Prom Likit

I recall a time when my family was watching our favorite Thai sitcom over dinner, and they mentioned a peculiar term in Thai. Having limited knowledge of advanced Thai terms, I asked, "What does 'prom likit' mean?"

My late mother said, "'Prom likit' is a belief that is shared within the Thai people. Basically, it suggests that people are all born with one life partner, and, once they come into existence, they begin their journey to search for this one person."

As with many other beliefs, there are many 'reasons' as to why one sometimes does not find his/her life partner.

Although I have never been religious (I don't really believe in reincarnation even though my family is buddhist), this belief has kept me going for a long time. It's given me comfort to know that somewhere, there's someone waiting to walk through the rest of life with me, given all my faults. There's even more comfort in knowing that this isn't limited to heterosexual couples.

When translated, 'prom likit', in English, is 'fate'.

I wonder if one can feel it when they've found the person 'prom likit' destined for them.

For a while now, I've been gushing over someone. This is a completely new experience for me, for I've only interacted with him for a little over four hours on that one day when we first met. Usually, that amount of time is not enough for me to develop feelings so fondly for someone. (My other crushes had at least 1 month of daily/fortnightly interaction before I developed feelings for them.) Never had I ever considered the term 'prom likit' on them, but last night, when I sat alone on the bus, I thought back to this term I heard so many years ago.

I met him at a quaint little card shop in Paya Lebar. It was the Monday of the September Holidays, and I had just gotten a new deck and wanted to try it out. Being my anti-social self, I sorted my deck and looked around for someone to play with. Behind me, a group of boys were playing. Instead of just stoning, I went over to watch the game. And there, I met him.

I remember his name because one of his friends kept calling him. Cleon. Cleon. Cleon.

I found that name completely mesmerising. It's so simple, yet classy. So I remembered. Cleon. Cleon. Cleon. His presence bloomed with so many redeeming qualities. When we played together, I did not get tired, as I did with most other players. I was having fun.

For days I've been trying to get some way to connect with him. (I was dumb enough not to ask for his number back then.) When I found his Facebook profile, I immediately sent him a friend request. And now, I'm still waiting for him to accept it. It's been at least a few days, but I still hope he'll accept the request, or at least I'll get to see him again at the same shop sometime soon.

For once, I might have found the person I am destined to be with.