Nivi Space

“Well I mean its a building at the end of a day, and if I can be a little more crude, its a tomb for god’s sake”, said

aakash shrugging his shoulders.

“So ,

that’s it , its just a tomb , nothing more, you are so emotion impaired! ,seriously.” Asha looked up and as though speaking to god “This is what I have married, really?” she turned back to Aakash “Well you know what, I think its beautiful, godly. It mesmerizes me, It makes me believe that love can indeed be eternal.And I am sorry you don’t feel that way”

“Well okay , so what , i mean what is really the big deal,Its white, its huge and its symbolizes a man crying out loud rather screaming out loud to the rest of the world

about his love for his wife.I find it almost choking. I mean whats wrong with just a flower, why should the whole world know how much I love you” retorted Aakash.

“Oh yeah, here comes the logic and the thoughts. Why cant you just let go of yourself sometimes and just let you heart fill you with emotions. Why do question every emotion, every feeling that you have? Okay ,yeah the guy screams out loud but so what ,

that’s his way. Whats so wrong about that anyways?”

“Well lets just say the way i look at it why would he want to quantify his feelings that way. Its like hey i love you so much and i will show it by building a great big tomb. Why does anything so material appeal to you people so much. I mean why does a

huge solitaire ring mean “i love you more” than a gold ring. Is it not the emotion behind it that counts ?”

“Wait a minute, did you say emotion. Oh my god, so

you do know the existence of the word” replied Asha with that sly smile that she generally has when she is trying to avoid a fight by introducing a little sarcasm and making the entire situation a little less tense.

“Very funny

Asha, where is my answer by the way, come on don’t shy away , accept it, you guys are materialistic” said Aakash smiling “And you expect all your hubbies to be Shah Jahan well FYI, A, we don’t have that kind of money and B come on woman if i had so much you think i will waste it on a tomb!!!!”

”

Ahh , there are certain things which we will never agree on.And please save your women-are-materialistic-speech. Cause if we were we would all be waiting for the tatas and birlas to get married.And FYI ever heard of women taking dowry to get married, look who’s talking about materialism. ” continued Asha

“Sir this is the place, from here on the

car is not allowed, you need to walk ” the driver said halting the car and hence cutting short their argument.

“Oh

all right then, we will get down here, we should be back in an hour ” said Aakash to the driver.

“Or, two” said

Asha immediately.

They walked in silence.They were not fighting , it was just a difference of thought and they had thousands such. They were just mulling over what each of them had said.The 5 minute path had finally led them to entrance of the TAJ.

The moment they had the first glimpse of it, they froze, both of them did. Time seemed to

have frozen. The world around them had stopped. They were just there , fastened to the ground below them, prevented from moving by a beauty so captivating that words escaped them both.

Tomb or no tomb it exuberated

a beauty so pure and so innocent that Aakash was spellbound.Asha was right, it did symbolize eternity,it did symbolize purity. It was a tomb but then it evoked such positive and a happy feeling in him. How ironical was that? He felt as though all his senses were temp
orarily disabled.The only thing he realized was how much he treasured Asha and what they had.

At the same moment

Asha realised what Aakash had said all along, it was not the monument that brought out all those emotions in her, but it was the thought, it was the thought of a man to build something as beautiful and as timeless as this one. Aakash was right ,a rose would have been just fine too . Because it would then be a rose from him,Aakash, not just a rose.What they had did not need a quantification. It need not be expressed out loud. She just knew it and that was enough. Enough for an entire eternity.

After 3 hours of just staring at

TAJ ,Asha and Aakash were sitting at one of the benches overlooking TAJ and were just looking at it in silence. The silence really brought them closer.It whispered the importance of what they had to one another.

“”And this to you is not beautiful” said

Asha looking at AAkash.

”

WEll u know , its like…” began Aakash

“Oh , forget it …I am sorry i asked” said Asha sounding a little worn down.

“It is beautiful, but it

does not stand a chance before YOU ” said Aakash stroking her face and moving the single strand of hair that fell over her cheek.

“So where is my

TAJ then jahapanah“,asked Asha with a smile that made him go bonkers.

“Correction dear, You are my

TAJ”

P.S :On the

TAJ MAHAL being chosen as one of the new seven wonders. No picture can make justice to to TAJ. Its a sight to cherish. My first few moments were just spent being spell bound.