There is this rose bush in my garden, which I planted with a lot of love. For months and months, I waited. I had no idea what the flower would be like. I would watch it somedays and wonder why it wasn't blooming. I had done everything right--the manure, the watering, the sunlight. I .had done everything I could. There was nothing more I could do really. After a few months I gave up thinking about it and it just stood there, sullen , defiant and almost mocking me. There were a few insect eaten leaves and I dutifully sprayed a herbal bug repellant. It made me think that sometimes, relationships are like that. You want it so badly but the other person does not respond and there is nothing you can do really. You learn to live with it. When I left for Bentota (to celebrate my birthday ) it did not have a single bud on it. Or if it did, I did not notice. I had nurtured it so much for so many months, and had got nothing in return that I had stopped noticing it even. It was just