mall for her beloved Jiju.. A very bright and definitely prudent gentleman came straight towards us. S.C. bent and touched his feet the next instant (I followed suit to impress ;) ) who was her adorable teacher in school. They talked for a while , while I listened and smiled. Just before leaving he turned to me and said "You know what my biggest regret in life is.., Not having a son of suitable age to be able to take her home as my daughter-in-law !!" And then He left, as I just stood there mesmerized by things happening that instant. That was in my opinion the greatest compliment any person could receive.

Secret between you and me : I had at one point of time wished progeny inheriting characteristics in the ratio 45:1

An Affair to Remember: Dizzyingly Delightful - Part III

Delectable December and reJuvenating January and Fantabulous February:

There were multiple instances/days/events to rewind and play over and over again. However from a revolutionalizing and refreshing experience point of view the following excerpt is worth mentioning. The most memorable of our "date" that I think was when we had gone to Sinhagad on a clear, chilly Sunday morning.

The weather was great for such an outing and there was the usual hustle-bustle seen on the fort on most Sundays. We had started quite early and though we took multiple breaks looking at the quickly wuthering foliage around, they were also acting as welcome breathers in between :) With my belly contracting between a size 32 to size 30 and at times to size 33 due to the breathlessness from the thin-air, S.C. had a hearty laugh throughout the climb. On the way up, we also made fun of the other lovey-dovey birds who were proudly exhibiting their PDAs at frequent intervals on the context of helping to step on a rock about 6 inches tall ;)

We had started climbing in near darkness, experienced twilight passed the halfway point. We had reached the summit (it was almost an Everest like) just as the rays kissed the Towers atop the fort, which were still almost a blur. S.C was carrying her newly purchased S3-IS and we waited with bated breath to capture some eternal moments. The sun (rather the earth) was going through its routine but it was a first for the two of us.

We were discussing the events in the week before, when the topics shifted to the just held appraisal at S.C.'s company and how well she had "held" her own. She did not meekly submit to the points/grades offered but fought for her rights. My wicked, sarcastic smile did not amuse her much and that forced me to spill the beans. And so began my monologue for the next half an hour so. My typical laid-back approach to one of the most useless and controversial processes followed in most companies (obviously my personal opinion again) to suppress any hardworking, sincere engineer/employee (yeah, C.A.'s are not engineers but way beyond). What do they know of what I have been through, and this is nothing but just "A Walk In The Clouds" - similar to the emotions of reality that we were just passing through.

I had never seen S.C. with her real steely resolve coming to the fore. She was absolutely stunned and more-so-over frustrated as I did not even wish to desire whatever I deserved. I tried to vainly impress her with some hackneyed Hindi-Urdu dialogue about how worthless these events were compared to the time spent with her. Now it was her turn to smile which was neither of the sort that I had displayed some minutes back.

The next hour or so S.C. spoke and I listened, speechless, stunned and somewhat energized. S.C. delivered her words with such caution and even more passion that there was nothing else to do but genuflect in pure submission. She even mentioned that I should actually "go to the mattresses" (probably got to do with the surroundings - Sinhagad - and its immortal history) !! She just could not emphasize enough how it was "Not Personal, But Business". From someone who recited paragraphs from the Gita and who was a vivid and ardent follower of Swami Vivekananda and his philosophy, mention from Puzo's GodFather was quite shocking, to the point of being over-whelming.

I was like a pure "Neo"phyte in the presence of Krishna and Vivekananda at the same time in "Zion"