Pink hearts and Popcorn

The theater was dark, the movie romantic. The couple sat holding hands, sharing popcorn from one bucket. You could almost see the hearts swirling around their heads. New love is such a sweet sight; albeit a little too much for the veterans (I’ll come back to that).

Do you remember what it was like to fall in love? Every song reminded you of your crush, the words always fitting some moment, or characteristic, or even a fantasy.

The male starts dressing with care, grooming; always keen to take the girl to her best places, buy her cotton candy (substitute with ice cream, diet coke, chowpatty bhel, or whatever it is that takes her fancy).

The woman on the other hand, reverts to her more feminine side. Her eyes always turned a little down; coy. A faint blush becomes a permanent feature, that is till ‘he’ says, does something, after which the color is more akin to a deep scarlet

Now see that same couple a few years later… They are still in love, but where are the flowers and blushes gone?

Love matures into something that is deeper than one can expect. Romance gives way to affection. “I can’t live without you” becomes “I want to share this with you”. And there you have it – they are now an actual couple.

This is where the next evolution starts. All told, things are still fairly new and that means there is novelty in it. But as we approach the third stage in this relationship, things really get interesting.

The love is still there! It’s still everything that it was at level two, but now there are new dimensions being added nearly every day, until it settles down. Security and understanding are the biggest additions. Sharing silences becomes as important as discussing each other’s days. Making decisions together adds responsibility and expectations set in. The crisp trousers and flowery dresses are replaced with shorts and faded t-shirts. The couple is now comfortable with themselves.

Does this mean the end of all the little things that brought them together in the first place and the kept them together?

I don’t think so! Everything learnt over the various stages still holds. I also believe that the pink hearts and popcorn become metaphors for consideration and nurturing, for stability and growth, and for sheer joy in togetherness.

From this stage, looking back at the couple in movie, you now say how sweet; until the 363rd time you are stuck waiting in line behind a ‘sweet new couple’. That’s when you look at each other, roll your eyes and shake your heads. And the senior guy says to the other one, “look young man, keep the line moving, I want to get some popcorn for wife.”

Look at the wife, see the smile, “aaw honey, that's so sweet”, you can almost see her eyes take on what looks suspiciously like a pink heart look. The older couple walks away hand in hand… Time for the younger ones to shake their heads…