The love that surpasses

SO IN THE QUEST FOR LOVE, I TURN MY ATTENTION ON JUST HOW ONE MUST LOVE. NOW, I DO NOT MEAN THE MUSHY GOOEY, SLOPPY LOVE THAT TEENAGERS EXPERIENCE

It is here, it is here, the month of love is here. Are you ready for it? We are trying to raise our heads from various shocks thrust upon us, and I am insistent on not mentioning any right now. That sounds really strange does it not? To think that we are reminded of eternal love, with all of the banners in pink and hearts of red slapping our faces as we set about our daily routines. That’s right. We do need to be reminded in more ways than one that one has to show love, at the risk of wrath. We have to be reminded that it is another reason for gift and cards, for romantic dinner dates, a bit of jewellers, a dedication on the airwaves, and declarations that we are so in love with someone, anyone! So that’s ok then for those who have someone to flaunt their notes on, but hello... what about the ones who don’t, what about people like me? Yes, you will say “what love for her men. she is over the hill and on the last lap !". I beg to differ, all you need is to take a peek at social media and be educated that there is love even when one is eighty years old. So in the quest for love, I turn my attention on just how one must love. Now I do not mean the mushy gooey, sloppy love that teenagers experience and stay an insomniac over. By the time the first waves of exhilaration have subsided, they realise they look like Pandas who have been knocked over by bowsers, and so do the lovers. That’s the end of the affair at that point. Who wants to smooch a growly bear after all? Very recently I was asked to sit in a panel of rather young television personalities and discuss the foreboding subject of a man’s wealth being a very important or the most necessary criteria for marriage. While the two other ladies featured were married for just a short while and the dazzle of wedded life still flashed like lightening in their eyes, I think I was just a cold and wet blanket, speaking of harsh realities. Love and Valentines was not an important subject, but money to keep up appearances was. “What would people say” if one could not show off how wealthy one’s partner is. It astounded me that young people of today want amassed fortunes over sentimentality, romance, love and communication. They want the travel, the branded clothing, the cars, the baubles and bling, the wads of money, mansions and all the trimmings of a fabulously rich life, but could they buy love? If that’s for sale, someone please let me know where I can purchase a few kilograms of it. Almost every wedding in Sri Lanka is attended by over three to four hundred people, and I bet my grey hair that the bridal couple do not know them all, have never met them in their porridge and are highly unlikely to see them ever again. But they have to include them in their guest list, for fear of being rebuked!! Then, though there is no love as such, the two make a baby and celebrate the child’s first year in just as grand a manner as the wedding. That child would never know the tamasha he or she was the centre of. I asked someone I met if his was an arranged marriage, he replied “Lau karala banda" (married after a love affair). Interested in knowing more, I asked how long he courted his wife. He said he married her after ten years. She was from the same village and had to face the community, therefore he married her. Ten Years!! And now he seeks his fulfilment with someone elsewhere. Is this love? So dear people, the month of LAU is here indeed, but please stretch it to others in the family, to friends, to even your enemies, and make this broken isle whole and healed again- make everyday a Valentine!! Ciao people !