He would wait till she had settle herself in the bathtub. And as a well-mannered man he would enter only with her permission. The bath was seasoned with the fragrance of Jasmine, the flower’s petals floating on the water. On their way back from their walk in the hills every Sunday morning, he would collect Jasmines, knowing how she loved sweet floral aromas. Only those jasmines that her olfactory senses approved of.
Moulin de Gassac Pinot Noir is a dry red wine with soft tannins and red fruit flavours, often accompanied by floral notes. Like a connoisseur he had paired the fruity wine with the subtle fragrance of Jasmine. After settling himself on a stool nearby, he started reading to her from a book.
Softly, fluidly.
The lines unfolded like secrets, whispered across the warm air between them. He paused at the right moments, letting a line settle before moving on. Sometimes she asked him to repeat a sentence. Not because she hadn’t heard it, but because she was also soaking in the story.
“This bit,” he said today, tapping the page gently, “listen to how he professes his love for her… ‘I am not looking for a yes or no, Vandy. All I need is some time from you. Time in which I get to know you better, time in which you get to know me better, time in which we both get to know each other better. That’s all that I ask for.’ Isn’t that something?”
She hummed, eyes closed, in the beyond. “It is. Say it again?”
And he did. Not hurried, not for effect. Just as he always did. He loved reading to her; not because she needed it, but because it felt like handing her a piece of himself in every paragraph.
Outside, the sky was streaked in orange and indigo. Inside, the only sound was water gently shifting, and the steady, calming rhythm of a story told with love.
They had been together for 25 years. For 23 years she had made him feel like an emperor. Two years ago, in a freak accident Devi had lost her vision. Since then, Dev had taken on him to make her feel like a Goddess. What do you think? Is Dev doing a good job?
What say then? Kahani Hai Na Amazing?
Oh the Throne Room Thriller. You cannot miss it for the world.
What mysteries did they solve, when a ‘he’ who didn’t read met a ‘she’ who did?
Remember: Padhna Zaroori Hai