A handbag for my lady

A gift from your loved one will always have a special value and a place in your heart. Even if you have ten similar handbags hanging on your wall or ten similar T-shirts you wear, there is something so subtle about that particular gift your loved one has presented to you.

Last month, I made up my mind to finally meet her after merely two weeks of talk over the phone. She has never seen me before. And interestingly I haven’t also met her personally but I did saw her from a distant that morning when she left Thimphu for Tsirang.

Despite that frigid morning I managed to reach the bus terminal five minutes before the departure time. The engine has already started to roar. I immediately dialed her number for two important reasons. Firstly I wanted to see her in person and secondly I wanted to wish her a safe journey. Though I could wish her a safe journey with all my heart but I could only see her in glimpses.

So the first face to face meeting with her has to be wonderful. What did I do?

On the previous day of my departure I hit the town with a light, happy heart and a tight wallet. My heart was light and happy because I was going to meet her the next day and I carried a tight wallet because I have decided to spend whatever amount on the single gift for her; a purple colored handbag!

BACK

FRONT

Over the phone I had inquired her about her favorite color. Purple is her best. And her frequent revealing of her wish to live a simple life, her belonging to a decent middle class family and those glimpses of her on that faithful day in the bus terminal educated me about her thinking and her sense of style.

She is utterly a simple girl and to find a simple yet expensive handbag in the most fashionable town in Bhutan, I feared, will be an uphill task to me. But the recipient was so dear to me that I couldn’t effort to be reluctant even for a mini second.

So, there I was in every shop in Thimphu city looking for a simple yet expensive handbag for my lady. The search took me almost two hours in the frosty evening to finally make the purchase. It was either the color, un-necessary fringe around edges of the bags or the extensive use of shiny metals that made my search difficult. But it was fun to see young lady shopkeepers helping me to decide and the excitement I saw in their eyes were as if I am going to buy a handbag for them. This only tells me how much they (ladies) like to carry a handbag.

When I entered inside her house I had a medium sized apple cake on my left hand and the purple bag on my right hand. She looked at me, I looked at her and we both slowly sat down on the floor. Amidst enjoying the sweetness of the apple cake she wonders how I knew her choice. She was simply amazed! She had three bags before. But the NEW PURPLE is her favorite now.

I really wanted to present a gift that will convey her that I know her inside out; it should be like a story that narrates her deep feelings for me, a poem that describes her beauty and like a song that sings her simplicity. Thank God I found one.

[Note: its a work of fiction...an imaginary love affair]