Love Aajkal...

Love Aajkal…

Love is in the air! You can see it everywhere.

 The Malls are filled with ‘dil-shaped’ balloons and chocolate boxes. There is a whole industry banking on this hoopla and thriving on the emotional blackmail that if you love someone then you have to gift and treat them. Couples are bonded over 50 shades of Pink!

Love has always been there and I suppose the methods, props and cupids change with time and technology. 

Growing up in Bombay, I went to an all boy’s school. There was no other option except for crushing over the History teacher.
 Consequently, we religiously followed the commandment “Love thy neighbor”. Your friend’s sister or your sister’s friend was the easiest to access. For any other girl, you needed an ‘intro’ through a cupid. Cupids didn’t always mean a person who acts as a messenger.  Lending and borrowing books and comics have started many a romance on staircases. For every Archie, there was a Reggie competing as well! Little handwritten letters and dried flowers were priceless gifts which were treasured. I wonder how the young fall in love and romance these days in the age of Facebook, What’s app and emojis? Do they tuck an SMS under their pillow? Do e mails have a fragrance?

In college, buses acted as the, well, ‘BEST’ cupid!
 The girl is surprised to see a boy from her class. What she doesn’t know is that this coincidence has come after one month of meticulous stalking.
 Our man has followed her to Worli Naka. He has spent 32 rupees on 32 prank calls from a public phone to all the Kulkarnis that he found in the telephone directory that lived in that area.
 After skipping five 165 buses, he boards the 90 ltd and says “Oh Hi!” Our knight in shining polyester  gallantly tells the conductor “Do Dadar TT. Unse mat lena”. In his mind, he has said the lines with the same panache as “Two Vodka Martinis, shaken not stirred”. Her response of “What ya? You didn’t have to na?” is music to his ears. That evening Raja More and his sidekick Q dissect, decrypt and decipher the word ‘na’ to analyze whether the use of that word means that she loves him or does na just mean not available!

Having a girlfriend or going steady was as important as seeking the approval of his buddies. When a guy said that his girlfriend has a ‘good nature’ the rest of the buddies would immediately conclude that she wasn’t good looking!

Romance, love and feelings have been the central topic of many films. Movies also evolve to portray the times we live in. There was this film recently which depicted a successful painter in love with an unsuccessful poet, who in turn lusts for a younger wannabe singer who loves a confused, free- spirited bohemian girl who loves an unfaithful DJ. The plot thickens (and I don’t lisp) when the singer loves the girl but she ‘friend zones’ him!
 Now, this is a term I learnt recently from my teenage kids. Friend zone is when she trusts you, cares for you, is protective of you and loves you but doesn’t love you ‘in that way’. I think the term for this in the 70s and 80s was ‘Rakhi brother’!

I am not a big fan of these ‘days’ which I feel are over hyped and also because almost every day of the year is some day or the other. Mother’s day, Father’s day, Children’s day…I don’t even know when they fall. I think Children’s day is some 9 months after Father’s day!

But then again, I am changing my mind. After all, it’s all about spreading and celebrating love and that can’t be such a bad thing in today’s world. The only massacre that happens on this day is of the English language, when  the guy suddenly turns into a poet  and Billy boy tries to get his words worth .

There are so many different kinds of love and relationships which people experience and share. It is human tendency to put everything in boxes and give it a name. I think that it is best left as it is and to be felt.

As Gulzar summed it up ever so beautifully “…sirf ehsaas hai ye, ruh se mehsoos karo, pyar ko pyar hi rehne do, koi naam na do”.

Happy Valentine’s Day to all you lovely people!