To the silent support systems in our life
Warning — Potential spoilers for Modern Love (S02-E01) in case you haven’t watched
Out of all the content I’ve consumed over years, thousands of hours beautifully whisked away by characters, plots, music and the entirety of it all — be it movies, series, or books there is one character that silently exists in a small dingy corner of my mind but has had a deep impact on me.
For context, Modern Love is one of the series I admire because it captures the reality of love and the complexities around it. Unlike fictitious characters embarking on their hero’s journey which would ultimately lead them to everything they desire, Modern Love is a love letter to the ones who’ve played the game and lost, or are still in it, at the precipice of change — either good or bad
While each episode has its charm, the Episode “On a Serpentine Road, With the Top Down” beautifully crafted a story around one of the best and worst traits of humans — Our capability to move on.
I don’t want to share any spoilers so I will keep this sharp — The lead is a woman who is a doctor from a middle-class family and is remarried with children from both marriages. She has a car that she is attached to which is causing the family a financial burden.
The entire episode is built around her thoughts, her journey, memories of the past, and the struggle to let go. I could not help but empathize with her and imagine what she must have felt as things unfolded before her.
But the character who deeply impacted me was her second husband, Niall. A man in his forties with receding hair, a slightly slumped posture, and a gravely voice with a thick Irish accent, there was no physical appeal to his character, but it was his demeanor and personality that got through me, instantly reminding me of all the Nialls in my life.
“It’s all love and grief baby” — he casually says when his wife — the protagonist, opens up to him about still going back to the memories of the previous husband who had passed away. She was expecting retaliation, to be reprimanded for what she felt for holding onto the past.
Instead, Niall just sat down beside her at the edge of the bed in their room and reminded her of her inner beauty, that even after everything she had gone through, he knew and felt that her heart was the biggest place in the world and she had more to give. Even a sliver of love that she extended to him felt like the world.
It may sound like he was settling for less, or not getting what he was worth — But he knew who she was, and the person she could be, so he willing took a step back keeping things together, allowing her to go through her feelings and her battles, accepting whatever he got from her. And this love was acknowledged by her.
Even in our lives, there are such people whom we often don’t acknowledge enough because we are so caught up in life’s hullabaloo.
We don’t even know what these people are going through because they don’t want to burden others with their stories, rather always offer a shoulder to lean on and be there for others.
When I think back on my own Nialls’, I often imagine the kind of insurmountable pain they overcame, unscathed but scarred, without any malice and even more empathetic.
In my eyes, such people are no less than superheroes and any adulation or words for them will fall short. Also, they don’t expect to be acknowledged but rather take solace in the fact that they can contribute to the growth of the people they love even in the minutest of ways possible.
To close this, I would compel you all to look back at your life, figure out your Niall, and give that person the tightest hug just to let them know vocally, with all the frills and fanciness, that they are loved and cherished :)
