The evening sun lit up the west. Rays of the sun infringed
the clouds and shone, oblivious to the impending thunderstorm.
‘Take the left after 200 meters’, Shreya repeated after the
voice of the GPS navigator. Alan drove amidst a hundred cars and they finally
got past the traffic in M.G.Road. They reached the St.Marks Cathedral and the
hustle-bustle of the city faded, as if the place could absorb the sounds and
emit peace. As Alan parked his motorbike, Shreya turned around to see a lot of
guests arriving dressed.
‘Oh, a wedding! There’s a wedding happening here. Are you
sure we can go in to pray? I mean, I haven’t really been to many churches, I
don’t know if -’, Shreya asked innocently. Alan laughed out loud and said, ‘Of
course. The church is for everyone. We are lucky, we might witness a wedding.
Let us go’, as he put his arms over her shoulder and they walked towards the
Cathedral.
They have known each other for a few months now. They shared a great bond, a humble relationship with true affection for each other. It was
a friendship that began almost overnight like Jack’s beanstalk and grew
stronger and deeper each day and night, over a lot of ‘whatsapp’ messages that
kept them both smiling throughout the day, a few late night calls (aren't
conversations at this time more honest and deep?) and a few silent hugs when
they met. Alan, kindhearted and shy, was a man of few words, but his laughter
and infectious warm smile coupled with his sweet gestures, made him a guy that
any girl would want. And true to this name, he was a handsome lad, over 6 feet
tall with a well-built frame. He was a simple guy who had humble goals for life
and hoped to marry an innocent village belle someday. He was too vulnerable to
fall in love, Shreya believed about him. She loved the way he smiled always,
like a teen that has got his first crush on someone and she called him a baby
just to annoy him. And Alan always looked at Shreya like she was a fairy from a
childhood fable. His eyes would bore deep into hers (silently wishing he could
kiss her forehead) and she could only trust him more every time he did that.
They walked in to the hall decorated with white lilac and
satin drapes. Shreya looked around at the wedding décor, amazed. As they sat
down in the rear end of the aisle, she whispered to him, ‘Wow. Looks like we
walked into a Hollywood wedding’, for she hasn't been to a Christian wedding before. He smiled and started praying, and she followed. After a
quiet five minutes, they left. The wedding hall was getting busier and it was a
great sight to see people so merry, gushing over the to-be-married couple who were making their way to the dais. Alan and Shreya walked to sit on a lonely
bench outside the church.
They were in undisturbed deep thoughts. ‘May be, falling in
love and marrying isn't very complicated as I always dreaded’, Shreya almost
wondered aloud. Alan pulled her a little closer, as if he could hear what she
was thinking. She rested her head on his tall shoulders and it made Alan smile.
‘Alan. Weddings are beautiful, aren't they? I mean, look at this wedding. Right
now, two lives are changing forever. The journeys of two lives are becoming
one’. Alan wished he could tell her about the million times he dreamed of
marrying her. He just took her hands in his and after a few seconds which
seemed like an eternity, he took her hand to his lips and kissed it softly. She
looked at him startled, feeling goose bumps rising. She looked down and gave a
shy smile. Oh, it felt so right. In fact, nothing else in the world felt as
right as this, she thought. She had a tear in her eye and he embraced her in a
hug that lasted 60 seconds. That was all they wanted at that minute. They walked
back, hand in hand, looking up at the first droplets of rain hitting them.
And in that Holy Place that evening, four lives had changed.
And some stories do not need too many words.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the
greatest of these is love – 1 Corinthians 13:13.
