Is Love Also Generation Based?

I still remember the autumn season, the day from the year 1994 when I was sitting on a bench with my mother outside my house…

In the mild weather the mother-daughter duo was enjoying random talk. Apparently, the postman in his khaki dress wearing spectacles, holding his bag, on his cycle came calling my mother’s name, saying, “You have a letter lady”. The moment I heard this word ‘lady’, I thought he was so weird; why did he call my mom like this, ‘LADY’. Mother had received that letter with a blushing smile and when a woman blushes her adrenaline is up, her heart is racing, making her blood flow faster and she is unconsciously showing her interest in that matter. Woah! I was correct, she was smiling because that was a letter from Dad.

Being a ten-year old girl, I had that little knowledge that because of his (Dad) transferable job, he was not staying with us during those days. He was posted on the border of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, far from my place. The very same day I came to know that why mother was blushing; he used to send letter to his lady every 15 days.

The moment she held that letter, she examined every little bit information on it; when did he write that, the seal from his area, from her area, every little detail. And then she opened it. It was of course a personal letter but I still remember the first line, “DEAR ANJU” and the last line “YOURS ANUPAM”. Now a days, people using these words in mail or Whatsapp.

The maturity of little girl was in understanding that when two people were far from each other, what they did to share their feelings, their joys, their sorrows, their things at their respective ends; they wrote letters. In the back of their mind they understood that letter would be delivered after a week or so and the feelings or I should say real emotions would be delivered after a certain period of time. Still they used to write.

As the time passed, Dad finally was transferred to the same place where we lived. HAPPY FAMILY NOW- The grandmother, husband-wife and their three daughters!

In 2015 we lost him (Dad). At that time this small little girl was mature enough to sense the real things. She was able to sense the loss of loved one. Every day after he passed away, she used to see her mother just a person without a soul in her. Her blushing face turned white. She forgot to smile; she forgot to eat; she even forgot to comb her hair after taking a bath. It is the year 2020, still not a single day passes when she doesn’t remember him; it is as if he is still living with her saying what if he is not physically present with me, he is still with me virtually. WHAT A LOVE, WHAT A BOND!

Even today I still think what is the difference between love of that time and in the love today. People will agree that love is actually an emotion; even books say the same, likewise many people think its just a feeling of warm personal attachment, as for parents, child or friend or passionate affection for another one or the best kind of friendship or commitment to the well being of others without expectations. I say just google the definitions of love and attachment and one will find all. Apart from google activities if one can go and ask about this to the people around them, they will give their definition of love, emotion and logic. Right and that is completely fine because everyone has their own set of opinions.

But you do agree with me that in this era of copy-paste and delete, writing something to someone over mail and WhatsApp, people are not that sensitive about their emotions, sometimes they will say that was the demand of time then now the demand of time is to focus on somewhere else like their dreams, goals. Simple and easy to write anything and the delete. 😊. People will start giving justifications for their actions or as I should say logic and at last suffered one has to move on. Again, a new journey to find love and attachment starts and people say this is LIFE.

Don’t you people agree that like the old generation songs which have still meaning in them, so does the love of that generation? They did not have much money, neither they ran after that; they had big heart to give everything. They did not have the technology at that time but found time to put down their emotions on paper without ever thinking that they were wasting their time. They could not afford to make their loved ones happy by making several visits but made every visit count by going for a walk holding hands of their dear ones. They did not have mobile phone with them but they still wanted to hear from another side. They were the promise keepers; no matter what their dreams and goals were, once committed with respect to parent, a child or a friend, they remained so.

In this era, I cannot say whether we will find real emotions and attachments or succumb to ‘just a demand of time’. Now, we have everything money, technology, time and things are very serene but where is that AGAPE? Where is that unconditional love? Where is that respect towards those who are genuinely attached to their people irrespective of age, caste and relations? It is high time for us to take a pause, look around and think where are we going in chasing our dreams? What are we losing to attain the worldly things?

I am deeply convinced that “Life is short and fragile but precious too; it takes single moment to change everything you take for granted”. Make it worth! Be grateful every single second of every day that you get to spend with people who love you unselfishly.

Image Courtesy: https://www.indianstampghar.com/category/philatelic-stationery/postal-stationery/inland-letteraerrogramme/page/5/