The Love I Never Had

Ambuj Meher

Some stories are written because the writer has imagined them. Some are written because the writer has lived them. This book belongs somewhere in between.

I have always believed that life is rarely as simple as right and wrong. The people who hurt us may also be the people who loved us in the only way they knew. The people we let go may have been the people we loved most. And sometimes, the person who stands beside us for years may be giving us a kind of love we are too busy searching elsewhere to recognise.

That is what I hope this book leaves you with. Not just the story of someone, but perhaps a little of your story.

If, somewhere in these pages, you remember a person, a place, a conversation, an opportunity missed, a parent you wish you had understood better, a child you wish you could hold again, or simply a version of yourself you left behind, then perhaps this story has found the person it was meant for.

And if, when you reach the final page, you find yourself thinking about someone you have loved, someone you have lost, someone you never chose, or someone who quietly chose you all along, then perhaps you will understand why I had to write this story.

I hope, when you finish it, you find a little of your own story in it too.

— Ambuj Kumar Meher