This story is a part of Inclov's "I Am CapAble" series.
Usha, a polio survivor is married to Rahul since six years. This is nothing less than a fairy tale story for anyone who reads it. I asked Usha to start her story from the very beginning.
Usha smiles as she shares,
“I met Rahul two years ago at my office in Hyderabad. He seemed rude to me at first, because even though we met in the lunchroom everyday, we never spoke to one another. We worked in different departments and hardly got a chance to meet. Later, when my department shifted to another office, we started interacting.”
And then began regular Skype chats post office and the times when he would drop her home, Usha felt that a romance was building. Something new and fresh had entered in their life, even though they did not have a name for it just yet.
However, the path was not all smooth for them. While they were becoming closer each day, a crude twist lay in their path. Come 8th February 2009, Rahul was asked to leave to Kenya for work.
Usha broke down completely because she had pinned her hopes on what was the best thing that had ever happened to her. She was scared because she had heard enough stories about how distance separates people.
Even though he reassured her that they would remain in touch, she prepared herself mentally that they would fall apart.
“He contacted me after 3 long days when he reached Kenya. It was the first time that we did not speak for such a long time. When we spoke after 3 days, there was something different between us, it felt good. Different good. He told me how much he missed me and I felt a tingling sensation.”
Until then, she did not dare to call what they had anything except friendship. But the magic was truly happening now. She could not believe what was happening with her.
“It took me some time to fully believe that it was really happening to me. It was too good to be true.”
She continues,
“I made some excuses in my mind. I thought to myself, “Maybe he is lonely, or maybe he is simply saying this, This does not mean that he likes me!.” These were the times, when I had to convince myself that I could be loved too. (tweet link)
Like every normal person, love was something Usha’s heart sought, for many years. The closest she had come to such an experience was in college when she had fallen in love with her best friend. But he did not reciprocate to her, which left her heartbroken. After that experience, she had almost given up that she would ever find love in her life.
It was very difficult for Usha to overcome her fears and give love another chance.
Soon after, Rahul asked her parents for her hand in marriage. Usha reminded him of her disability and asked him if he was sure that he wanted to marry her!
“He simply shrugged and said, “I love everything about you, the way you take care of me, the way you talk to me and the way you love me, and that is why I want to marry you. That’s when I knew, this was happening, it was really happening.”
Rahul and Usha have been married for more than six years now. They also have a son!
Everyday, I hear stories of spouses who part ways some years into marriage when things get tough, or either of the partners receives a setback. Rahul and Usha’s story comes like spring after winter. It reassures me that there enough love out there for us irrespective of who we are, how we are.
“What do you think is the best part about your relationship?
“The best part about our relationship is that he gives me the freedom to be myself. He has never asked me to do something that I would be uncomfortable in doing. And isn’t that how love is supposed to be?”
Like they say, “you come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly.”
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