What's Love?

LOVE- WHAT’S IT?



LOVE! The most distorted word! Or shall I say the word that has the most number of meanings! By ‘meaning’ I refer to what people refer to when they say ‘love’. While love is such a nice feeling and is the only weapon to bring peace at home, outside, in the country and in the whole world, it is ironical that love has resulted even in wars!



We have heard of wars being fought between kingdoms for the sake of love! Kings have abducted their lady loves! Lovers have been murdered! Even today we read reports of lovers committing crimes or committing suicides when their love fails. But so far we have talked only of the love that binds a man with a woman. Is that the only kind of love in this world?



Love is the main factor required to keep this world going. Though life begins with the love between the two sexes, it continues and cherishes only when love is spread all over. This is true in case of all species. Just drop a biscuit to a street dog or feed a spoon of milk to a kitten or a glass of water to a cow or a piece of bread to a crow, they all come back to you and shower you with their love, even if you do not care to feed them regularly! Not that they expect you to feed them on an ongoing basis! You may chide your pet dog or even beat him, he will still wag his tail and welcome you! If your heart melts seeing this love shown by animals and birds, if your heart bleeds to see a beast of burden walking with tears in the scorching sun, silently bearing the whipping, if your heart aches to see a lovely huge tree being mercilessly mutilated or killed, if your moods are off on passing through the butcher’s shop, where innocent animals and birds await their turn to die, if you feel guilty of your comforts on seeing young innocent children begging or toiling on the street with hungry looks, if you curse your helplessness when you see old people abandoned by their kith and kin, if you are hurt when people mock at prostitutes, transsexuals or the handicapped, if you can cry with those in misery and enjoy the victories of others, there you are, a being who has understood what love is!



People who have understood what love is are the ones who carry on the world, despite millions of others who senselessly cause harm to nature, to animals, birds, reptiles, fellow human beings and almost everything that has life! Just imagine a world filled with only such people! That is heaven! I am reminded of a poem which beautifully explains how God is not won over by the rich King who spends millions on constructing a temple all by himself but by the love of a destitute woman who feeds just a blade of grass to the horse which carries the construction materials, ignorant of the instructions of the King, that nobody should offer any help in any manner! Love has no barriers, no material measure, no price and no tangible returns! One has to experience that pleasure of love. It can never be explained or taught.



One need not forsake the normal life completely to serve the society like the great mother Theresa. While carrying on with our normal lives, we could do a lot to spread this exotic love if only we understand the benefits. By making somebody’s life more comfortable, we will be making our lives meaningful and fruitful. Do not be mute spectators to lives in misery! Do whatever little you can do! Your day is made if you have shown a small act of love on any being, not necessarily a human being.



When love is such a wonderful and important feeling, I am pained to see how love is most widely seen only as that physical attraction between the two sexes, especially by the younger generation and is commercially tapped by the corporate sector and media to sell their wares, celebrating days like Valentine’s Day and Friendship Day! Love has no particular day or time! It is a feeling which should fill our hearts forever all the twenty four hours! Don’t get carried away by such empty celebrations and be trapped in immature relationships resulting in misery! Celebrate love everyday and make mature decisions about your lives! Life with a person who understands love and loves you for your sake rather than for any external reasons will be most wonderful and you can successfully do many things to spread love all over in such a peaceful life!

Dear Rvnachar,

That was wonderful.....it has so many positive thoughts that i felt rejuvenated. This world can still survive if we propagate this aspect of love in our lives . I do agree with you regarding the mindless love propagated in tv and filmas for the younger generation , it is not real love, it is only immature as u have rightly said.

I am really grateful to you for this post and hope more Indus ladies read this and spread this form of love to the world!

keep it up

Rvnachar,

That was good article about "What's Love?". It is an eye-opener.

I enjoyed reading the article and it explains what live is to the true sense of life. Though in today's world there are different shades given to love, it is complete and true only if there is a love on anything / anyone that is selfless and without no expectations.

Great...keep posting more of these types.

Dear Sudha,
that was a great piece of writing about love. I have seen many poems written almost in prose form. But this one was prose written in poetric form. Every one word is true. If every one understood what you have said the world would be a far more wonderful place to live in.
sridhar

Lovely post on love Sudha. The tender feeling called love is beautifully depicted.

I am inspired to quote Mother Terasa's words - "Its not how much you do, but how much love you put into what you do that counts." She followed this principle to the last word, to become an icon of true love.
thanks
ambika

Dear Sudha

Thanks for writing on an important subject. Yes, "LOVE" has many connotations, but essentially it is a very basic emotion on which the whole world rests - rests peacefully, happily and contentedly. As somebody said " Love is a best gift when tied with heart strings". But 'love' without 'kindness' is not too effective...kindness brings in tender feelings which will nurture love further. You said very effectively how animals receive and reciprocate our love, where as humans sometimes can be very ungrateful and selfish- they use the powerful word love to reach high or gain more, they simply encash the word 'love'.

Let me quote something very important here-

Perfect Love is-

slow to suspect-quick to trust

slow to condemn-quick to justify

slow to offend- quick to defend

slow to demand- quick to give

slow to expose- quick to shield

slow to resent- quick to forgive

Thanks again for a thought provoking article on love - with simple yet profound thoughts

regards
ambika

dear folks,
i think love cannot be defined in any manner... it just takes over....and the unconditional is the one word i feel fit here..there is not defenition to write abt ..it can only be felt ...and when u love someone u dont think of their negatives at all...ur furious when others point out...neither do u expect the source to return the same love...it could be a never ending well/ where love goes but that is what it is...the initial years of a man is lust later comes a period the helpless kind where none would go for looks or anything else...but the emotion understood by one to the other is the best thing happening...it comes in ur 40/50 yrs when u know that is the way the person is made of and nothing can change that ....love is unconditional and cannot demand change in the person concerned.....never get into a relationship that is ..i can change him or her...but accept for what they r and why u liked him or her in the first place.....regards...sunkan

Dear Friends
Love can be any thing . It can be an addiction,an obsession and even resentment .Because Love is a strong feeling ...When you are able to adjust to a kind of living pattern with a certain person or a thing or even a place ,it can be dubbed as LOVE..
Devotion is also another strong aspect or angle of love ..
So in my opinion ,Trying to fathom what love is ,just difficult ..we can just sense it when it happens ..but we can never ever explain it .Because LOVE IS DIVINE and hence par excellence ,or explanation.
when in love ,we know it .Because we rejoice and we adjust to sustain the love we have found .So love is a pleasurable pain too.
bye
sushdevi