When it fits

You find a jigsaw piece lying by the road.

You pocket it.

And there it stays. You forget about it.

Other things find their way into your pocket.

Spare change. Movie tickets. Keys. Condoms. Car keys. Chewing gum.

But, still it doggedly stays there.

For months, years, an eternity.

Once or twice, you fish it out.

You smile at it fondly. Fumble with it. Turn it upside down.

And then put it right back. Again to stay.

But then one day, you find another piece.

Between the pages of your favourite book.

The seventeenth time you’re reading it.

You get the old one out. And stare.

The two don’t fit. Yet. But maybe they will.

Now, you’re alert. Wary. Searching. Even scared a little.

You know it’s out there, waiting. You look everywhere.

Searching when you walk, talk, eat, play, sleep, sleep with.

Re-reading the entirety of your bookshelf.

To find that elusive, next piece.

But you don’t.

Now, the two pieces are no longer in your pocket.

They stay together now, in a miscellaneous drawer.

Both forgotten. Good riddance, really.

Life goes back to normal.

You take a long vacation.

And return, relaxed. Mind clear.

You stop at your doorstep.

Set your suitcase down.

And dig into your pocket.

You find your keys, get in and settle on the couch.

Throw the suitcase open.

Browse through a million photos. Delete a few.

Then it crashes upon you.

A wall of a million jigsaw pieces.

You start to fit them together.

And they do, almost effortlessly.

One flows into the other. Into the other. Into the other.

Till there’s only two familiar spaces left.

You dig them out. Fit them in. And sigh, relieved.

Sometimes, writing can really, really take a while.

Date a girl who isn’t one-dimensional.

Date a girl who isn’t one-dimensional. Date a girl who knows many things, loves many things, speaks of many things. Date her because she’s full of surprises. Date her because she’ll make up her mind at night and wake up the next morning to a new one. Date a girl you can’t predict, much like the weather. After all, would you really want the same weather everyday?

Date a girl who is the farthest thing from a one-trick pony.

You’ll find her somewhere. Anywhere. Everywhere. You’ll run into her at the theatre. You’ll find her waiting at the airport check-in, ticket in hand to some exotic gateway. Not because she’s obsessed, like the boy or the girl who travels, but because she’s done everything else, and a trip would be a rather refreshing change. You’ll keep running into her at your friend’s parties. She knows a ton of people after all. You’ll see her at the library, confused whether she should choose the quick laugh or the slow potboiler.

You’ll find she’s confused a lot.

A movie or a play, shopping or dinner, the exotic getaway or dance classes, the yellow dress or the new shoes? Being her isn’t easy.

Which is where you come in. You will be her perfect companion, her go-to guy, the rock that lets her flap around but not fly away. Go where she goes, you’ll discover a new turn in the street you knew so well. Do what she does. Keep an extra tee handy. You never know where you’ll be tomorrow. You can be sure it won’t be where you expected. Take her to dinner, but let her choose where. You will never have a favourite haunt, but you will never taste the same food twice.

She’ll cook for you. She’ll spend a day in, cleaning the house. And then another, redecorating. She’ll watch football with you one day. And the next day, insist you watch her favourite tear-jerker with her. She’ll teach you to dance, she’ll learn to repair a motorcycle. She’ll sing at the karaoke, she’ll want to doze on the beach. Variety is the spice of life, and you had better have a glass of water handy.

Be warned. Gifting her will not be easy. You know she loves Paris, but she’s already got enough memorabilia for one lifetime, and any more is SO predictable. You think you know the music she likes, but just yesterday she dragged you to an ethnic concert, and the day before that, surprised you with her knowledge of jazz. She gets technology, but really, would she prefer the weekend getaway? Gifting her really isn’t easy. But why should it be? Surprise her, and the delight on her face will be reward enough.

Of course, when it’s your birthday, don’t even try predicting. You’ll never see the surprise coming. But be sure, it’ll be great.

You will propose to her, when you realize you don’t ever want to make another plan in your life again, except this one.  And honestly, who else could possibly put the ‘new’ in every new day, like she does? When you do propose, she’ll be shocked. Frightened even. She’s a free bird, and does she actually want to be tied down by that big stone? Ooh shiny. But she’ll whisper her yes when she realises you’re her favourite co-pilot, her partner-in-crime and quite frankly you’re the most patient person she knows.

Good luck with the wedding preparations though. There’s tons of decisions to be made. And as you sort through each one looking for the best venue, the best décor, the theme, you’ll fall even more in love with her.

Marry her and you’ll see that age doesn’t always mean settling down. You’ll find a house together, and soon every room will be crowded with an assortment of things – cane sofas, plasma lights, three dogs of different breeds and a cat. But somehow this confused house will tie together and turn into a home. Calm in a storm, beauty in chaos.

Keep a diary together, or a photo album. Write about the places the both of you went, the things you did. And years later your kids will read through and look for partners as spontaneous.

Date a girl who’s not one-dimensional and you’ll never be bored again. You’ll see your life through rose-tinted glasses, then through lazy yellow ones, then through the haze of a high, and sometimes you won’t see anything at all, as she blindfolds you, for the newest surprise.

Don’t date a girl who travels. Don’t date a girl who reads. Don’t date a girl who likes biryani. Date a girl who does all of the above, and then some more.

Date a girl who’s the farthest thing from a one-trick pony. Date a girl who’s anything but one-dimensional.