Decoding the language of love

Yeh ishq nahi aasan…aag ka dariya hai, doob ke jana hai (love is not easy, it’s like a canyon of fire and one has to drown in it to cross it) are the famous lines by famous poet Mirza Ghalib by which many youngsters, with “love” in their hearts and blood in their eyes, abide by nowadays. Well the lines certainly hold true (those in love or were at some point of time, will agree) but somehow the meaning has changed as some have decoded and found the true meaning while others have dared to rephrase it. But, for those who still believe that ‘love has no language’, the only plausible solution would be to read this article and who knows, this might make them revise their concept all over again!

From ‘mushy love’ to ‘teenage love’ to the very modern version of love, the very concept of “love” has undergone a drastic transition over a period of time, giving rise to some very odd and unusual versions of love. 

Also, generation gap comes into play while reevaluating the concept of love. Movies and characters have played a significant role in shaping the mindset of people and making them evaluate their concept and understanding of “love”. From Salim-Anarkali of Mughal-e-azam or Raj-Simran of DDLJ or Jack-Rose of Titanic to Adam-Emma of No Strings Attached or Dan-Alex of Fatal Attraction or Ram-Leela of Goliyon ki Rasleela Ramleela, people have looked up to their favourite movies and movie characters and have made an effort to keep up with the ever-changing concept of love depicted through them.

In accordance with the cinematic evolution, a concept, which goes by the name ‘anti V- day’, has redefined the idea of the day-of-love (Valentine’s Day) and has gradually become prevalent among the people.

As the “day-of-love” is just a day away and with couples going gaga over the celebrations that they have had in the past week on every single day of the Valentine’s week, there are quite a lot of people who just cannot succumb to this whole idea of celebrating “love”. Pratham Khatri, an engineering student said, “All this is utter nonsense and fake. I mean those who go on ogling and flirting throughout the year suddenly become faithful to their partners and act as the saints of love just to get those ‘likes’ on that “perfect picture and status” and make their friends jealous on Valentine’s Day…. It feels like some mathematical equation: [loss (gifts + pampering for 7 days) + profit (unconditional love + independence for 358 days)] = Stable Relationship, whose accurate proof hasn’t been provided till now!”

Anti Valentine’s Day does not mean protesting against those who celebrate Valentine’s Day. It also does not signify that those who celebrate anti V-day are anti-love people. It is basically a concept accepted by people, who are of three kinds: the ones who have recently suffered a heartache or are going through a rough post break-up-patch-up situation; those who do not agree with the concept of dedicating a day to celebrate love, as they believe that love should be celebrated every day with the same vigour and passion and the ones who are embracing singlehood as they are quite happy with that status.

Commenting on the concept of celebrating the day-of-love, Shagun, a second-year DU student said, “I see no point in celebrating Valentine’s Day. The meaning of love has changed for people and they no longer know the true meaning of love, which is selfless. I’m not against love or anything, in fact I too am in a relationship but this whole idea of demarcating a day to “love” and that too for the fulfillment of materialistic purposes, does not suit me.”