We conclude the Love Story campaign with a story which is themed around bouncing back to love. Astha Singh takes us through her soul touching fairytale of honouring her soulmate, her profound journey of healing and finding love in herself and the divine after losing her partner. This long distance love across realms of life and death left our eyes teary and hearts full. Astha’s spirit and faith are truly endearing how her love is the eternal bonding of two souls merging into one. A love like no other.
Astha Singh in Love Story jewelry by Zariin
1.Tell us about your love story?
My love story is like a very quintessential fairy tale. If there was a perfect life, if there was a perfect love, if there Shiva and Shakti, if there was Yin and Yang, if there was Romeo and Juliet, it was me and my partner. So the story was beautiful….we met in New Delhi, got married, moved to Cameroon, moved to Congo and there the love story multiplied. From the two we became four. We moved to Ivory Coast and then eventually to Ghana, where we thrived. A family of four enjoying every minute making memories, magic moment and enjoying life. But my love story taught me something….never to life for granted or never to take anything for granted. Like I tell everyone, her pal yahaan jee bhai jeeyo, pair yeh sama cal ho na ho. And then I lost my partner. That was a moment where I didn’t know what to do. I was stunned because I did not know a life beyond my love story. It was so limited to my love for my husband, the father of my children, that I did not know if I want to live or if I want to move on in life. Then a voice from within said that you know the body is gone but the spirit lives on. I was reminded of a quote from Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, where Katherine says “My love for Edgar is like the foliage in the wood, time can change it. But my love for Heathcliff is like the eternal rocks beneath. A source of very little visible delight but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff.” That’s was the moment where I realised that I am the embodiment of that love. The love lives in me and I’ll continue the legacy, the love, the compassion and the partnership.
2. How do you nurture your relationship with yourself?
So my relationship with me is based on my love for Shiva. So Shiva is ardhnarishwar - half man and half women. Half yin, half yang. So, I think of myself as my partner and me in one body. It’s ardhnarishwar.
3. Could you discuss the role of spirituality and divinity in your journey towards finding love within yourself?
I am sitting here talking to you after suffering the biggest loss in my life is because of my deep faith in the powers of above. It’s my deep, sincere, honest belief that the Universe will never abandon me. There is a purpose why I am sitting here, there’s a reason why things happened and the divine always has a plan that’s greater than what a human mind can imagine or comprehend. So I have surrendered myself to the Universe. I am looking at Shiva because Shiva can never be Shiva without Shakti. Shiva is an embodiment of Shakti. And that’s how I have survived and I am living every moment because of my love for the powers above.
4. What advise would you give to others who are struggling with grief and are on the path to find self love and happiness?
Grief is very personal and it is also unavoidable. We plan and Gods laugh. So I love you today and tomorrow you are not there. How will I survive? How will I move on? So I look at our text, Ramayan…Lord Ram and Sita suffered the biggest loss.They lived outside for 14 years. The vanvas was for 14 years. So who are you and I. If the Gods went through this struggle. So there is lesson for us to learn. If we look at Krishna, his relatives betrayed him but Krishna was there guiding Arjun on the path of dharma. So if we look inside us, the answers are within us…the answers are in our text. And if the Gods suffered, we are mere mortals.
Astha seen here in All My Heart Stud Earrings
Astha Singh in Hearty Art Pendant Necklace
Astha Singh in Wear Your Heart Ring
5. How do you celebrate love particularly on occasions like Valentine’s Day in your new journey of self love and inner peace?
So on Valentine’s Day I would buy a whole bunch of red roses for myself, light a candle, pour a glass of champagne for my husband, for myself, look at the sky, wink and say…it’s for you and I. It’s together forever.
Also Read:
- Real Women - Lavanya Aneja
- Real Women - Aparna Verma
- Real Women - Shivanie Mirchandani
- Real Women - Aanchal Saini, CEO, Flyrobe
- Real Women - Poonam Rawal, Co-Founder, House of Chikankari
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