Soulmates Never Part is the story of a special long distance relationship between Sheila Kumar and Abel Freeman. Love isn’t really blind, is it? How does love fare between the known and the unknown, the reality and the imagination, and the indulgences and the misapprehensions in a long distance connect? Is only love ever enough in any relationship? Or are faith, trust and understanding just as important? An engrossing tale of two lovers against all the odds and distances by Shampa Sharma.
Happiness is more than an emotion. It is a state of mind. Happiness leads to contentment. "Sometimes happiness can come very simply, purely, merely if one is ready to embrace it with open arms."
This is a quote from Soulmates Never Part. It comes in the form of a sudden realization to Sheila when she is least expecting it and she is almost caught off guard.
A Prologue is usually added by an author if it is absolutely necessary to enhance the plot, bearing in mind that it has to have a point to make, and make it well. Not all books, stories or plots need this little assistance or to make this kind of an introduction. I have met people who have confessed to me that they never bother to read the prologue!
Well, I decided that Soulmates Never Part definitely needed a prologue and I penned it, crisp and brief, of just two and a half pages, when I was half way through my writing of the story.
Following is a glimpse of the content of the first page of the Prologue:
"Abel Freeman could see it, imagine it, and visualize it every time he wanted to. He could conjure up the incident in his mind at his whim and fancy, and that too, in enormous detail. However, there were also times when the scene inconveniently emerged on its own. It was during those times that he felt awkward, disturbed even, as he had no control over it when it annoyingly cropped up in his mind while he did not want it to. It made no diļ¬erence whether his eyes were open or closed as the illusion was right there, ever ready for him to spot in his mind’s eye. The occurrence, with its constant, repetitive appearances, was etched in his psyche too deeply to be erased, and he often wondered whether he would ever be able to put it behind him. Importantly, it had been a freak little gamble and he had come out as an undisputed, lone, inscrutable winner. What had initially been an uncomplicated, moderately welcome release for him was slowly becoming an obsession. Abel was aware that it was, bit by bit, driving him crazy and the weirdest thing about it was that he wasn’t even present when the incident had actually happened. He was not complaining though. Freedom had come easy to him."
What happens is when you start reading the book and find that the protagonist is someone else, you know at the back of your mind that something else has previously happened to someone somewhere that also has an interesting connection to the story. A background of sorts, and yet, you don't really see it until springs up out of the blue!
I am sharing one of my poems today that I had penned about three years ago. It is one of my favorites as it is a poem with a tale to tell. At the same time, it speaks of a timeless kind of love that is pure but unachievable, and yet patiently, devotedly waited for, forever. This poem captures the essence of wanting to feel loved. It flows on a brook of enchantment on its journey to the ocean of beauty, where it shows its aesthetical waves and syllabical foam. Love and fantasy all the way...
A Dragon in Love
Centuries have gone waving by
And I have roamed all over from sky to sky
Looking for my 'lavender love' for years and years
Facing the attacks of a million of spears
Fireing my way through the woods
Terrorising beasts in warying moods.
It all began when I spotted a colony of humans
Some were lovely and some were demons
I spied upon a gorgeous and beautiful woman
And stole her away with no intension of a ransom
I flew off with her to my cloudy abode
I was sure she would be enchanted by the mode.
But she never did smile at me
So dipped in sheer unhappiness was she
I fell in love with her with passion and glee
The way I was, she never really saw me
To make her happy I did my utmost best
I worked to give her treasures, crest after crest.
Then I realized that it was but a futile exercise
Some things just dont work like clockwork mice
After deliberations and thoughts on a new moon phase
I sadly picked her up and through the sky did race
Carefully, I placed her back on her golden bed
Gave her one last glance, and from there I forever fled.
Still, through the centuries I wait and wait
Hoping she will change her mind and be my mate
I cling on to the memory of her in her lavender gown
Dying myself in that hue even though I was silvery brown
Love is perhaps the most sort-after emotion in this world. It is God's best gift to mankind and every person is actually born with it in his heart. It is only later on that as one grows up circumstances shape him and he learns to imbibe numerous other emotions. And yet the need and want for love is always there.
The question is is love desperate or does desperation bring love?
Is love desperate? Some would say that if a love is desperate, then it is not actually a proper, secure kind of love. But yes, in fact, love is at times desperate and needs that security of a complete return emotion to flourish smoothly.
Let's say you love someone and you are not sure whether he loves you back with the same gusto. Wouldn't your love then be desperate until you have achieved the satisfaction of knowing that you are loved back the way you want? But would that make you love any less? This desperation could be positive and make you work on your relationship better. On the other hand, it could make you negative and give up, or work up with a little unfairly to achieve your goal. All is fair in love and war, it is said. Love is great and it if and when it hurts, it hurts great. Hence the desperation.
Does desperation bring love? Yes, sometimes it does when you are on the verge of giving up, it blooms out of the blue and you begin to take and interest which clicks like never before.
In my book, Soulmates Never Part, it works both ways. Life is like that, isn't it? Sometimes there are no clear answers and yet the paths have to be taken.
Life is meant to be beautiful. One grows up with dreams of
things turning out for the personal best. One tries one’s best to be positive
and make the most of life. And yet, sometimes what begins well doesn’t progress
as nicely as it possibly could. Challenges come up frequently and they have to
be handled well each time. If one is able to weather the storms and keep up the
tempo of courage and perseverance, one might find that things have gradually changed
for the better for them in the long run. It is all about how one is able to
cope with things that seem tough. There may be a point of time when one may
feel like giving up, and then, it’s as if, let me try just one more time! That
is the spirit that often gets you on board! A last try often works. Never give up on yourself.
In my book Soulmates Never Part, Sheila Kumar lives a normal
life until things go out of control for her. The situation goes on to become so
bad that she needs support, a support that is non-judgmental and undemanding
and something that casually uplifts her emotionally. It is difficult a period
of her life and no one she actually knows in real life is proper enough to
share her life’s dilemma and her pain. She isn’t able to vibe with anyone or
trust anyone with her situation that is emotionally over burdening her. And no,
she is not on the rebound. She isn’t consciously looking towards any attachment,
let alone love or a relationship. She wants to feel better, she wants to look
after herself well. She doesn’t want a nervous breakdown. She wants to live.
Does this sometimes happen to people in real life too? Do people
ever wish that there was just this ‘someone else’ who would pop out of the blue
and be there for us when we need it? Someone who would be understanding, non-judgmental,
undemanding, distant and yet close enough to be trusted? Maybe that is just a
human need of a circumstance and there is no dearth of good humans in the
world, both real and virtual. But love? No, that doesn’t happen easily and not
often. Not the real thing anyway.
Soulmates Never Part travels through time, circumstances and
situations that bring two people, absolute strangers, together. Soon, Abel hints
that they are Soulmates and Sheila learns the fact slowly. What begins with a
quiet curiosity slowly progresses through understandings, love, trust, faith
and is shattered hopelessly. But if love is true and strong enough, it finds
its way one way or the other, doesn’t it? http://soulmates-neverpart.weebly.com/
Soulmates Never Part has caught the interest of some of my potential readers
and they say that the title actually has had them intrigued. The word Soulmates strikes a chord with them and
the Never Part is hope-giving, they
have opined. I do get some queries about ‘Soulmates’ and what the term actually
stands for.
I have some of them having questions that are pretty interesting.
For some it is at a very personal level, situations and emotions that they have
or are experiencing, and what’s more, is that it is very important to them. For
others, it is some sort of an inquisitiveness that they find compelling. There
are a few others who wonder if soulmates really happen to be and they would
want to know. While discussing on a personal front, they share their thoughts
and look for answers. What comes out is invariably a thought provoking and
stimulating deliberation.
Human nature is very complex. What makes us immensely happy
today may not make us as happy the very next day. It is not that we have changed drastically
during that period of time. It is mainly the circumstances and our needs have
become different from what it was the previous day. For example, let us say we
like to listen to a particular song today. Tomorrow we may just want to listen
to some other song. Today we have no idea what song we are going to be crazy
about tomorrow. It is not about good or bad, or positive or negative. It is
just the way it is. The question here through this very small and simple
example is that, if we don’t even know our own selves very well, then how do we
think we can know another human being so well?
This lack of knowledge often causes us to take people for
granted. This in return increases our expectations from their behavior which
many a time fall flat and have us wondering what went wrong? Why don’t we give
other people the required space and not go in for preconceived notions about
the way they will carry themselves in particular circumstances? If we could do
this, then we would perhaps be more liberal towards others and kinder to
ourselves.
Soulmates is a very deep kind of relationship, and understanding
one another is of paramount importance. Love comes from the heart and is
entwined with emotions. Trust and faith are necessary and it comes from love
and hope that is very positive.
So far so, good. You are in love and would want it to be that
way forever. But does that really happen? No, because there are situations that
invariably come up and circumstances change so that challenges may crop up, and
here a certain amount of understanding of each other is essential for life of
go on smoothly. Wisdom or intelligence, call it what you may but combine it
with patience and give the challenge a go!
The challenges faced could be internal between the two people, or
it could be external, coming from some outside source or person. It could be
due to health reasons or it could be a totally imaginary issue. Still, what is
important is the way to understand it and then, of course, to deal with it.
My standard counsel to most of the people who have a too naive or impractically great expectations
from their soulmates or husbands or partners has been that they should tone
down their expectations to being perfectly realistic and be more liberal with
their understanding of the said person and also of the situation or challenge
in hand that is causing the problem. ‘They haven’t done this, and they haven’t done
that!’ Why complain and be negative? Why not look at the things they have done
and appreciate them? ‘And then it is they said this and they said that!’ Why
not do and say things that bring out the best in the person you love? After all,
can’t live peacefully without them and any such tension causes you immense
misery! Of course, it is easy to say and put it in black and white but life isn’t
that simple, is it? Only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches!
In Soulmates Never Part,
in one of the chapters, Sheila, who is based in Kolkata, has her own notions
and preconceived ideas about her long distance friend, Abel, who is based in
Scotland, who she is about to meet for the first time. He meets up to her expectations
and even more, which makes her deliriously happy, satisfied and sated. And then,
something happens that comes as a rude, evil shock to her and she is too stunned to
move for a while. When she gets back her senses to a working condition, what
does she do? And what are the consequences of the action she takes?
There are many ways to react to a challenging situation.
Different people would react differently to a similar situation. However, most situations between two
people can be solved with a positive persistence, patience and understanding. Panic and
intolerance is most often the beginning of the deterioration of any
relationship. And, of course, being realistic about expectations is sagacious. http://soulmates-neverpart.weebly.com/
One of my readers
recently discussed my book Soulmates Never Part with me very energetically touching many aspects of the
story. She said that she liked it immensely and could almost identify with
Sheila Kumar’s feelings of longing and desperation. Life is busy and hectic but
there is always a space for a good, understanding and non-judgmental sort of friend.
Another reader said that she wished Abel Freeman was for real and not just a
fictional character and we had a nice, positive sort of laugh. Love is lovely, but it is neither easy nor funny. After all, it is the most sort-after emotion in the world.
Soulmates Never Part
highlights a special, long-distance relationship between two people who find
solace in each other’s company. Usually,
it is easy to relate to or love a person one has met physically, heard of from
others or even has seen in the magazines. But when one can relate to a
stranger whom neither she nor anyone she knows has met, and they still can
connect, trust and keep in constant touch so that their long-distance relationship
blooms into a special kind of love that stands its test of time, is in brief, what
the soulmates in Soulmates Never Part are
like.
To put it very briefly, two
people meet in a chat room on the internet and are piqued with each other. And
that is how it starts for them! Sheila Kumar, working in the capacity of
a personnel manager in Kolkata is miserable as she has been through a recent,
failed relationship and a consequent abortion. She distributes her time
between working in Nathan Paul’s office and looking after her ailing mother,
Belinda Gomes. Abel Freeman, in
Edinburgh, on the other hand, has just become a widower and he lacks the peace
of mind as he has a tiny hand in his hateful wife's death.
Over slow but continuous chats, they relate to each other and go through
various emotions, ups and downs. As time passes, emotions and expectations churn
up that result in the need for a meeting. After five years, Abel makes a
trip to her city and Sheila makes it to his hotel room where they have an inevitable,
passionate, love-filled union. Abel is now in no doubt that he has her
absolute love and trust, and on an impulse, he discloses to her his most
disturbing, hoping of course, that Sheila will understand him and his uneasy
secret.
However, Sheila reacts too
hastily by walking out on him instantly. Later on, when she analyses him
calmly, she comes to the conclusion that Abel couldn’t have committed the crime
he claimed he did and regrets her impulsive reaction. He was probably only teasing her, a test which
she had miserably failed. She tries in vain to contact him again but gets
no response from him. She now realizes
that she loves him unconditionally, and yet, has wronged him. Having no choice,
she gets on with her life, never keeping him away from her heart.
Soon she gets an offer to act in a film and since she is desperately in need of
a change, she takes it as a challenge and succeeds. It takes her to the
UK for a premier show and she considers this as a God-given chance to visit
Abel who she knows lives in Scotland. Sheila digs up Abel's Mumbai address
with the help of her producer, Tom Mores and meets with the Robinsons, who are
his family. She gets Abel’s Scotland address from them and lands up at
his gate.
Abel is warm but maintains that he is now married to Susan, a woman she finds
in his house. He hopes that Sheila will continue with her successful career and
meet someone good enough for her.
Sheila throws herself into her work once she returns to
Mumbai, but her love for Abel doesn't decrease. Three years pass away again and
she is still a sought after actress, as also a spinster very much in silent
love with Abel.
Sheila wonders how long she can go on like this, when he suddenly lands up at
her doorstep and they come together beautifully. Abel confesses that he had
kept a track of her throughout and he has explanations for all his past
actions, including why he had lied to her about having married Susan.
The story spans a decade and the narration brings out their continuous
connection until the soulmates finally, socially, and everlastingly find each other. http://soulmates-neverpart.weebly.com/
