Kathryn, the 'Romance' Writer!

I happened to drop by Kathryn's house, the day after Valentine's day and found her in an exuberant mood, prancing around the room rearranging flowers in the flowerpots.  She was dressed in her best clothes and the aroma of an exotic perfume pervaded the room.

"What's all this!" I exclaimed in surprise.  "It's not your birthday today, as far as I know, or, maybe, you are re-arranging your Valentine's day 'gifts'.  Oops! I forgot to bring roses for you yesterday. I am extremely sorry!"

"That does not matter.  It's not important!  It is good that you have come. Now, I want you to help me," she said.

"Sure!  I am at your service, Madame!  Just shoot," I said confidently.

"Subroto!  I have entered a 'romance writing' contest.  I want to recreate an environment full of romance, so that it can facilitate my writing!" she informed.  "You sit in that sofa and imagine that you are having a date with me in a park full of beautiful flowers.  What would you tell me?"

"Oh! my God.  It's a real tough task you have given me.  I have no idea what I would say!"  I replied hesitatingly.

"Oh! Come on, Subroto! You're a creative writer.  Can't you do this little task?" she cajoled me.

"Well! Kathryn, honestly speaking, I have never had a date and now it's too late to have one.  If you tell me the dialogues which I am supposed to say, then, as an actor, I can repeat it for you.  I have some experience in acting," I replied.

"Subroto! Am I to believe that you never had any love affair with a girl?" she asked incredulously. 

"You see, I was very shy and an introvert.  You can call me a dude!  I remember this incident during my college days.  There was a girl in our class, on whom God had taken special care while creating her.  She was bestowed abundantly with the rare gifts of beauty and brains.  All the boys in the class, except me, used to vie with each other in seeking her attention, but she always maintained a dignified distance. She was good in studies, but I was slightly better.  Our interactions used to be in academics only.  She used to request my notes sometimes, or seek my help in solving a problem."

"Very interesting! Go on!" interjected Kathryn.

"On the day before Valentine's day, she came to me and said demurely, 'Would you give me a rose tomorrow'?  I was so stupid that I did not understand the real intentions.  I told her that I did not have a rose plant in my garden and she should ask someone else."

"You were really stupid, indeed! You still retain that trend.  Then what did she do?" Kathryn was curious to know.

"Well! She said, 'its ok, I was just asking'.  She gave me her dimpled smile and walked away.  The next day, I saw many boys offering her a rose, which she politely declined, saying that it was against her custom.  I was wondering why she asked me for a rose when she was not accepting the roses offered by the others.  I understood the answer many years later, when we were out of contact with each other.  What a fool I had been!"

"You were not a fool, at all!  You were too scared to compete with others and lose her to someone else and that is why you tried to distance yourself from her from the beginning.  You should have read Alfred Tennyson's quote," Kathryn said and recited the quote.

                                          " I hold it true, whate'er befall;

                                           I feel it, when I sorrow most;

                                           'Tis better to have loved and lost

                                           Than never to have loved at all."

"I love that beautiful quote, but, I shall tell you another quote, 'love is an emotion experienced by the many and enjoyed by the few'.  I am not destined to be one of those few,"  I replied.

"It is your opinion!  Now, coming back to my problem, you do have some experience in love and also the ability to act.  You can certainly play this role," said Kathryn with some conviction.

"An actor only plays a character as guided by his director.  His dialogues, reactions and expressions are all decided earlier.  He finds it confusing to perform in a 'reality show' where he has to play 'himself'.  He can only choose a particular character from the labyrinth of characters played by him.  In real romance, the dialogues have to be spontaneously delivered from the depths of his heart.  That is the big difference," I said.

"Yeah!  Thank you, Subroto!  You have given me some new ideas to add another dimension to my 'romance' story," she said excitedly and jumped up from the sofa.

Seeing my bewildered expression, she added, "Don't worry, I'm not going to ask you to give me a rose, or something more intimate!  I am just going to make ourselves some coffee."  

 "Merci, Kathryn. J'en ai vraiment besoin!"  I said.