Love is best eaten ripe, not raw, for the raw love is bitter, sometimes sour, and rarely sweet, while the ripe love is always – sweet and satisfying. Like any other plant, love starts with a seed. Seed of friendship. It is then watered with care, affection and the sunlight of possessiveness and oneness helps it grow more. Once it is ripe, it is yours to savor forever.

There is no love like the ripe-love. Sweet, tangy and so fulfilling. It doesn’t demand anything at that stage, but just air of time. And if you keep giving time to it, it will remain fresh, forever.

I asked him, when will our time come? When will our love ripen to perfection? When will we get married and be able to enjoy the sweetness of the fruit that we have nurtured for four years now?

He looked into my eyes, kissed my forehead, and held my face in his hands. He smiled. Oh that wicked half-smile that makes me crazy!

‘Why do you smile?’ I was annoyed. My question was unanswered.

‘Our love is ripe. It doesn’t need any societal approval of being sweet and satisfying for it already is…’ his eyes gazing deep into mine, filling me with that unbearable, unwanted intoxication that always held me there.

‘Then why can’t I be with you? Why is there this barrier of distance? Why can’t I hold you every night in my arms and sleep on your chest? Why do I have to wait to get married to you, to enjoy these simple pleasures of life?’ my questions were never-ending. But they pinched me everyday.

‘Because you are concerned only with these things. Believe me, when you get all this, you will be tired. You will be done and there, your purpose of life will be fulfilled, and you’ll have no more desires as intense as these. These desires are too vague, believe me. They are nothing, compared to what our life has got in store for us. Let that store open up, and let the gifts be distributed. I’m sure you will get all the answers then.’

‘You always deny me, and every evening, I have to go back home, and sleep alone in my double-bed, wondering what crimes have I done to deserve this loneliness!’ I banged my hand on the table. The other people in the restaurant stared at us. I might have been too loud, but I didn’t care, because the time was running fast and the questions were still – unanswered.

‘Listen, imagine a school going child. He is curious, so are you. He has questions, so do you. But if all his questions are answered by his teachers, his mind will have no work to do. It will be useless and dull. So, the teachers increase the curiosity by providing them a little knowledge and a lot of work. Life is our teacher. If we will have all the answers today, there will be very little to discover by our minds. We will be tired, bored and done with everything. Purpose of life will be over, and the yearning will end too. Life is such a great teacher, that it will never let that happen! It will always keep on teaching you, providing you more questions along with a few answers, providing you with unending curiosity and a lot of frustration. In that situation, the human mind works and we see the light at the end of the tunnel, that’s how we know that it is the path we have to follow to achieve our dreams. If our dreams will be fulfilled that easily, we won’t value them. If you will get to hug me, and kiss me so easily, you will be bored after a few hugs and kisses! While I want my wife to always hug and kiss me like it’s the last time. With a great passion and intensity and love. I want my wife to feel that deep affection for me, and not some formal-togetherness for the societal acceptance. Now you get me?’

I was speechless. He kissed my lips gently. As his lips brushed mine, I woke up with a shudder. He was a thousand miles away, and I had slept on my laptop after a video-call session with him. How I missed him, and how I yearned to be with him. Before switching off the laptop, I read his last message – ‘Sometimes, all the answers are within you, you just need to discover yourself!’