No substitute for a Friend

There is no substitute for a friend!

 Friendships require equality and friendships require loyalty from friends. It takes three years to build true friendship.

 
 
Remember when you were young and went with a friend to her grandma's for the week-end. It was fun but when you got home, home was wonderful. Your feeling was "I'm home. I can relax now."
That's what a friendship should be.
You go out into the world and do your best. You have your ups and downs, your problems and triumphs, your fun and tribulations. You charm and you perform.
Then you come "home" to a friend. You can relax, put up your feet; you are relieved. If you still have to be charming and/or performing, it's not a relief.

Friendship is a comfy situation like home. You get home, kick off your shoes, relax and sigh, "Ahh, home."

But no one can form a friendship until he/she realizes that the basis of being friends is meeting the needs of the other person. One must be a friend to have one.
Never forget that friends relate. Relating is the basis of friendship.

 Maintaining friendship is Crucial; Best Friends Take Time.

Best friends require one-on-one contact to survive. Telephone calls and getting together are musts for best friends to continue.

In fact, probably the quickest way to end a friendship is to neglect it and sever contact.
Yet it is hard to make time in a busy day and busy life to maintain our friends. But you don't have to have hours to spare to maintain a friendship.
Flexibility is always important for maintaining friendships. Be understanding when your friend has a last minute change in plans. Learn to accept "I'm sorry to cancel, but we will have another time together Sunday."
When paths begin to separate (you are married; he isn't or you have a baby; she is still childless) at forks in the road of life, that is the most important time of all to stay in touch with friends.
When there is conflict, it must be resolved for friendship to continue. Confrontation is one way to resolve conflict. Talking it out is another.
A cooling-off period is sometimes necessary when conflict has occurred. Once you reinitiate conflict, it may not even be necessary to discuss the conflict.

Yet, friendships end and friends part company everyday. Unfortunately, even the best maintained friendships can end.
Many end because of a change in personality or lifestyle when friends just drift apart and fade away with time. There is a retreat from self-disclosure and seeking out each other's company. Avoidance begins. The friendship slowly loses importance and finally disappears. Other friendships break up suddenly from a disagreement or move to another town. But in my opinion the biggest threat to a friendship is change. 
Regardless of why, when, or how friendships end, there is always some pain of loss to assimilate. When nothing can be done to mend the friendship, it is important to grieve and feel the pain fully. Then move on to enhance another friendship or build entirely new friendships.
For more Friendship videos , click here

Emptyness Song from an IIT Guy

Emptiness!!(Lonely) Rohan Rathore IIT Guwahati (Lyrics)

[tune mere jana kabhi nahi jana ishq mera dard mera..]

A song sung by ROHAN RATHORE from IIT Guwahati and he was suffering from cancer. He sang this song for Supriya a girl he loved more than anything and anyone in the world. Unfortunately she didn't return his love but this song was something he felt he had to do. He died just 15 days after recording this song. ( awesome song!! ♥ ♥ )

Oh love of mine, with a song and a whine,

You're harsh and divine like truths and a lie.

But the tale ends not here

I have nothing to fear..

for my love is a yell of forgiving and hold on.

In the bright emptiness, in a room full of it,

is a cruel mistress - my heart!

I feel this unrest, that nests all hollowness,

for I have nowhere to go and I'm cold.

And I feel so lonely yeah...

There's a better place than this: emptiness.

And I'm so lonely yeah... 

There's a better place than this: emptiness yeah...

Aa.. aa.. aa...

Tune mere jaana.., kabhi nahin jaana..,

Ishq mera, dard mera.. haaye..

Tune mere jaana, kabhi nahin jaana,

Ishq mera, dard mera

Aashiq tera... 

Bheed mein khoya rehta hai...

Jaane jahaan.... 

Poocho toh itna kehta hai - 

That I feel so lonely yeah...

There's a better place than this: emptiness...

And I'm so lonely yeah...

There's a better place than this: emptiness yeah... ya..

Aa.. aa.. aa...

/*English Translation of the Hindi Section of the Song*/

Tune mere jaana, kabhi nahin jaana, (You, my love, have never ever realized)

Ishq mera, dard mera (my love, my pain) 

Tune mere jaana, kabhi nahin jaana, (You, my love, have never ever realized)

Ishq mera, dard mera (my love, my pain)

Aashiq tera... (Your lover)

Bheed mein khoya rehta hai... (remains lost in the crowd)

Jaane jahaan....  (My dear love, wherever ...)

Poocho toh itna kehta hai - (... asked, he just says ...)

That I feel so lonely yeah...

There's a better place than this: emptiness.

And I'm so lonely yeah... 

There's a better place than this: emptiness yeah...

Honour Killings - A fate !!

Recently, there has been a spate of honor killings in the country and this has led the government to decide what laws should be put in place to stop this heinous crime. Also whether the Hindu Marriage Act should be reformed or not is being debated.


Honour killing is defined as a death that is awarded to a woman of the family for marrying against the parent’s wishes, having extramarital and premarital relationships, marrying within the same gotra or outside one’s caste or marrying a cousin from a different caste. Honour killing is different from the dowry deaths that are also a very common practice in India as, in the case of dowry deaths, the perpetrators of that action claim that they have not been given enough material rewards for accepting the woman into the family. In that case there is a lot of harassment from the in-laws and more times than one, it has been noted that the wife commits suicide rather than being killed by the in-laws, though it has to be said that she has been mentally killed, if not physically. We have had a tradition of honour killing.Now, there are various reasons why people or family members decide to kill the daughter in the name of preserving their family honour. The most obvious reason for this practice to continue in India, albeit, at a much faster and almost daily basis, is because of the fact that the caste system continues to be at its rigid best and also because people from the rural areas refuse to change their attitude to marriage. According to them, if any daughter dares to disobey her parents on the issue of marriage and decides to marry a man of her wishes but from another gotra or outside her caste, it would bring disrepute to the family honour and hence they decide to give the ultimate sentence, that is death, to the daughter.
There  are various misconceptions regarding the practice of honor killing. The first misconception about honor killing is that this is a practice that is limited to the rural areas. The truth is that it is spread over such a large geographical area that we cannot isolate honor killings to rural areas only, though one has to admit that majority of the killings take place in the rural areas. But it has also been seen recently that even the metropolitan cities like Delhi and Tamil Nadu are not safe from this crime
The second misconception regarding honor killing is that it has religious roots. Even if a woman commits adultery, there have to be four male witnesses with good behavior and reputation to validate the charge. Furthermore only the State can carry out judicial punishments, but never an individual vigilante. So, we can clearly see that there is no religious backing or religious roots for this heinous crime.


What can we do to prevent such a thing from happening? 
Firstly, the mentality of the people has to change. And when we say that the mentality has to change, we mean to say that parents should accept their children’s wishes regarding marriage as it is they who have to lead a life with their life partners and if they are not satisfied with their life partner then they will lead a horrible married life which might even end in suicide. Secondly, we need to have stricter laws to tackle these kinds of killings as this is a crime which cannot be pardoned because. Humans do not have the right to write down death sentences of innocent fellow humans.

True Soulmates

Many theories exist as to what is a soulmate.  The original roots of the concept go back to a belief in reincarnation.  A soulmate is someone that you have encountered in many different life times and have loved many times.  That is why the first time you meet them in this lifetime you feel as if you have known them forever before you even knew their name.  There is a mystical deja vue energy right from the start.  Can you have more then one soulmate during your lifetime?  Originally, the answer was no.  As the definition of the word soulmate has changed, so has that answer.  People’s religious and spiritual beliefs deeply affects how they view the concept of soulmates.

It was originally believed that soulmates are created when the creator takes a soul and splits it into two, as it is caste into human form.  Each half is supposed to learn the life lessons at their own pace.  When the two halves sometimes cross paths during various lifetimes, they have a cosmic powerful bond because they really are of the same soul.  They complete each other.  They are often very much alike, and the intensity of the connection is too much for a mere human with emotions and issues to handle, so they painfully end up parting ways.  When they both finish their lessons, they are both reunited in heaven and come together as a beautiful representation of love and unity.  This is also known as your twin flame.  Only one person is the other half of your soul.

Loving a soulmate or twin flame is often difficult because we are not usually able to love and accept ourselves, so why would we be able to love the other half of our own soul?  It is somewhat easier to love a karma-mate because the relationships are not as intense.  They usually have a karmic reason for showing up in our lives, and we have agreed to meet and fall in love with them in order to work together on a project.  Karma-mates can be easier to love and easier to hate.  Soulmates can be deeply psychically connected with amazing love at first sight stories that end in magical happily ever after scenarios.  Unfortunately, we are not usually evolved enough to handle something so intense as another person sharing our deepest soul level.  Older souls that have many lifetimes of lessons and enlightenment under their belts have an easier time accepting such a deep connection with another person.

Today, people use the word soulmate to mean anyone that you fall madly in love with and feel the heavens have blessed your relationship.  There are people claiming that more and more soulmates are being brought together during this time in history so that they can unite their forces to bring healing and loving energy back to this planet.  Since nobody can prove or disprove any of this, who is to say that all of the great loves in your life, were not all soulmates.  It used to mean a very rare and cosmic match that shares your same soul.  All love is sacred and holy no matter what you believe about reincarnation and soulmates.  We are better off not trying to force it into any one definition or to create a bunch of dogmatic rules around who does or does not get to call their beloved by the name of soulmate.  Beautiful love stories will always exist with or without reincarnation being proven true or false.  Love at first sight will always exist.  Love will always be a mysterious magical unknown that nobody can fully explain.

How to deal with Broken Heart

“Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself constantly walking around in the daytime, and falling in at night. I miss you like hell.” ~Edna St. Vincent Millay

Dealing with a break up is no joke.  When your relationship falls apart and you find yourself missing the one you love, the pain is indescribable. It gnaws at you all day and then eats away at you even more viciously during the night. You yearn for his or her touch, waiting on the phone to ring, wondering if they miss you the same.  Clearly, there is no pain like that of a broken heart.
So, what is the best way to deal with a break up.  What should you do when your ex says good bye? Should you give up? Should you try to forget, drink yourself into oblivion, or maybe even become a stalker?
The answer is not the same for every situation, but you should really avoid doing anything hasty. That includes, not being too quick to decide whether you can’t or can save your relationship.
Before you give up all hope, act out irrationally, or pick up the phone to pour out your heart- do yourself a big favor: Look within to see what wounds need to be healed.
Chances are, you aren’t just hurting because of this break up. The current disappointment likely hurts so bad because it brings up painful memories and feelings from your past. A broken relationship may trigger feelings of abandonment and loss that you thought were resolved long ago.
No matter how strong you are, it is devastating to experience the compounded heartache that exists when a fresh break up adds to the unhealed wounds of yesteryear.  Doesn’t that make you realize how important it is to fully deal with your problems when they happen.  Why bring baggage from past relationships, or even baggage from childhood, into present relationships? If you want to prevent a future break up instead of repeatedly dealing with break ups, it’s time to stop the ugly cycle.
Instead of focusing on the current break up with your ex back, focus on how to feel better about yourself. Focus on healing your broken heart, not just from this heartache, but from all unresolved pain. Be gentle with yourself. Love yourself and see the best in you.  Then and only then will you attract relationships that reflect the love that you deserve.
Looking for a quick fix?  This site offers plenty of tips to help with the current pain, but I also want you to concentrate on long term solutions.
Once you deal with your own baggage, you’ll be better prepared to decide if what you really want is to get back with your ex.  Moreover, your ex is likely to be more receptive to getting back together after seeing the positive changes you’ve made.

Forgiveness in Relationships

“You can forgive someone almost anything. But you cannot tolerate everything…We don’t have to tolerate what people do just because we forgive them for doing it. Forgiving heals us personally. To tolerate everything only hurts us all in the long run.” -Lewis B. Smedes

In life and love there will be mistakes. There will be hurt, pain, and sadness.  These things come, usually unintentionally, with the territory.

In the midst of the hurt and pain, don’t harden your heart.

To love each other is to forgive each other, so find the courage to let go–within limits.

Should there come a time when someone is abusing your love, patience, and forgiveness; it may be time to let go.  Just because you’re willing to forgive, doesn’t mean that you offer your mate permission to walk all over your heart.

Never refuse to forgive, but always refuse to be abused.

15 Love and Relationship quotes

“Every good relationship, especially marriage, is based on respect. If it’s not based on respect, nothing that appears to be good will last very long.” -Amy Grant

To love is to receive a glimpse of heaven.” – Karen Sunde

“The purpose of relationship is not to have another who might complete you, but to have another with whom you might share your completeness.” –Neale Donald Walsch

“Love is a verb. Love – the feeling – is a fruit of love, the verb. So love her. Serve her. Sacrifice. Listen to her. Empathize. Appreciate. Affirm her. Love is a value that is actualized through loving actions.” –Stephen R. Covey

“A person doesn’t have to be perfect to be exactly what you need.” – Scrubs

“You’ll discover that real love is millions of miles past falling in love with anyone or anything. When you make that one effort to feel compassion instead of blame or self-blame, the heart opens again and continues opening.” –Sara Paddison

“True love does not come by finding the perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly.” –Jason Jordan

“Perfect love is rare indeed – for to be a lover will require that you continually have the subtlety of the very wise, the flexibility of the child, the sensitivity of the artist, the understanding of the philosopher, the acceptance of the saint, the tolerance of the scholar and the fortitude of the certain.” –Leo Buscaglia

“The most wonderful of all things in life, I believe, is the discovery of another human being with whom one’s relationship has a glowing depth, beauty, and joy as the years increase.” –Sir Hugh Walpoe

“You will know that forgiveness has begun when you recall those who hurt you and feel the power to wish them well.” –Lewis B. Smedes

“Through my love for you, I want to express my love for the whole cosmos, the whole of humanity, and all beings. By living with you, I want to learn to love everyone and all species. If I succeed in loving you, I will be able to love everyone and all species on Earth… This is the real message of love.” — Thich Nhat Hanh

“If our love is only a will to possess, it is not love.” –Thich Nhat Hanh

“True love always brings joy to ourselves and to the one we love. If our love does not bring joy to both of us, it is not true love.” –THICH NHAT HANH

“Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind; and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.” –William Shakespeare

“The formula for achieving a successful relationship is simple: you should treat all disasters as if they were trivialities but never treat a triviality as if it were a disaster.”—Quentin Crisp

Dashboard Confessional - Vindicated Video HD

I have posted this song on my blog. I dont know why there are so many good songs! They should be known. I listen to this one when i have to shout at the top of my lungs to try and feel good about myself. for me , it kinda feels like an middle finger raised to people who did you wrong ... or who you wronged but it might just be me. I first heard it at the end of one of the spiderman movies, i dont think this song is on any of DC's albums.

Hope dangles on a string                                                            
Like slow spinning redemption
Winding in and winding out
The shine of it has caught my eye

And roped me in, so
mesmerizing, so, hypnotizing
I am captivated

I am                                                                                                      

Vindicated
I am selfish
I am wrong
I am right
I swear I'm right
Swear I knew it all along

And I am flawed
But I am cleaning up so well
I am seeing in me now the things you swore you saw yourself

So clear
Like the diamond in your ring
Cut to mirror your intentions
Oversized and overwhelmed
The shine of which has caught my eye
And rendered me so,
isolated, so, motivated
I am certain now that

I am

Vindicated
I am selfish
I am wrong
I am right
I swear I'm right
Swear I knew it all along


So turn
Up the corners of your lips
Part them and feel my finger tips
Trace the moment, fall forever
Defense is paper thin
Just, one touch and I'd be in
Too deep now to ever swim against the current
So let me slip away
So let me slip away
So let me slip away
So let me slip, against the current
So let me slip away [4x]

Vindicated!
I am selfish!
I am wrong!
I am right!
I swear I'm right
Swear I knew it all along

Slight hope
It dangles on a string
Like slow spinning redemption...

Love you forever . . .

A mother held her new baby and very slowly rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she held him, she sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
The baby grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was two years old, and he ran all around the house. He pulled all the books off the shelves. He pulled all the food out of the refrigerator and he took his mother's watch and flushed it down the toilet. Sometimes his mother would say, "this kid is driving me CRAZY!"
But at night time, when that two-year-old was quiet, she opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor, looked up over the side of his bed; and if he was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While she rocked him she sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
The little boy grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was nine years old. And he never wanted to come in for dinner, he never wanted to take a bath, and when grandma visited he always said bad words. Sometimes his mother wanted to sell him to the zoo!
But at night time, when he was asleep, the mother quietly opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor and looked up over the side of the bed. If he was really asleep, she picked up that nine-year-old boy and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she rocked him she sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
The boy grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was a teenager. He had strange friends and he wore strange clothes and he listened to strange music. Sometimes the mother felt like she was in a zoo!
But at night time, when that teenager was asleep, the mother opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor and looked up over the side of the bed. If he was really asleep she picked up that great big boy and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While she rocked him she sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
That teenager grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was a grown-up man. He left home and got a house across town. But sometimes on dark nights the mother got into her car and drove across town.  If all the lights in her son's house were out, she opened his bedroom window, crawled across the floor, and looked up over the side of his bed. If that great big man was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she rocked him she sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
Well, that mother, she got older. She got older and older and older. One day she called up her son and said, "You'd better come see me because I'm very old and sick." So her son came to see her. When he came in the door she tried to sing the song. She sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always...
But she couldn't finish because she was too old and sick. The son went to his mother. He picked her up and rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And he sang this song:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my Mommy you'll be.
When the son came home that night, he stood for a long time at the top of the stairs. Then he went into the room where his very new baby daughter was sleeping. He picked her up in his arms and very slowly rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while he rocked her he sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

"Love conquers all things"

Love is the bottom line of every religion and spiritual pathway, to surrender ourselves to a higher, deeper, greater power. The word 'Islam' even translates as 'surrender'.

So it seems that our lives are a journey from knowing, through forgetting, to (hopefully) remembering again. We start out open and free and end up open and free. Somewhere in the middle we pass through a narrow tunnel. This tunnel is our identification with our small-self, "ME", a conditioned-ego, our cocoon.

The Buddhists say, "No self, No problem."

To me, that means no small, false, separate, scared self; no problems.

When they talk about 'dying before you die' I think they really just mean dropping the baggage; getting rid of all our un-natural ways and being natural again, returning to innocence, like a child, living 'in tune' with our own true nature, just as God intended, living love. Living like this you never fear death!

Jesus said that whoever is prepared to lose (their old life, their ego-shell) will gain (a new life, freedom, joy) He also said that the Golden Rule was to "Love your neighbor as your self", because he knew, he'd remembered, at the deepest level your 'neighbor' is yourself.

There is only One Self. Call it Love, call it Life, call it God or Truth or "The Ground of Being". It doesn't really make much difference. We are all truly, madly, deeply One!!!

Remember, re-member, be a member again of the whole of existence, of everything that is, was and ever will be.

In Hinduism , it's called "Lila", which means play. To be yourself is to be happy. To be whole is to be healthy (to be out of tune with yourself or the whole leads to "dis-ease").

We are each a vital part of something real, magic and infinite. We're each like different instruments in a divine cosmic orchestra. You don't need a reason to be happy and there is no reason to be afraid. Live, love, laugh, and learn.

"...and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."
- T.S. Eliot

"Namaste", which (I think) means I honor that place in you, where you and I are one.

Thoughts about Love . . .

Here is a some good quotes about love that I have collected over a period of time and other people have sent me for my list. Feel free to send me any good quotes on love if you think they would fit in here nicely. I will be more than happy to include them.
 It hurts to love someone and not be loved in return, but what is more painful is to love someone and never find the courage to let that person know how you feel.
 Maybe we have to meet a few wrong people before meeting the right one so that when we finally meet the right person, we will know how to be grateful for that gift.
 Love is when you take away the feeling, the passion, and the romance in a relationship and find out you still care for that person.
 A sad thing in life is when you meet someone who means a lot to you, only to find out in the end that it was never meant to be and you just have to let go.
 When the door of happiness closes, another opens but often times we look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one which has been opened for us.
 The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.
 It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives.
 Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they'll love you back. Don't expect love in return, just wait for it to grow in their heart, but if it doesn't, be sure it grew in yours.
 There are things you'd love to hear that you would never hear from the person whom you would like to hear from, but don't be so deaf as not to hear it from the one who says it from his heart.
 Never say good-bye if you still want to try, never give up if you still feel you can go on, never say you don't love a person anymore if you can't let go.
 Love comes to those who still hope although they've been disappointed, to those who still believe although they've been betrayed, need to love those who still love although they've been hurt before.
 It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone, an hour to like someone and a day to love someone, but it takes a lifetime to forget someone.
 Don't go for looks, they can deceive. Don't go for wealth, in the end it fades away. Go for someone who makes you smile because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright.
 There are moments in life when you miss someone so much that you just want to pick them from your dreams and hug them for real.
 Dream what you want to dream, go where you want to go, be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to all the things you want to do.
 May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to make you happy and enough money to buy me gifts.
 Always put yourself in other's shoes. If you feel it hurts you, it probably hurts the other person too.
 A careless word may kindle strife, a cruel word may wreck a life, a timely word may level stress, a loving word may heal and bless.
 The beginning of love is to let those we love be just themselves, and not twist them with our own image otherwise, we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.
 The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything, they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.
 Happiness lies for those who cry, those who hurt, those who have searched, and those who have tried, for only they can appreciate the importance of people who have touched their lives.
 Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss and ends with a tear.
 The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past, you can't go on well in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.
 When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.
 Love is an unusual game. There are either two winners or none.

 Love doesn't make the world go 'round, it makes the ride worthwhile.
 Love is what makes two people sit in the middle of a bench when there's plenty of room at both ends.
 The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.

The Salty Coffee . . . .

He met her at a party. She was so outstanding, many guys chasing after her, while he was so normal, nobody paid attention to him.

At the end of the party, he invited her to have coffee with him, she was surprised but due to being polite, she promised.

They sat in a nice coffee shop, he was too nervous to say anything, she felt uncomfortable, and she thought to herself, "Please, let me go home..." Suddenly he asked the waiter, "Would you please give me some salt? I'd like to put it in my coffee." Everybody stared at him, so strange! His face turned red but still, he put the salt in his coffee and drank it. She asked him curiously, "Why you have this hobby?" He replied, "When I was a little boy, I lived near the sea, I liked playing in the sea, I could feel the taste of the sea, just like the taste of the salty coffee. Now every time I have the salty coffee, I always think of my childhood, think of my hometown, I miss my hometown so much, I miss my parents who are still living there." While saying that tears filled his eyes. She was deeply touched. That's his true feeling, from the bottom of his heart. A man who can tell out his homesickness, he must be a man who loves home, cares about home, has responsibility of home... Then she also started to speak, spoke about her faraway hometown, her childhood, her family.

That was a really nice talk, also a beautiful beginning of their story. They continued to date. She found that actually he was a man who meets all her demands; he had tolerance, was kind hearted, warm, careful. He was such a good person but she almost missed him! Thanks to his salty coffee! Then the story was just like every beautiful love story, the princess married to the prince, and then they were living the happy life... And, every time she made coffee for him, she put some salt in the coffee, as she knew that's the way he liked it.

After 40 years, he passed away, left her a letter which said, "My dearest, please forgive me, forgive my whole life's lie. This was the only lie I said to you---the salty coffee. Remember the first time we dated? I was so nervous at that time, actually I wanted some sugar, but I said salt. It was hard for me to change so I just went ahead. I never thought that could be the start of our communication! I tried to tell you the truth many times in my life, but I was too afraid to do that, as I have promised not to lie to you for anything... Now I'm dying, I afraid of nothing so I tell you the truth, I don't like the salty coffee, what a strange bad taste... But I have had the salty coffee for my whole life! Since I knew you, I never feel sorry for anything I do for you. Having you with me is my biggest happiness for my whole life. If I can live for the second time, still want to know you and have you for my whole life, even though I have to drink the salty coffee again."

Her tears made the letter totally wet.

Someday, someone asked her, "What's the taste of salty coffee?" She replied, "It's sweet."

A Silent Love . . .

From the very Begining, the girl's family objected strongly on her dating this guy. Saying that it has got to do with family background & that the girl will have to suffer for the rest of her life if she were to be with him. Due to family's pressure, the couple quarrel very often. Though the girl love the guy deeply, but she always ask him: "How deep is your love for me?"

As the guy is not good with his words, this often cause the girl to be very upset. With that & the family's pressure, the girl often vent her anger on him. As for him, he only endure it in silence.

After a couple of years, the guy finally graduated & decided to further his studies in overseas. Before leaving, he proposed to the girl: "I'm not very good with words. But all I know is that I love you. If you allow me, I will take care of you for the rest of my life. As for your family, I'll try my best to talk them round. Will you marry me?" The girl agreed, & with the guy's determination, the family finally gave in & agreed to let them get married. So before he leave, they got engaged.

The girl went out to the working society, whereas the guy was overseas, continuing his studies. They sent their love through emails & phone calls. Though it's hard, but both never thought of giving up. One day, while the girl was on her way to work, she was knocked down by a car that lost control. When she woke up, she saw her parents beside her bed. She realised that she was badly injured. Seeing her mum crying, she wanted to comfort her. But she realized that all that could come out of her mouth was just a sigh. She has lost her voice...... The doctors says that the impact on her brain has caused her to lose her voice. Listening to her parents' comfort, but with nothing coming out from her, she broke down.

During the stay in hospital, besides silence cry,.....it's still just silence cry that companied her. Upon reaching home, everything seems to be the same. Except for the ringing tone of the phone. Which pierced into her heart everytime it rang. She does not wish to let the guy know. & not wanting to be a burden to him, she wrote a letter to him saying that she does not wish to wait any longer.

With that, she sent the ring back to him. In return, the guy sent millions & millions of reply, and countless of phonecalls,.. all the girl could do, besides crying, is still crying.... The parents decided to move away, hoping that she could eventually forget everything & be happy.

With a new environment, the girl learn sign language & started a new life. Telling herself everyday that she must forget the guy. One day, her friend came & told her that he's back. She asked her friend not to let him know what happened to her. Since then, there wasn't anymore news of him.

A year has passed & her friend came with an envelope, containing an invitation card for the guy's wedding. The girl was shattered. When she open the letter, she saw her name in it instead. When she was about to ask her friend what's going on, she saw the guy standing in front of her. He used sign language telling her"I've spent a year's time to learn sign language. Just to let you know that I've not forgotten our promise. Let me have the chance to be your voice. I Love You. With that, he slipped the ring back into her finger. The girl finally smiled. :)