Saturday 8 October 2011

Day 280 & 281-A Love Story


5th October 


Today, I want to tell you a love story told to me by my grandfather.  The story may be a simple one, he said,  but the love it depicts is no less epic in proportion than the best fairy tales. 


This was how the story began.




She was a most beautiful Banjaran gypsy girl who could make a hard man cry with her sitar. Talented with her hands and gifted with charisma, she was sung in countless songs and the subject of mysterious portraits. Men wanted her and women wanted to be her but all who met her, loved her. 




He was a poet, an artist, a hardworking man; he could speak to flowers and make them smile. A voracious reader, a keen listener, he was also a problem solver and nobody's fool.  It was no exaggeration when I told you, he was every fellow's best friend and every woman's dream. 




It was a sunny day when he first saw her in a painting from across a busy street and in that instant, he knew he had found his one true love. He begged the vendor to sell him the painting but the vendor kept saying no. So he came back to the same sidewalk three days in a row until the vendor gave in. 


When he took the painting home, he wrote on its back , the time and date and place they 1st met. 




The vendor could not have been more wrong if he thought that was the last he saw of our man. He returned the next day and everyday since and each time he would ask: have you seen her, my friend, have she come by yet?; to which the vendor would invariably answer: I have never met her, I don't know who she is. One day, the vendor asked him why and he told him it was her eyes. Those eyes that could read his deepest secrets and see his darkest fears. The eyes that spoke without judging to assure him that all would be right. 


It was exactly 3660 days and 110 matchmaking attempts later that he finally found her. NOT that his father approve of any of these matchmaking, my grandfather was quick to add. That was the day the vendor told him with an excitement the vendor could barely contain : I have seen her today;  she finally came

He knew straightaway it was her. The years did not lessen her beauty; in fact,  the wisdom only enhanced it.  

And even though she had never met him, it was as if she knew he had been looking for her all these years. 


At first, grandfather did not approve. He called my father a crazy romantic and my mother a fool. Him for loving a woman in a portrait, her for agreeing to marry a man she hardly knew. It was not long however, before she won grandfather over. She reminded me somewhat of my own true love, grandfather mused,  a mother my son never knew for she lost her life so he could have his




They married with his blessings and a year later, they had me. And so they live happily after, this unconventional union borne of love but that was not the end of the story. 


Grandfather told me that if I only have one purpose in life, it will be to tell the world what great love is. 



The kind that exists between my ma- who once told me when I ran away crying in my room after seeing their first quarrel that it is alright to disagree sometimes with the people we love;  that I must not be afraid of it because love always prevail and forgive-


and pa-who stands firm without insisting and is never shy to show the world he loves ma dearly even when she is wrong.


They were two people who could not have been more distinct from each other. Yet, they seemed together even when they were apart because you could no longer see one without the other. To me, great love is really as simple as that. 

48 comments:

The Old Maid said...

A romantic mood, Sans?;) Love this story, hope it happened to someone in real life:) Your dolls are cute and I am in love with your painting!Just FAB!:) The last photo and these sweet little shoes - so cool:D

Sans! said...

Yo Ewa, early today? :):)

That painting is done with a photo editing programme :). I wish I had painted it though.

I am leaving for Bangkok tomorrow and wanted to get this post out before that. This love story was hard to write, trust me.

Susanne said...

Such a romantic story, sweet Sans, we all need to trust in the good, that makes us all better people and the world a better place to stay ;-)
Love from me to you
Susanne

rosanna said...

Dearest, you make us dream :o)
Leaving to Bangkok ?? fabulous! write when you come back.
Have a safe and nice flight, hugs, Rosanna

GB said...

Awwwwwwwwwww! That was such a sweet story! Ten years is a long time, it must have been true love! :)

PS: I know of a couple where she actually waited seven years (and across continents at that!) for him....they're still happily married and they have two wonderful kids....so sometimes love stories are real! How have you been, sweet Sans?

Daydreamer said...

OOOOHHH! Enchant me AGAIN! This story is Perfect! I am So Happy that Maya has parents who Love each other and know that it is okay to disagree and forgive! You have written a Wonderful Love Story! Don't we all wish to find it in the Real world! It is Magical!

Rosamargarita said...

Una historia de amor y que además termina bien!
Una joya del relato.
Besos

Unknown said...

I love this story! It's what we wish for most, isn't it-this kind of love that has both the real and the magical. My Great-Grandfather and Grandmother on my father's side fell in love improbably-they came from different parts of Italy, regions that didn't get along at all. I wish I knew how they even happened to meet, maybe it was magical, like in your story. They did meet, and their families did not approve, and they had to leave the country and come to America to start their lives together. And it did work, and it did last. And it did seem meant to be.

Beautiful post, Sans. Truly what great love is about.

Dark Squirrel Victoria said...

Great Love story :) May Maya live happily ever after, so lucky to have loving parents.
Have a good trip.

Hugs,
Victoria

Kathy said...

I love your stories! Because of my stroke, it takes a lot of effort to read again. But your writing is so interesting it kept me reading until I finished the entire story. Thank you for writing.

Sans! said...

Kathy O-O, I have had many gratifying moments since I started my blog but reading the comment that you have left me for this post will surely rank as one of the top most heartwarming of those moments.

Thank you, Kathy, from the bottom of my heart, for reading.

Eva - tatalamaru said...

Una historia de amor preciosa y como esta hay cientos.
Cierto que donde existe un sentimiento profundo, un enamoramiento que traspasa fronteras...el amor será fuerte y luchará contra lo que haga falta para hacerse valer.
Aquí decimos: "que quien la sigue, la consigue".
Un beso Sans y feliz fin de semana!!!

Ana Anselmo said...

And you Sans, did you find your true love?
lots of hugs

Drora's minimundo said...

A very romantic and touching story. I wish happy ends like these to all my friends.
Hugs

The Old Maid said...

It was rather late, Sans;D Have a wonderful time in Bangkok! And I am counting to read about your trip here :)

BiWuBär said...

I really believe that'´s what we all dream of and hope for - finding true love, the one and only, a mate for body and soul. And as we all know, dreams may come true... sometimes... somewhere... et voilà, Maya's parents made that dream become reality! Thank you for yet another wonderful, magic post.

Greetings
Birgit

P.S.: Have a good time in Bangkok

Unknown said...

*warm fuzzy feelings*

you very romantic ley...:)

BON VOYAGEE!!!! (again, in bugs bunny tone) :P

Eliana said...

Lovely, Sans!

Maria Ireland said...

Beautiful story. I love the lovely pictures you always have with your stories. Have a wonderful time in Bangkok.
Hugs Maria

Ascension said...

Que preciosa historia de amor.
Acompañada de la musica que has escogido, es como leer una maravillosa novela.
Por cierto me has hecho calcular con los 3.660 dias jejeje
besitos ascension

Kikka N said...

Dear Sans,
What a Love-story!
...You are in Love ?
Minihugs
Kikka

Thevisionarybutterfly said...

They say true love never dies :))) I enjoyed the story and the character of the figures.

p.s. many thanks for following my blog!

Kathy said...

Kathy mailed you something over a week ago. Have you received it yet? She does not have your email address. Kathy

Sans! said...

Hi Kathy O-O, I did not receive any email from you except for the comment you left here. I will go to your blog and email you.

Just got back to work today after Bangkok. There were floods, pretty bad ones in the Northern part of Bangkok but not where we were. Thank you to all who have asked!

JDayMinis said...

What a lovely love story and photos! So long to wait... To me true love is being a top priority in each other's lives. Hugs, Jean

Plushpussycat said...

Beautiful, Sans! Love is where it's at! :-)

Sans! said...

Susan sending love from Sunny Singapore to Susanne :). Everyone's out for lunch and I have the whole office to myself! :) Time to play..haha! This means reading blogs and replying to comments , nothing naughty of course :).

Have you read a good book lately, Susanne? I am reading another Orhan Pamuk's book called Museum of Innocence, apparently one he worked on for many years and hinted at in various interviews. Pamuk has been working on the novel for many years and it has been hinted by himself in many interviews during this period. “The story, which takes place in Istanbul between 1975 and today, is about obsessive passion and the great question: What is love, really?” says the writer, in a Spiegel interview back in 2007.

I am not sure yet if it is a great love story because I have not finished the book. But if it is, then it will be my last book on great love since Beauty and the Beast. :)

Sans! said...

Rosanna, I am back from Bangkok and ready to write but now its your turn to be away in the Netherlands!

Fai has returned from the US after being there for a month. We were talking about Europe next year and they (him and MarG) are keen. They want to see Montenegro and Serbia and Poland whilst I want to visit, Portugal, Spain and Poland. We are poles apart :). BUt I did tell them that you will meet us anywhere ..teehee :)

Sans! said...

Gagan, I think your friend has a relationship to die for. So strange that as I grow older, I became more idealistic about love.
When I was younger and very cynical, I use to think the only kind of love that could last forever was unrequited love :).

By the way, welcome back! Have you been writing more lately? I will visit soon.

Sans! said...

Oh Betsy, many people do find real love, not perfect ones (what's that?) I am sure but real and lasting ones. :). These people give us hope :) or maybe we already have it without realising . Love is so much hard work sometimes, we overlook the good things. :)

By the way, that line about how it is ok to disagree with the people you love was told to me when I asked someone how she dealt with her kids when they ran away crying after witnessing a quarrel between their parents . :)

Sans! said...

No a todos nos gusta un cuento de hadas, Rosam? :) Gracias por pensar en la mía es una buena:)

un beso

Sans! said...

How Romeo and Juliet of your grandparents, Amy! In fact, I am sure if Romeo and Juliet had run away to America, Juliet would have lived to a ripe old age .

My mum and dad too had parental objection when they wanted to marry. Mum is 3 years older and it was taboo at that time. Plus my dad was 19 when he got married. We still joke about how he needed his dad to give a written consent because he was underage! haha

You know I have been to your blog 3 times last week, either when I was too tired to think or too busy to write. I am going back again of course. I haven't read everything yet.

Sans! said...

Victoria, have you ever heard of Mira Nair's "Kama Sutra- A Love Story"? The story of My Maharaja's Palace was based loosely on the plot of that movie. :)

Now why did I bring that up? Maybe its in response to whether Maya will live happily ever after?

Sans! said...

Tú lo has dicho muy bien, Eva Tata! De hecho, usted lo ha dicho perfectamente! Abre tu corazón y lo sigue y luego se encuentran:). Creo que los cuentos de hadas sobre el amor no se toma en todas las hadas, sino historias reales de amor grande y único. Cuando no hay ninguna razón en particular, por qué amas a alguien, entonces seguramente ese misterio de no saber por qué debe ser la esencia del verdadero amor?

Gracias, Eva por compartir sus pensamientos conmigo! Me encanta escucharlos!

Sans! said...

Did I find my true love, Ana?

I can write a few books on that question alone! teehee

The simple answer is "yes" and that's why I know true love defies conventions and is not what people think it should be :).

Sans! said...

Drora, I believe that if everyone is as kind and generous, optimistic and thoughtful as you, then they can only have happy endings.

Sans! said...

Ewa, come to Bangkok with me ! :) The airfare from here to there with hotel thrown in is incredibly low :).

Sans! said...

Birgit, I am 100% behind your belief that finding true love is what we all dream of and hope for. I will go further and say that after searching my own meaning of life for so long, I have concluded that it's a simple 4 letter word. LOVE. :)

Thank you for loving my story :). How can we stop believing in love when there are so many of you out there? :)

Sans! said...

Cinds, I wish I am more romantic, really I do! :)

Sans! said...

Thank you Eliana!

Sans! said...

And you too Maria Ireland. Thank you for your continuing encouragement!

Sans! said...

Eres tan divertida, Ascensión! Usted sabe que mi respuesta fue tan tarde que me he olvidado de que yo escribí 3.660 días! Me preguntaba ¿por qué hablar de 3660 días! hahaha

Yo estaba a punto de dirigirme a usted y pregunte qué colores favoritos son. ¿Puede usted contacta conmigo y que me conoces?

abrazos y besos

Sans! said...

No, Kikka, not in love :) but I feel lots and lots anna lotsa luv :).

I think blogging, loving art and making miniatures, having great friends & family does that to you.:)

Sans! said...

Being top priority is definitely one of the signs of true love :) Jean! You are spot on!

Sans! said...

Pleasure's all mine, Chadina. You have an interesting blog!

Sans! said...

Hmmm, love is where it's at..obvious but true! Well aid, Jennifer :)

malu2 said...

El amor es lo más importante de está vida, sin amor no somos nada!!!
La historía es preciosa y romantica,
el amor no tiene fronteras!!!!
El regalo de las cartas es precioso y muy bien hecho, las tarjetas son magníficas!!!
Besos de las Malu´s.

Sans! said...

Malú, que está completamente en lo cierto sobre el amor. Yo en serio no sé si hay algo más poderoso que el amor. Tal vez el odio? Sólo porque es nacido de amor. No creo que podría haber odio si no hay amor en el primer lugar. Ahhh ... también mucha filosofía en un lunes por la noche:). ¿Quién quiere pensar en odio cuando se encuentran por debajo nuestras mantas y soñar con el amor:).

besos y abrazos :)

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