On True Love

"I am in love", she said. The first thought that crossed my mind," Never underestimate the power of ethanol". The next moment, a smile was plastered across her face, the kind of smile which comes with nothing but absolute bliss. "My God", I thought, "she is serious". "Wow!", is all that I could say aloud.

Of course, in such situations one needs to say much more than that. Like, "I can't believe it, who IS he?" or “Congratulations. That’s awesome!”. Anyway, I ended up saying just “Wow!”

The next few seconds I was trying to think of something more to say; something to say before the blissful smile faded away. “Who is he?” is what I thought would be appropriate, although I had a pretty good idea about the answer to that question. “Is it true love?” is what I blurted out finally. I had no intention of wiping off her smile, but the question did do that. Disaster!

“What do you mean by true love?”

“Forget it. I have no idea what this love thing is. I was just asking if you really want to be with him or is it just one of those momentary feelings.”

“Still?”

“Well, you need to ask yourself this. A few years from now, when both of you are mired in your own careers, will you still beam in the same manner at his thought the way you are beaming now? When you are no longer young and he is no longer dashing, will you be still like to be with him, and he with you? Can you folks spend an evening just in the presence of each other, without talking a whole lot, and still feel happy?......Blah Blah Blah ” (Never underestimate the power of ethanol !! Sh%&!).

I was hoping for a happy ending: she would have answered yes for those questions, even if just because of the bliss, and moved on. Unfortunately, she is now confused. “Is it really true love?”, she is asking herself.

Does it matter?