Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder

After a hectic week at office, I managed to get a weekend off, and rush back to meet my family in Delhi. On that idyllic Sunday, when I entered Cafe Coffee Day to grab a cuppa Irish Coffee, I bumped into a long-lost good friend, Tanuj. We used to be at school together. After leaving school, we went to different colleges to pursue higher studies, and soon lost touch. That day, I met him after almost 7 years! After lots of oh-my-god-is-it-really-you expressions, we sat down to catch up with each other, and fill each other in with everything that was happening in each other's life. Apparently he was there with a friend, (someone I did not know) Arjun. He was sitting on the chair, wearing sunglasses, dressed in smart trousers and a crisp shirt. He was quietly sitting, and smiled towards me when Tanuj introduced us.

I sat there, talking to Tanuj, while Arjun sat, listening. Not once did he talk. Tanuj told me he had married Sana, his school sweetheart... Sana! That amazingly beautiful babe, model-like in her beauty, I was sure she was gonna make it big in Bollywood! I congratulated him, and told him I was very happy for them, and that he was lucky to have found such a beautiful bride. He looked at me and smiled, saying " Well, a good looking guy like me, has to get a beautiful bride. She is good, but not half as good looking as I am! She is the one who is lucky here!!" And he burst out laughing. Tanuj... he hadn't changed. The same ol' good looking tho very egoistic guy. Got a pretty and smart girl... and gave himself all the credit.

I had had enough of Tanuj so I steered the conversation towards Arjun. I asked him if he had some woman in his life. He smiled and blushingly admitted... "Yes, I do have a sweet gal in my life, and we just got married last month!!" I congratulated him, and urged him to tell me more about this girl. He said -

" Her name is Sanya. She is the most beautiful creature made by God. Her beautiful almond shaped eyes, the long black cascading mane of hair, the flawless skin, luscious rose-red lips, slender neck, full figure, petite hands with long fingers and pretty nails, long legs and the prettiest feet ever... every dress, every cloth, every style, every colour suits her. She never needs any makeup, flowers, jewellery... she is a natural beauty: cherubic, angelic, heavenly. There is no one as beautiful as her, she is unique, and I am glad that she is mine!"

I was awed. Never had I heard anyone describe his loved one so passionately, never had I imagined a being so beautiful, and never had I seen love soooo deep... I sat there, quitely, drinking in the image of the woman he created, when Arjun interrupted my thots and said -
"Would you like to see a picture of my beloved?" I nodded my head in agreement, eager to look at this heavenly beauty. Arjun took out a picture from his wallet and handed it over to me. And I looked at him standing next to his beloved: A Plain, rather not good-looking short, dark and plump woman... I thought he gave me the wrong picture. Before I could say anything, Arjun said that he just remembered he had an important work to do and had to leave asap. He got up and left in a jiffy, forgetting the photo behind. I showed Tanuj the pic, waiting for an explanation. He just smiled at me and said -

"Yes, she is the same girl he was talking about... Sanya. They have been together, in love for almost 15 years now, even tho Arjun is blind by birth, she happily married him. They are totally in love with each other... they are really the most beautiful couple I have ever seen... Hats off to them yaar!!"

And I looked at the picture, nodding in agreement: She really was the most beautiful woman, and they were the most beautiful couple ever!!