HISTORY OF CRUSHES - Part 1

She was the first girl, I had chased. She was also the first girl who had chased me. She was my first soul mate for she was the only one in the entire class who used to play with me. There were no inhibitions between us. We played as long as time would permit. We played as long as people would permit. Though I was barely five, I knew that I will marry only her, when I have moustache some time later, for I was madly in love with her. After all, what is life without play? Who better to play with other than her. My definition of love was just that. Play.

Only later did I notice all those uncles and aunts of my street, my area and those among my relatives, and my own pop and mom, that they were not playing with each other. Often they would engage in the verbal version of world wrestling entertainment. They came together, went together, but never played together. If they don't play together, why were they together?

Only then did I realize that simply because you love playing with a particular person does not mean that it is love. It cannot be love. It had to be something else. But there had to be some criterion for falling in love. On a second (or probably googolth) observation of the grown ups around me, I noticed that the husband was always taller than the wife.

Each of the grown up lads I saw at the bus stop, for whom I served as courier boy for you-know-what, on a consideration for Big Fun, had the following in common - fashionable baggies, printed loose shirts, white shoes and most importantly, they were taller than the lass they were after.

I knew the definition of love. Love is all about height. I looked around in my class. There were only two girls shorter than me. Therefore, if at all I had to choose one, it had to be one among them. I used to stand by their side trying to figure out how does our shadows look together. In those shadows I found my second love. I found the true reason for love. Height.

Everything seemed so well. Untill two years later I was relagated to being the shortest of my class. Even those two had grown taller than me. Only then it dawned on me that there is every possibility that there are some men who are shorter than the shortest of women. What will happen to them? Will they remain single? Or more specifically, what will happen to me? I had not yet seen any grown up being single. I had also not yet come across any couple of that type. I was scared of not knowing what will happen. My mind was heating up without a solution, as I could not discuss this issue with any body.

The restlessness grew over the next couple of months, till we were on a trip to New Delhi. In our train, we met a couple, who boarded our compartment at Itarsi, who answered my doubt perfectly. The husband was a dwarf, that is when compared with his wife, who was almost six footer.

And atlast my doubts were cleared, but a new one found its place. Accepted, height is not the criterion, but what is that consideration? What drives you into love? It was like trying to find a reason to fall in love. And I found the reason, or probably the girl, and therefore inferred the reason.

(To Be Continued)