The Cage Of Expectations: Love Mostly Means Forgiveness
When we want our partners to laugh at the same jokes and cry at the same movies, it makes for a poor relationship. The strongest bonds are not between perfectly compatible people but between forgiving ones
The morning after my column about their relationship was published (‘The Filter Coffee Of Love’, Aug 23), Anant folded the newspaper, smiled faintly, and looked at Maya. “So,” he asked, “did you see yourself in it?” She laughed. “I saw you, actually. But then again, maybe I also saw me. Strange, isn’t it? A mirror shows both faces, even when we only wish to see one.”
The article had travelled far into homes, WhatsApp groups, and hearts. Some readers wrote that in their lives, the roles were reversed: their wives were the Anant, their husbands the Maya. Others said the story felt so intimate, they wondered if it had been written only about them. But that was the beauty of it, the story wasn’t about a man or a woman, it was about the delicate dance of two human beings trying not to step on each other’s toes.
