I read ‘The Notebook” by Nicholas Sparks gifted by Darshan & Beena recently. What a story! It kept me wondering if such a love exists in real life. It changed my whole outook towards love and taught me what is selfless love in true sense but can we really be so selfless in real life? Can we really love someone so deeply? I also saw the movie based on it but I found the book way better than the movie, maybe its because I read the book first and then watched the movie. But I re-read the book again and I still like the book a lot better.

The movie did not bring that emotions in me somehow. The book, what can I write about it, I just want to be a part of it and live in that era, I want to dwell in that book and not come out of it, such it is the impact that it has left on me. It made me weep crazily, it made me look back at my own life, my love story and where I stand at it right now. My hands shivered, my legs were shaking and my heart was moved, it still is. It just makes me realize how shallow my definition of love was. Noah, the hero in it is truly a hero and a kind of lover every girl can just dream of having. How can any guy love a girl so much, even after they get married, have five children! I haven’t seen that in real life honestly but as per the book, the author was inspired to write this story from his wife’s grandparents. I loved all the letters in it from Noah to Allie and the last one from Allie to Noah. Not to forget all those little notes that Noah wrote to Allie in their day to day lives. It takes courage, a real man to take care of his wife the way Noah did in their last days spent together. I just feel that I cannot do justice by writing about something that is so… beautiful.

Here are some excerpts from the book:

“I love you. I am who I am because of you.
You are every reason, every hope, and every dream I’ve ever had.
And no matter what happens to us in future,
everyday we are together is the greatest day of my life.
I will always be yous.”

“I am nothing special, of this I am sure.
I am a common man with common thoughts and I’ve led a common life.
There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten,
but I’ve loved another with all my heart and soul, and to me, this has always been enough..”

“So it’s not gonna be easy. It’s going to be really hard;
we’re gonna have to work at this everyday, but I want to do that because I want you.
I want all of you, forever, everyday. You and me… everyday.”

“In times of grief and sorrow, I will hold you and rock you and take your grief and make it my own.
When you cry I cry and when you hurt I hurt. And together we will try to hold back the floods to
tears and despair and make it through the potholed street of life.”

 “The reason it hurts so much to separate is because our souls are connected.
Maybe they always have been and will be. Maybe we’ve lived a thousand lives before this one
and in each of them we’ve found each other. And maybe each time, we’ve been forced apart for
the same reasons. That means that this goodbye is both a goodbye for the past ten thousand years and a prelude to what will come.”

“You are the answer to every prayer I’ve offered.
You are a song, a dream, a whisper, and I don’t know how I could have lived without you for as long as I have.”

“You can’t live your life for other people. You’ve got to do what’s right for you, even if it hurts some people you love.”

“They didn’t agree on much. In fact, they didn’t agree on anything.
They fought all the time and challenged each other every day.
But despite their differences, they had one important thing in common.
They were crazy about each other.”

“You are my best friend as well as my lover, and I do not know which side of you
I enjoy the most. I treasure each side, just as I have treasured our life together.”

“It seems only the old are able to sit next to one another and no say anything and still feel content.
The young, brash and impatient, must always break the silence. It is a waste, for silence is pure.
Silence is holy. It draws people together because only those who are comfortable with each other can sit without speaking. This is the great paradox.”

“The greater the love, the greater the tragedy when it’s over.”

“Do you think our love can take us away together?”
“I think our love can do anything we want it to.”

I had always wanted to live my life with Shaunak (Sweetu), my favorite doll was named Sweety btw (now you know why, shhh…) And I was not even mature enough to understand love. We were neighbors and I used to sneak in the door hole to watch him after hearing his key chain sounds while going to the elevator in our building. I found out then that he used to do some of this crazy stuff too! I used to yearn for him, my heart skipped a bit with just a glance of him. His voice, his naughty eyes beneath those thick round glasses, his laughter, his big cheeks, our childhood days together, going to each other’s birthday parties, playing hero-heroine, how can I forget those days. And then we suddenly grew up enough not to be friends with each other or play with each other, the way it is in India for girls and guys. I think that is what drew me to him even more. And the worst day of my life was when he left for USA for studies. I could not forget him, my life was on, I was doing engineering in Nirma. While I was in my second year, we started writing emails to each other (thanks to my mom here), those were the most romantic emails, the way he used to write. I will post a little from them in my next post.

He is a true romantic at heart, cold from outside but extremely warm within. He does not like to express his love much but it is all in the way he takes care of me and the kids too, oh I love him and I always will. Of course I can’t compare it with the story that I have read but I know that it is real, what I feel for him, I still blush when he looks at me, he has a big big heart. I love him more & more each day as I get to know him more. No I do not know him completely, no I may not be his best friend but yes he is my best friend and it is a pleasure to slowly try and understand him and his moods since everyday is a surprise, it still is after 15 years of our marriage! I am smitten and I am glad that I am 🙂