Love And Beauty

It was a very special day for Rachana.

Ajay had proposed her for marriage and very sweetly slid a beautiful ring on her finger.

It did not have diamonds he said. It was a plain platinum band. But he promised to get it studded soon.

Rachana was nevertheless very happy.

She showed off her ring to her roomates.

"I feel so jealous." One of them remarked.

The other said: "I don't know what a handsome and endearing person like Ajay saw in you."

Rachana smiled and then reflected. 

This was indeed a question she had asked herself many times.

She was an average looking girl and there was nothing special about her.

But Ajay had expressed sublet interest in her since the very first day at college.

The otherwise reticent and introvert Ajay found excuses to talk to her. He was always at ease with her.

The other girls tried to befriend him but he had eyes only for her.

He would save a seat next to himself for her in the lecture hall. He would express interest in her likes and dislikes. He would even try and keep a tab on her whereabouts.

With days his interest in her grew more and more perceptible. 

The way he treated her made her feel special. It made her feel good about herself. It made her like her. It made her feel beautiful.

The other girls would often shower snide remarks on her, expressing concern about the best looking guy in the college giving special attention to a plain Jane.

To them, it was a puzzle.

Rachana often reasoned to herself that their relationship was rather platonic. How could a guy like Ajay fall for a girl like him?

But then why did it unsettle him so much when she talked about other boys. Why did he smile at her every now and then, oblivious to the people surrounding them, as if she was the most beautiful person in the world?

A visibily nervous Ajay had declared to her before the summer break of their second year at college.

"Rachana, I... I like you very much."

"Of course you do."

She quipped instinctively.

But then there were myraid emotions running down on his childlike face.

She studied his expressions and asked: "Oh. Do you mean you like me that way?" 

Ajay nodded.

"But why?"

Ajay was silent for a minute.

"Does the answer decide my fate? If so, give me a day to compose the best possible answer. 

At present, I don't have an answer. I can only say that you are very very special to me. To me, you are my sunshine. To me, you are the most beautiful."

That day Rachna realized that Ajay didn't love her because she was beautiful,  but she was beautiful because he loved her.