JUST WHAT IS THIS LOVE?

Love…Love…Love…four little letters that can mean so much. Four little letters that can grab your attention just instantly; four little letters that when said, echoes in the heart and rings the soul. Just what is this love? Is it the words wrapped in a letter from a boy to a girl, sealed with a kiss? Is it the prayers in the churches for the happiness of a dear one, is it the need to be with someone, or is it just four little letters...

The whole world, every single person is searching for acceptance, for love. For someone to look at them beyond their imperfections, beyond all their flaws, someone who would see that one part of their existence, that little piece that is still tender, untouched by the world. It is this desire, common to all that causes romantic movies and songs to become an instant hit, it is this desire that makes great poets like Lord Byron. So does that mean love is in the stories, in the screenplay, in the lyrics, in the tune or is it in thoughts?

Strangely, you ask a million people to define love and you will get a million astounding responses, and quite a few non-believers. Non believers for love, sounds funny. Does love require your belief, in the first place, something you need to ponder upon; Think and think and you will still never be able to answer what love is, it’s a feeling. It’s a feeling that changes your world and gives you the power to change somebody else’s. With it comes happiness and bliss.

After great contemplation a thought struck my mind, a thought so great I had to pen it down. Love my friends, is the ‘Divine’. It is the drive that takes man forward. That pushes him to help a stranger in distress, the language between a mother and her child, the urge to give a big hug to someone that needs one. It is the way you generously accept someone for the person he or she is, it is the reason you dance in the rain, every time you do something special, be it even something as little as patting someone on the back, it’s love!

No man is an atheist till he is capable of loving another, because love is the manifestation of the divine. And where is the divine you might ask, it’s in your heart, in your eyes in the kind deeds you do and most of all in the lives of the people you touch. Love is the ability to touch another’s life in great ways, through small acts. Most often we don’t recognize love in our lives because we are so caught up with the love the world has shown us, the melodramatic entrances of the boy and the slow motion hugs and the violins and the songs. Love is in the things you seldom notice, the people you’ve got so used to, you don’t care much about them, but their absence would kill you. Love is the most familiar feeling present in the most familiar people, in the simplest of situations.

The problem with man is his inability to identify the great things he has, his keen eye to spot even the smallest speck of dirt in the cleanest of places and then his tremendous ability to make a fuss over it. In all the day to day commotion, the complaints we forget to be grateful for the little things that have made this journey through life possible. Many people say, “I am what I am, because of me and me alone! I am self made.” No one in this world is self made, we are all a product of the small acts, the little smiles, the many ‘good mornings, have a great day’, the many ‘its okay’s, it will get better’ and sometimes in the yelling screaming and the unforgettable bad experiences. We are molded by all of this and we have a lot to be grateful about. For teaching us to be selfless or cautious, trustable or ambitious, it’s taught you skills that has enabled you to deal with life.

Think back and name at least five people who have touched your life that is the divine working; that is love. Let us all appreciate the little things of life because at the end of the day you don’t carry all the material stuff you have accumulated, the truth is I don’t know if you take away anything at all. But in your last days it’s all the many little things; the love that has surrounded your life, the love you’ve given that will make life worth it. This is not about making the world a better place or helping people, I write this to tell each and every person to appreciate and recognize the love in their lives. You are all blessed, you are all loved.

You may leave the world knowing you have never been loved, you may leave the world empty and hopeless, but let the people you have loved with all your heart know that they are loved. We are people who don’t mind fighting on the road but shy away from saying an ‘I love you’ out loud to the people who mean the most in our lives. We hide and criticize public display of affection. If that amount of criticism existed for fighting and talking like barbarians on the road, the world would be a better place. Life is too short to follow rules that are never going to benefit you, tell the people you love just how much you love them, whisper it if you have to, but don’t hide it. And if someone’s not whispered it to you, make sure to see it in their little deeds. The world is not ‘out of love’; it’s just full of blind people who are looking for something just below their nose. This is a privilege no man is deprived of, the privilege to love and feel loved. For once let your heart do the talking.

I end this with no answers to the question I asked you in the beginning but with a statement and a realization that might help you reach the answer. Love my dears friends, I know not is just four letters or something bigger than our understanding, but is in our very existence. Something that can touch and move you, something that could only be the reflection of God. And I am just one among the millions who has attempted to answer this question. 

Originally published in the Tabor Kirana, All India Catholic magazine