a Parisian Parsi love story

I still remember the day when I first met them. It was late in the evening when dad and I rang their door bell. We had fixed an appointment with them earlier in the day, so, they knew we were arriving. When the door opened, one of the most charming faces welcomed us into their house. He introduced himself as Soli before we exchanged greetings.
Sprawling in all directions with old antiques, wooden furniture and life size balconies, a typical Parsi household stood in front of my eyes. Soli escorted us into their bedroom, where I first met Yasmin. And if Soli I thought was dashing, Yasmin was mesmerizing.
The next few moments of the conversation which my dad had with them were blank to my ears – as I was busy gaping at both of them, in awe. The next thing I know - they were escorting us back to the door. As soon as the door shut behind us, I remember telling dad this, “No matter what the fees are, I’m not losing out on this one.” And all he did was smile back. Probably, he too, had been as smitten by them as I was.
So, finally began what I thought would be just French tuitions, only to be proved wrong later. My ‘date’ with Yasmin would be thrice a week in the evenings. And every time I met her, she would welcome me with a warm “Bon Soir” (good evening) and some shruberries. And for the one hour that followed, I learnt a bit of French and a lot about love.
Yasmin was a living beauty – with rosy lips and scarlet nails. She had lost a lot of hair due to age, but her skin shimmered nevertheless. She would wear beautiful floral prints accompanied by a floral perfume. Even at home, she would sit all decked up as she must have been for her first date with Soli, waiting for her man to come back to her. She had a striking resemblance to the ‘old Rose from the Titanic flick’. But I still insist that Yasmin was a lot prettier.
Soli on the other hand was no less a Prince Charming. He was much calmer than Yasmin, both in appearance and nature. He was a man with humour. A funny bone which always had only one target - his beloved Yasmin. Gosh,They complimented each other completely.
Soli apparently had this fixed time of arriving home which coincidently clashed with my tuition timings. So, if ever he happened to be even a few minutes late, Yasmin would go all eccentric. She would forget what she was teaching, keep staring at the table watch and when she couldn’t contain her worry, she would share it with me, “Look at the time Priyanka.. He is never on time.. What should I do of this man?!” She would wrap up tuitions early those days as her head would be floating somewhere else then. And as I would start to leave, there would stand Soli – with flowers in his hands at times and “I’m sorry jaan” on his lips always.. Oh, that twinkle in his eyes for keeping her waiting and the "I'm not going to spare you this time" look on Yasmin's face was as fresh as it must have been decades back. This was not just a one day affair. I think Soli would purposely come late to live those moments of love with her everyday. They would argue like cats and dogs and just when I would think that the volcano was about to erupt, they would hug and kiss and make up like newly weds.. For them then, I would be invisible and so would be the world.
On other days when Soli would be home, he would play pranks with her or simply tease her all day. He once showed me her swimsuit picture. It was a black and white one, but that didn't hide Yasmin's enigmatic, electrifying persona. And before I could compliment her, Soli purposely commented,"Priyanka darling, did you see how beautiful she looked THEN.." That was enough for Yasmin to get started. She gave him back through me, reminding him how they had a courtship of seven years before she finally said a YES to him.. Such conversations of love would happen everyday. And I would feel obliged to be in their presence.. I was getting a lot more than I truly deserved. With them, I would learn French, travel Alpes, taste wines and cheese and get lessons on love for free. I would keep pondering that how could they manage to be so romantic even at the age of seventy-eight. I guess this is what they call ‘unconditional love’ where even time couldn't keep set conditions for them and age was never a barrier. Their love was like French wine - the older it got, the better it tasted.
Oh, how I wish I could describe all those moments.. But, ‘magical’ is the only word that comes to my mind when I think of Yasmin and Soli.They were the ones who made me believe that ‘fairy tale love stories’ did exist.
Paris may be the most romantic city in the world, but with Soli and Yasmin, one didn’t need to be in Paris to experience ‘true love’.


Adieu Yasmin..

When I shifted base, I lost touch with them. I always wanted to meet them, but somehow the plan never really took shape. Quite recently when I inquired about them, I got to know that Yasmin had left for heavenly abode about two years back..
She kept nagging me all her life to grow my hair. She would say, "Dikra, what’ s wrong with you? Why you keep cutting them every now and then. Will they ever grow?” Yes, they did grow. But she didn’t stay to see them flow..
As a tear rolled down my cheek, I thought of Soli. It was so difficult to think of one without thinking of the other. Now, if this is not ‘eternal love’ then what is?
I still wonder whether she died in his arms..