Have you found your soulmate?

Most of us live this life yearning for different things. We work towards different goals. We follow different sets of rules. Yet in a weird way, we’re all the same. Because let’s admit it; all of us hope that somewhere down the line, we will meet our soulmate.

I don’t mean to brag, but I have met my soulmate. Hah! Her name is Aabha.

Yes, you heard me right. No, I haven’t gone cuckoo. My soulmate is a girl! Me, who cannot stand 99% of the female population. So, I guess I wouldn’t be lying when I say that I was a tad bit shocked at first, when I realized that my soulmate for this life was indeed a girl! Maybe I am one of the few chosen ones to have more than one soulmate. But I’m pretty darn sure that she is one. At first, I thought the idea was preposterous. But soon, it grew on me, like fungus does on bread when left out in the open for way too long. Okay, fine. So, it wasn’t a bad thing. In fact, it wasn’t a good thing either. It was a great thing! So great that I almost wish I was a guy!!!

We met in typical Bollywood fashion. We were living in the same dorm. It was two or three weeks into the semester. There was some open-door-day thingy going on. I didn’t feel like keeping my door open because for one, I lived right next to the bathroom, and two, I’m not much of an “everybody-make-a-mess-in-my-room-because-I-love-cleaning-up” person. Well, Aabha was trying to take advantage of this opportunity to look for other Indian girls. She came upon my door and knocked, only to find I wasn’t there. I’m sure when she read my name tag on the door, the first thing that crossed her mind would have been “Eww. Madrasi!” I think she even admitted to it. She left me a note saying she had come by, and wrote down her door number and her name, so I could go up to her room to meet her sometime. So when I got back and found the note, I was kind of excited, because for one, I love getting notes, and two, I was dying to meet anyone Indian. All the white faces were driving me crazy. So, I went up to her room, only to find she wasn’t there. So then, I left her a note. And well, the ‘note leaving’ went on for a while. Everyone on my floor knew of this by now and was as curious as I was. Then, Aabha came up with the brilliant idea of looking up my name on the university website and finding my room phone number. And what do you know? She reached the voice mail. I call back later and I reach her voice mail. And a whole-damned-month later, we meet. Finally. She comes down to my room and knocks on my door. I open the door. I see her and the entire floor crowding around her. She says, “Hi, I’m Aabha.” The whole floor is abuzz now. “Ooh, so she’s the mystery girl.” And some girls saying, “We approve!” I say ‘hi’ back. But in my mind, I’m thinking, “What the fuck? How can she be Indian? She is so WHITE!!!” But I try to be open-minded about it, and accept her invitation to go downstairs and chat in the lounge for a while. A while turned out to be an entire night. And when the sun came out the next morning, it dawned on me, that I’d found my soulmate.

So who is she? She’s the typical Punjabi kudi – terribly gorgeous, and amazingly loud. You wouldn’t believe some of the things that came out of that girl’s mouth. Absolutely ridiculous, and outrageously hilarious! And you won’t believe the things that go in there. Alcohol, for example. And lots of it. She drinks like a fish! She’d put all you guys to shame. I’ve had to take care of her drunk-ass quite a bit. A lot of you may be thinking, “Sheesh! That sucks.” But that’s because you don’t know how adorable she is when she’s wasted. So is her ass actually. But I think I’d get beat up if I were to discuss that on a public forum.

But the reason I truly love her is because she is beautiful. Beautiful on the outside obviously, but beautiful on the inside too. I love her unconditionally. But that’s not a big feat because for one, she’s so easy to love. Secondly, I’m merely reciprocating the feeling. It would usually be very hard for me to admit it if I found a girl even remotely interesting. But somehow, in this case, I love boasting about her. Other than my real sister, I’ve never really felt protective about another girl. In fact, if we were to fall in love with the same guy, I’d gladly step back. And I say this with such conviction, but you guys wouldn’t believe it. She’d do the same too though. But it makes more sense for me to step back. Why would I dare want to compete with her? Interestingly, there was a situation once but it was more like a crush than love. But still. However, a game of ‘Truth or Dare’ one night changed all that. One question from his mouth, and we were both immediately “out of crush! But what I mean to say is that I love this girl so much that nothing else really matters.

We’re different in so many ways.
For one, she’s breathtakingly gorgeous. I’m far from that. And most often than not, gorgeous girls are absolute bitches. But luckily for me, she’s the exception.
She’s not afraid to speak her mind. I’m a little more shy and gutless. Comparatively!
However, she’ll never say anything to hurt anyone she cares about. I try hard too.
She loves to party. Keep the booze away from me!
She has no stage fright whatsoever. I sound like a complete stranger to my own ears when I’m speaking in public.
She is an amazing dancer. I, uhm, move.

And we’re also similar in many ways.
She gets very emotionally attached to people. Ditto.
She loves to help anybody and everybody. Ditto.
She’s naïve when it comes to realizing that bad people actually do exist and is not limited to an Amrish Puri or a Shakti Kapoor. Ditto.
For having been born and brought up in a country outside India, she hasn’t lost touch with her roots at all. Ditto.
She hates girls’ giggles. DITTO!

And that’s what makes her my soulmate. We are different, and yet we’re same. We’re two different pieces of the two-piece jigsaw puzzle, and yet we’re part of the same puzzle. And when put together, we complete the puzzle. We fit. And it’s perfect.

Aabha, it’s a blessing to even be acquainted with people like you. You are a gem of a person, and a beautiful human being. Your compassion and love moves me. I didn’t believe in angels. But that was before I met you. I hope that a smile always graces your face, and that your life is filled with laughter. Because you deserve all that and more. Thank you for giving me a cozy little place in your heart. I love you, babe.

P.S. >> As tempted as I may be to show her off to the entire world, I don’t think I should put her photo up without her permission.

P.P.S. >> I want all you guys to know that in the eventuality that I give up hope on men altogether, I have first dibs on her. So get in line, pal.

P.P.P.S. >> There’s so much more to us than I’ve just outlined here, but I’ll save that for another post – karaoke nights, graveyard walks, ‘Padosan’ sessions, boy problems! Good old days.