What is love? This looks a very simple question. Is it that simple? We all talk so much about love, read so much about love and use the word love so carelessly. What is love? Think for a minute? What is love? Is it a relationship? Is it an emotion? What is it?
Let us explore. Let us first examine what it means to fall in love, or what happens to a lover who falls in love. Then we can carry on from there. A look at the face, and you can detect if someone is in love? The eyes look dreamy, the smile comes on many times, sometimes you will hear a giggle, all while the lover is alone. It may be some recollection of days gone by. Or you will observe the excitement of meeting the beloved. The work is finished fast, or postponed, eyes shine bright and look excited thinking of the time ahead, the pulse visibly goes up, and the walk is very fast, in a hurry to meet the beloved. To meet, share and walk hand in hand. Why? Love. But what is love?
Ask someone to explain, and you will get an answer such as he/she is dearest to my heart. I feel heavenly. He/she is absolutely great. We cannot think of life without each other. If anything happens to my beloved, I will die. Oh, I feel so good when I am with my partner, I cannot describe. You will hear all these and many more such rambling answers. But nothing specific about what precisely is love. Is this making sense?
Let me try answering this query. Love is an emotion that binds one person to another in a relationship that cannot be described. Lovers are worried only about making their beloved happy. Those in deep love cannot stay away even for a small time. They are ready to forget and sacrifice most of their other relationships for the sake of their love. They are ready to die for each other, and history tells us that sometimes it really happens. Love is an emotional relationship that can never be described, but can only be experienced. Try explaining the taste of sugar, to someone who has never tasted anything sweet. You will never be able to do it. For that the other person has to eat sugar. Similarly, love can never be explained. One has to fall in love to know of its bliss. Please do so at the earliest opportunity.
The world is made of good and evil people. There are some, who are nothing but emperors of evilness. Hitler was one such person. There are many like him. But we also have evil persons in our society who are generally not considered evil, but are evil. Let me give my thoughts on such people.
For me, a person who hits a stray dog with a stone just for fun is a bad person. One who gives pains to friends for no reason is a bad person. One who looks at wrong things, and decides to do nothing is evil. One who hurts feelings of loved ones is a bad person. One who lets other people sleep in hunger without doing anything about them is a bad person. One who wants bigger share of the pie is a bad person. One who shouts and makes others fear him/her is a bad person. One who never tries to understand feelings of others is a bad person. One who treats poor people as dirt, is a bad person. One who decides about characters by looks and passes judgments is a bad person. One who reads a sad story in the newspaper, without getting affected in any way is a bad person. One who shows no respect for those who work for others is a bad person. One who does not sympathize at others losses is a bad person. One who always tries to prove his/her superiority over others is a bad person. On and on I can write. What is not good is bad. That is how I call such people bad. Rather than calling them as not good persons, I call them as bad persons. All this may look quite shocking and many will protest about what all I have written above. All right, let me say, that I will not call the person a bad person, but the act as a bad act. I hope that now I am more acceptable.
Then, what is evil? Evilness is a quality in a person, whereby that person hurts others in ways that the very life is taken away. One need not kill with a sword to be called evil. At times, making false allegations on someone who never did what he/she is being blamed with is enough to kill the spirit and the body. That act is evil, and the person who acts like that is evil.
Children today are different from what their parents were in their childhod. The age of innocence ends very early today compared to yesteryears. Children are very well aware of their surrounding world and of daily affairs. The rate of literacy
in first world countries is very high and increasing in the other nations. Most children receive a formal education starting with kindergarten and then school. There is a sense of early maturity in terms of intellect among kids. The internet enables any child to get information on any topic be it good or bad. Most kids read newspapers and are aware of current affairs and have their say on most topics. Surveys show, buying habits of families are greatly influenced by the children of the family. So it is very fair to say how children are socialized today determines the destiny of society, because ultimately these kids will grow up to become responsible citizens- responsible if they are groomed today for the betterment of society.
It’s true that children today are getting much more freedom than ever- and this is only increasing. In the US, we see cases where children sue their parents for some or the other issue. Macaulay Culkin, the home alone star sued his parents at the age of 16 for money misappropriation. The truth of the story, no one can decide. Children are exposed to violent TV shows most hours of the day. The video games famous today are full of blood and gore. More the violence, better are the sales. Sometime back in an American public school, one fine lad entered with a gun and shot down many students and teachers. And this is not a lone incident.
The evils of the internet are readily available for all kids to see. Quite a few hackers in their teens have been found and roughed up by the cops. It’s true that parents have ensured the best education for their children. But at the same time have the required values and morals also been inculcated. Working parents leave their kid alone at home or at a baby-sitter’s. This lack of attention slowly diverts the child to bad habits. The number of children smoking or involved with drugs is unbelievable. In Britain, some years back there was a 12 year old kid becoming a father, so much for innocence and childhood. Juvenile delinquency is on the rise. More and more unique cases are spread all over the globe.
Incidents may be far and few but are revealing. They expose the very structure of society which we call ideal. So where do we go from here. There is a need to inculcate values and ethics from an early age. A much needed introspection of society is needed. Then only a society will emerge with better ideals and more trust.