Luv-Shuv!
SRK made us believe that We Live only once. We Die only once. We Love, also, only once. Well, coming from the King of Romance, most of us fell for the trap... until we got trapped into the realms of life. It is like coming out of a dream with a jerk. There are no guitars playing the music around you, no extra dancers appearing out of nowhere, all doing the same dance steps magically, or no soft breeze caressing your hair while you are shying away from your beloved or no bells ringing from the heavens to misdirect you!
Be it the harmless flirting during the high school days or the little serious affairs during college or the more sincere ones after that or a live-in, marriage still remains a gamble. Arranged marriage can be compared to a murder while Love marriage, a suicide mission!
Love before marriage vs Love after marriage. Love for our friends after the girlfriend/ boyfriend enters our lives. Love for one’s own parents after the spouse comes into our lives. Love for that same spouse after children get added into the equation. Don’t ask when the pet enters your family scene! The entire Love triangle turns into a circle.... just chasing one another with no corners to cut. Tricky business, I tell you!
Don’t get me wrong here. I totally believe in True Love. Some of us are fortunate enough to discover it in time, and respect it enough to cherish and treasure it throughout our lives. Only thing is.... it need not be restricted to that one person. Love multiplies when shared. For me, Love translates to CARING for a person. Period. It begins with your parents, your siblings, your school friends, your cousins and extended family; spills on to your college friends, your life partner, your in-laws, your children, your friends in every phase of your life (or every place, considering the new age global residency that we are experiencing). It is found in abundance, everywhere. It just needs to be tapped. It needs to be nurtured. It is a give and take relationship. You need to invest in it, too.
Having said that, each relationship takes precedence over the other, at some point of time or the other. That doesn’t necessarily imply that our priorities have changed. It can be considered as an evolution in our relationship, where there are no insecurities. You need space in a relationship, too, for it to bloom and not to feel suffocated. I know my time with my friends is of great importance to keep my sanity intact, so that I function efficiently in my other roles in life. I am aware of my duties, out of a mother’s love, towards my children. I realise how important it is to put special efforts for your spouse. I respect my time for the elders in the family. At the same time, I selfishly cherish the Me-time.
At times, I do feel, that Love is over-rated. Wouldn’t we want a guy/girl look at us the same way we look at the choco-lava cake? Doesn’t our eyes twinkle at the prospect of a discount sale at our favourite luxury brand? Don’t we love it when we realise that that old, tight-fitting shirt that we had rejected is actually loose for us, now? Don’t we love it when we come home exhausted and we get a nice cup of hot tea with pakodas (or green tea and oats cookies, for the health-conscious ones)? Don’t we love it when we are on a drive and a nostalgic song plays on the radio, out of the blue? Don’t we love it when the domestic help arrives early for work someday? As I said, Love is everywhere. We need to keep discovering it, and keep evolving! It goes much beyond just the mushy candle-light dinners and teddy bears and chocolates. I am purposely keeping diamonds out of this declaration! Wink, wink!
The highest order of Love, as some might rightly point out, is the Love for one’s country. Most selfless and above all other relations. Some take it to another level by confusing it like Bheeshma Pitamaha, and keep loving the same political party as their grand-parents did.
The bottom line is: I don’t need a special day to celebrate the Love that I have received in my life. I am grateful for all of it, throughout the year. Having said that, I did drag my husband for a brunch date... as, Valentine’s Day, you see! The idea was to steal a few hours away from the kids.
Comments
Post a Comment