If there is any word which is pure, selfless and at the same time exciting, it is the four lettered word "Love". Well, as far as excitement is concerned, some may say, another 3 lettered word might beat love but that is an altogether different debate. The title of the post is a bit misleading. It is not from the perspective of the people who experience that emotion but from those who condemn it. I am not talking about the parental, sibling or platonic love but about the love when two people realize they love each other and want to spend their life as life partners.
Here is an experiment. If anyone reading this feels, there isn't enough spice or adventure in their life, just go home and tell your parents you love someone and would like to marry that person. In most cases that should do the trick to bring excitement and hair pulling frustrations in your life. If you are fortunate enough, that this storm doesn't engulf you, try telling it to your partner's parents. That should bring the roof down in majority of cases especially if you both are different in the countless number of classifications of caste, religion, state, color of skin and other man-made divisions. Even in this modern world there are very few who do not face these storms when love is concerned. Well, I would envy them but on the other hand ask them to thank whatever God they believe in for their good fortune because in India, metaphorically speaking, I think you have more chance of getting hit by a lightning than both sets of parents agreeing happily for love marriage.
Love is an emotion only for the people involved. When it transcends that boundary it is hypocrisy or even a farce as far as our 'great' land of culture is concerned.
How is it that the same people who indulge in honor killings, worship gods like Krishna and Shiva on the other hand. They feel elated to hear and narrate mythological stories of Krishna with pride that he had few thousand gopis (girlfriends) and worship Him and Radha as a couple. If I was a hardliner I would have seen it as Radha being His favorite girlfriend and He and his followers had the audacity to even completely ignore His legit wife whose name by the way I, among many, don't even know yet. Well that itself sounds amazingly scandalous, and we are talking about one of our Gods. I might even be sued for this for 'hurting religious sentiments' of some people which by the way are so fragile that they can't stomach anything logical. Anyways, coming back, why it should be different for anyone else when our Gods themselves did not think anything wrong in it?
Yet, can you go home and proclaim or confess openly with pride that someone is your girlfriend or boyfriend? I dare anyone to give it a try in exactly that form. If you do it and manage to live the tale, well, you are one damn lucky person, or Krishna Himself and also deserve a salute.
Similarly, the love story of Shiva and Parvati is told with so much devotion and people awe at it and worship it and tell it to their kids. But when kids say they are in love, that is the end of the world. It is like for India, apocalypse would not be when nature and climate go all crazy or an asteroid hits us, it would be when every adult kid in the country decides on one single day to tell their parents about their love. That will be the end of the world for us. It is like a person who fights tooth and nail for animal rights but goes and murders his neighbor over some fight.
I can still understand water, electricity, food and other stuff in India being controlled but the fact is, that even love is. We have breached all barriers in science and technology to be able to cage and control emotions of other human beings as well. I can understand sometimes parents being angry at the choice, or even being disappointed but the crux is, two adult people experience an emotion and they take a decision. It is their life to see how their decisions pan out. They are responsible for their lives and it is their right to make a decision and live their life. Parents do not realize that they cast doubts over their own upbringing when they question the decision of their adult kids. When will we think beyond various artificial divisions and the simple fact that every person is entitled to their decisions and decide how and with whom to spend their lives with.
They say, love conquers all, lets see how much more it takes love to conquer. Till then, fingers crossed and cross through hell.
Here is an experiment. If anyone reading this feels, there isn't enough spice or adventure in their life, just go home and tell your parents you love someone and would like to marry that person. In most cases that should do the trick to bring excitement and hair pulling frustrations in your life. If you are fortunate enough, that this storm doesn't engulf you, try telling it to your partner's parents. That should bring the roof down in majority of cases especially if you both are different in the countless number of classifications of caste, religion, state, color of skin and other man-made divisions. Even in this modern world there are very few who do not face these storms when love is concerned. Well, I would envy them but on the other hand ask them to thank whatever God they believe in for their good fortune because in India, metaphorically speaking, I think you have more chance of getting hit by a lightning than both sets of parents agreeing happily for love marriage.
Love is an emotion only for the people involved. When it transcends that boundary it is hypocrisy or even a farce as far as our 'great' land of culture is concerned.
How is it that the same people who indulge in honor killings, worship gods like Krishna and Shiva on the other hand. They feel elated to hear and narrate mythological stories of Krishna with pride that he had few thousand gopis (girlfriends) and worship Him and Radha as a couple. If I was a hardliner I would have seen it as Radha being His favorite girlfriend and He and his followers had the audacity to even completely ignore His legit wife whose name by the way I, among many, don't even know yet. Well that itself sounds amazingly scandalous, and we are talking about one of our Gods. I might even be sued for this for 'hurting religious sentiments' of some people which by the way are so fragile that they can't stomach anything logical. Anyways, coming back, why it should be different for anyone else when our Gods themselves did not think anything wrong in it?
Yet, can you go home and proclaim or confess openly with pride that someone is your girlfriend or boyfriend? I dare anyone to give it a try in exactly that form. If you do it and manage to live the tale, well, you are one damn lucky person, or Krishna Himself and also deserve a salute.
Similarly, the love story of Shiva and Parvati is told with so much devotion and people awe at it and worship it and tell it to their kids. But when kids say they are in love, that is the end of the world. It is like for India, apocalypse would not be when nature and climate go all crazy or an asteroid hits us, it would be when every adult kid in the country decides on one single day to tell their parents about their love. That will be the end of the world for us. It is like a person who fights tooth and nail for animal rights but goes and murders his neighbor over some fight.
I can still understand water, electricity, food and other stuff in India being controlled but the fact is, that even love is. We have breached all barriers in science and technology to be able to cage and control emotions of other human beings as well. I can understand sometimes parents being angry at the choice, or even being disappointed but the crux is, two adult people experience an emotion and they take a decision. It is their life to see how their decisions pan out. They are responsible for their lives and it is their right to make a decision and live their life. Parents do not realize that they cast doubts over their own upbringing when they question the decision of their adult kids. When will we think beyond various artificial divisions and the simple fact that every person is entitled to their decisions and decide how and with whom to spend their lives with.
They say, love conquers all, lets see how much more it takes love to conquer. Till then, fingers crossed and cross through hell.