Platonic?
Ambuja, meaning, girl born of a lotus. Lotus generates in bog.
Shivanarayanan, a typical college boy.
His first attraction to her
must have been for the beautiful scenery she provided for his eyes.
She was fair, pretty, a classical
dancer, vivacious and more.
He was tall, may be called
handsome, witty and much more.
Her first attraction to him
must also have been some gender chemistry.
She had quite a number of suitors,
competing for her attention.
She was floating in angelic
joy, flirting but drawing her own clear lines.
Then her world changed.
The fear that her girlish
exuberance had so far kept under the carpet now started to bulge and take solid
shape.
Her mother started developing
Huntington’s disease and subsequent dementia.
Those who competed for her
attention fell away. Shivanarayanan stayed on.
Compassion became his passion
now. Dependence on him or surrender to him, handing herself over to him became
her emotion.
An epic platonic love
sprouted. Other folks sniggered and gossiped. But the force of goodness
prevailed finally, at least in most people.
And what a roller-coaster
ride they had! Hanging by their little fingers with just a
toe hold on at times, with their philosopher friend pulling them in.
But the passage had not been
only by them.
There was a stowaway who
showed up at times, who bonded them all together.
He was the same fourth person
who stood close snuggling along with cold, shivering three Alvar saints warming
themselves with the wine of God-intoxication.
As He stood with those three so
He stays with these three, weaving them into a fine mosaic of relationship.
Aum.
Amen.
Swami Sampurnananda,