The Once, Forgotten Love - First Draft - Written on 5 July 2026

 

'The Once, Forgotten Love' is a story of second chances. Mala, an art curator based in Delhi, is travelling from Bangalore to Chennai. 

Love is in the air. 

From across the gates, she chances upon a familiar figure, her husband Vivek. Vivek, is on his way from Dubai to Chennai via Bangalore. 

The story is told from the eyes of the protagonist, Madhav, a 25 year old photographer. 

Why did Mala & Vivek split up?

Will they reconcile in the flight, and start a new chapter?

What does the next generation have to learn about digital fidelity?

What does Madhav have to witness this and learn from....

Chapter 1 - Gate 1 - Indigo Flight ....... - Bangalore to Chennai 

As I was scolling at my gallery with the stills taken from the past year. 

The bright lights of Mysore Dussera Festival, the golden elephants of the Ettumanoor Mahadeva Ezhara Ponanna Festival, the sacred Chatth pooja of Bihar, the Dev Deewali in Kashi, the colorful widows in the Holi of Vrindavan, the sadhus at the Kumbh Mela, my sister's matrionial photos with her in the best possible angles, and then some vanity model shoots. 

What a wonderful year, I reflected. Apart from the vanity shoots, I loved my job at the Culturama magazine, which despite a limited sponsorship kept things going.

If I am luckly, my contract is likely to be extended for 3 more years and I dont have much to worry about. 

As my whatsapp notification made the beep, a woman clad in off-white plain saree sat opposite me. 

She seemed in her late 40s, with a calm demeanour and innocent eyes and long straight hair. For a fleeting second, the immature part of my brain catalogued what every twenty-five-year-old notices. My eyes wandered, almost instinctively, to the little details—a softness around her rounded cheeks, the gentle fullness of her frame, even the faint dimpling of cellulite that magazines spend fortunes trying to erase. Then the photographer in me quietly overruled the boy. Strangely, it only made her seem more human, more beautiful. Authenticity had always outshone perfection.

Beside her was a kid and a lady with a veil covering her head, and feeding the child food. Slender, and extremely tired, wearing a bright yellow and red chiffon bandhani saree with a kid running all around. 

The kid, dropped the bottle of water, lying next to the steel affixed plate. 

I offerred to help to which the lady politely declined. I still insisted and went on get her a bottle of water. She accepted and said, 'Dhanyavaad'. 

My attention then went back to the lady in off-white. She seemed round and was wearing a tinge of mild pink lipstick and a silver TITAN, i persume Raga, watch. 

She was witnessing all this, yet she seemed lost in thought. 

After a while, she walked up to the nearest antique store. 

I was watching her from afar. 

She almost seemed like the lost woman, yet with hope glimmering at the corner of her eyes.

I followed her, just to get a glimmer at what she was actually buying. 

She asked for the price of a few pashima shawls, then went onto the earrings which she tried one after the other and then unexpectedy she went onto try the singing bowls. 

----tring.........there was a whole new vibration in the airport. 

She didnt seem to notice the attention that she was getting from everyone round her with that sound.

She enquired, how much is this, the big one is Rs. 5000/- maam and the medium size one is Rs. 2500/-replied the shop keeper. 

She kept it there and then browsed the boats. I was also intrigued by the boats, before i could enquire the price, she did. It's Rs 4000/- maam. 

Way above my budget I thought. 

So did she, I guess. 

Then she went onto try the perfumery section. 

She: "Oh you have partijat also"

Shopkeeper: Yes maam

Finally she choose a lotus agarbatii which cost almost Rs. 300/-.

Relying upon a stranger's sensibilites, I bought one, too for my sister. 

Then she went back to her seat at the gate and so did I, before I grabbed a hot chocolate. 

Chapter 2 - Announcement Call for - 6 E 6077 Bangalore to Chennai

She was sitting opposite me and then I slowly wanted to start a conversation. 

As awkward first conversation's are, I didnt manage to start it and she was lost in thought.

The announement call was made. 

We stood in the line and I was standing right behind her. 

She didnt wear jasmine, like all women from the South do. So she was either, from Bangalore or from somewhere North. 

She turned back and she noticed me or so I thought. 

Again, she looked back. But she seemed to be scanning far ahead of the queue. 

Which is when it occurred to me, she was noticing or rather searching for someone else. 

We boarded the aircraft. and the queue of passengers settled into their seats. She took 27 F window seat, I took the middle seat and another older gentleman too the seat beside me. 

Finally setlled down, I looked right to introduce myself. She seemed lost in thought staring still at the setlling queue. 

Then, a tall man, wearing a polo, dark blue T-Shirt and grey pant approached the elderly man next to my seat and along with the air hostess requested a seat change. He seemed to be wearing a tinge of aqua notes.

As this man, came towards us, the woman was almost sweating, i could smell her floral fragrance with her pheromones with nervous perspiration almost uncomfortably. There was almost unsaid tension, that I could sense. Do they know each other or something?

The flight took off and I was thinking, something interesting was on the cards today...

The elderly man switched seats with this gentleman in Polo Shirts. 

Chapter 3 - 26 April 2026 - World Pilots Day

As the airhostess, made the regular announcements, she came close to our seats and said since we were close to the Emergency exit, we ought to know the procedure. 

She asked us 3, "Are you ok, to know the procedure."

The woman seemed visibly flustered. The man, despite trying to appear composed, kept tightening and relaxing his jaw and kept clenching and releasing his fists on the hand stand. Anxiety had found both of them.

 

Only I smiled and said to break the ice, "Yes, in case they forget, then I'm ok to open the doors".

The airhostess was more than happy at my reassurance and left. 

As soon as the flight took off, the man next to me, again asked for a seat exchange with my seat. At this moment, the woman, turned her head in disbelief with red blood shot eyes. 

"Yeah sure, Ok" I responded. 

I took out the inflight magazine and it read 'RE-UNION ISLAND' April 2026 edition. I wondered what 'Reunion island' was. Curious, I flipped through the article. A tiny volcanic island in the Indian Ocean, famous for its rugged peaks and shark-infested waters. Strange, I thought. I wonder how the place earned its name "Reunion"?

I turned the pages, and found the pink blossoms of Guangzhou. 

Is pink the color of girls? It looked wonderful. I quickly took out my camera, and took a picture. 

I thought to myself, one day, Im going here, and I am going to click a picture under these pink blossoms. Looks like, Indigo is starting direct flights to Guangzhou. 

I introduced myslef to this man.

Hi, I'm Madhav, I work as a in house photographer for Culturama.

The man, was hardly interested, yet anxious, he replied, Hi, Im Vivek.

Chapter 4 – The Conversation: Reading Between the Lines

"Mala..."

His voice was barely above a whisper.

"I am so sorry."

She did not turn. Her eyes remained fixed on the clouds drifting past the window.

"You know how happy I am to see you?"

Silence.

"All these years... whenever I travelled for work, I kept buying things I knew you'd love. Antique lamps, those jhumkas, brass figurines, handwoven sarees... They're all still in our home. I just never had the courage to apologize, the guilt almost enveloped me."

She continued looking outside.

I quietly slipped my earphones into my ears without playing any music. It felt like an apology for overhearing what neither of them had intended a stranger to hear. and which I was too curious and lucky not to miss.

Nearly ten minutes passed before an air hostess arrived with water.

Vivek accepted two bottles.

Without saying a word, he placed one gently on Mala's tray table.

She looked at it but didn't touch it.

The kajal beneath her eyes had begun to smudge, carrying tears that perhaps had never truly dried.

"I loved you, Vivek," she said at last, her voice trembling.

"I believed you."

She paused.

"That was the mistake."

His shoulders sank.

"Do you know how much it hurt?"

Another pause.

"Do you know how many nights Aakriti asked when Papa was coming home?"

I again took out the inflight magazine, pretending not to listen.

So his name was Vivek.

And hers...

Mala.

"Mala..." he whispered.

"I never stopped loving you."

She finally turned towards him.

"Then why?"

"Why were you following her, on social media?"

"And all those other women?"

Her voice cracked.

"Was she prettier than me?"

Silence.

"Or was it all of them?"

Another silence.

"Because I'm fat... isn't that it?"

She looked away before adding quietly,

"And please... don't tell me it was the algorithm."

For the first time, I saw him lose the composure he had been clinging to since boarding.

His fists tightened.

Then slowly relaxed.

"I was careless," he said.

"I never realised that every follow... every like... every scroll... was telling you a story I never intended to tell. and I never meant any of it"

He swallowed hard.

"I have never touched another woman, Mala."

He held her gaze, his voice steady despite the tears gathering in his eyes.

"I also understand, that doesn't erase the hurt and pain I have caused you."

"I understand why you doubted me and left."

He drew a slow breath before continuing.

"I failed to protect the one thing our marriage could never survive without—your trust."

"I know, my integrity wasn't measured by whether I was physically faithful."

"It was measured by whether my actions, online and offline, gave you peace."

His voice softened.

"Mala... I love you, body, mind & soul."

"I have loved you every single day of our marriage."

"But love without trust is only a feeling."

"And trust without integrity cannot endure."

"If you'll let me, I don't want to spend the rest of my life proving that I love you."

"I want to spend it living with the integrity that makes you never have to question it again."

Mala, looked at him with tears and a smile in her tear filled eyes.  

Every morning, before leaving for work, I looked at only two photographs—yours... and ours with Aakriti."

His voice broke.

"I missed both of you every single day."

A tear rolled down his cheek.

"The last two years have been miserable."

"I kept filling the house with little things I thought would make you smile."

"I was waiting for the day you came home."

Neither of them spoke after that.

Everything fell strangely quiet.

I could only hear the steady hum of the engines remained.

The captain announced our descent into Chennai.

As the landing gear unfolded beneath us with a heavy thud, Mala slowly reached across the armrest.

She placed her hand over his.

He looked at her, almost afraid the moment would disappear.

Without another word, she rested her forehead against his shoulder.

He closed his eyes.

I could almost feel his hearbeat which gathered pace was slowing down like a peacock feather in air. 

Chapter 4 - Flight Landed

The flight had landed, and the two of them looked like newlyweds all over again.

Everyone stands up.

The seatbelt sign goes off.

Mala instinctively reaches for the overhead bin.

Vivek quietly says,

"Leave it."

He takes her cabin bag down.

Just like he used to.

An air hostess walked towards our row carrying a bouquet of roses and three small packs of dried strawberries.

For a brief moment, I wondered if she was coming towards me.

Instead, she handed the bouquet to Mala and one pack of dried strawberries to both of them.

I too received a pack.

Looks like it is sometimes worth being the accidental third wheel in a romantic story.

The air hostess smiled.

"Ma'am, today is World Pilots' Day. On behalf of the crew, we'd like to wish you a very Happy Birthday."

Mala looked surprised.

"My birthday? Who told you?"

The air hostess smiled back.

"Your husband, ma'am."

Vivek laughed softly.

"Those roses were actually from me."

He looked at the bouquet and shrugged.

"I wasn't expecting the crew to take the credit."

Mala smiled.

It was the first smile I had seen on her face that evening.

For a brief second, the two years between them seemed to disappear.

-------

As we walked into the arrivals terminal, I ran behind them and noticed both of them standing near the sculpture of a farming family that welcomed passengers into Chennai.

The photographer in me couldn't resist.

"Excuse me..."

They both turned.

"Would you mind if I took a picture of you?"

They smiled.

Not for the camera.

For each other.

Click.

It was probably the happiest photograph I had taken all year.

As I lowered my camera, I hesitated.

"I hope you don't mind me saying this..."

"I couldn't help overhearing part of your conversation."

They smiled knowingly.

I looked at Vivek.

"I just have one request."

"I hope you've deleted your social media account."

Vivek smiled gently.

Without a word, he unlocked his phone.

He opened the app.

His thumb rested on the screen and instinctively, he selected DELETE ACCOUNT.

He looked at Mala.

"I don't need an account that costs me my family."

He slipped the phone back into his pocket.

"Though, i do know, that this isn't really about deleting a trivial app."

"But, It's about choosing the man I want to be."

"I promised to love you on the day we got married."

"Today, I promise something more."

"That every word I speak, every conversation I have, every glance I give, every decision I make, and every action I take will honour the trust you have placed in me."

"My integrity will never again give you a reason to doubt where my heart belongs."

He gently held her hand.

"And if I ever have to choose between this world..." he said, patting the phone in his pocket, "...and you, I will choose you. Every single time."

Mala's eyes filled with tears.

-----

I interrupted again. 

I crossed a line, and said, with due respect, youre wife looks very beautiful and youre a very lucky man. To which he replied. 

Vivek ( With tears in his eyes) - Yes, yes I am. and I will never let her go. 

The woman was blushing and happily rested her head on her husband.

She smiled, took his hand, and intertwined her fingers with his.

This time, neither of them let go.

****

Madhav's Reflections

As I walked towards the exit, it suddenly occurred to me why the inflight magazine had carried the words REUNION ISLAND.

I had read about second chances and watched them unfold in films.

It was heart-warming to witness one in real life.

But I realised I hadn't merely witnessed a reunion.

I had witnessed the rebuilding of trust.

The restoration of integrity.

Marriage is a sacred bond.

Love gives it warmth, but trust gives it strength.

And trust survives only when it is protected by integrity—both in the real world and in the digital one.

Perhaps digital fidelity isn't about deleting an app.

Perhaps it is about ensuring that the person you love never has to question where your heart truly belongs, and always feels safe in your presence.

And if protecting that trust means deleting an app...

If it means putting away your phone...

If it means choosing your spouse every single time, over the endless distractions of the digital world...

Why not?

I couldn't help but smile.

Perhaps, after all, life is about choosing your wife over the Wi-Fi signals.

As I walked towards the arrivals hall, a soft flute began to fill the terminal.

I recognised the melody.

Manasa Sancharare.

It lingered gently in the air, just as their story lingered in my heart.