Who is a Soulmate?

After I read the Wow prompt, I did a little online research about the word ‘Soulmate’. I know what you are thinking, “You don’t know what Soulmate is?” That’s unthinkable! All celebs use this word freely for all those who aren’t classified as ‘enemies’. Come Feb and all those trying to sell Love will use ‘Soulmates’ as the ultimate deal sealer! To tell you the fact, I was a copywriter and I used the word liberally, whenever we were marketing anything romantic!

Frankly, I never gave much thought to the word. It was just another word in the repository. But the prompt got me thinking, what does Soulmate really mean? The dictionary gave me a straight forward answer- “A person ideally suited to another as a close friend or a romantic partner.” But this meaning didn’t make much sense. Who defines ideally suited? Also we usually have a few close friends not one and our romantic partners could be different from our typical circle of friends. Also what about the mushy definition, shoved down our throats by Bollywood where we have this one friend or romantic partner and that person is supposed to be our soulmate! What happens after breakup?

By now, all the die-hard romantics are horrified and have decided that I am some shrewd, cold hearted spinster who has never found love! Let me assure you all is well at my end, but I never really was a dreamy romantic. I prefer things to be real. So this concept of one person, your twin heart is a little too much to believe for me. Do I reject the idea of Soulmate? Not really, all I think is that it cannot be confined to a strict meaning and it’s wrong to expect all from one single person.

A beautiful song in the movie Anand went “Jindagi ek safar hai suhana…” and I believe in that. Life is a journey, where each learns from his/her experiences. Experiences do not happen in isolation and hence we might have many soul mates. There could be friends to whom you would run for advice and then there would be some who think just like you and finish your sentences. There could have been romantic partners who you felt very happy with but when reality hit you, they weren’t strong enough. At times, you outgrow a relationship, it does not mean that the relationship didn’t touch your soul.

Be it friendship or a romantic relationship, all relations have their up’s and downs. However, few will survive everything that life throws at them. They will realize the pressure circumstances put on your relationship and work around it. These people will put effort to sustain the relationship. It’s not just about the happy times but also the trying times when you were probably just acting like a knucklehead and needed a smack in the head. They show you the mirror and help you get your act together. If you look back at your life and can identify such relationships then for me, you have met your soul mates. The people who helped you be a better person, I think those people are your soulmates.