Guest Article #2: Fuelling up the ailing Relationships!

If there's one word in English lexicon that can boast of a huge fan following- it's LOVE! 

Love (definitions no bar!!!) is like marijuana- the more you consume it, the more you want of it! 

But, is love in danger? 

As the danger of identity crisis looms large on LOVE- a result of human tendency of "over-exploitation" to satisfy the personal needs, what is that has gone wrong? Is having an emotional quotient right or wrong?

Here's what my friend Akshay Thakur has to say about this off-the-beat but not-so-unknown subject to the youth. I'm sure by the end of this beautiful article, you'll be mesmerized with his different shades of thinking all rolled into this linguistic masterpiece-that it is!

Fuelling up the ailing Relationships

Do notice ‘The Notice’ below before you proceed 

 Things which you must keep in mind before/while/after reading this write-up.

Oath Taking ceremony begins:

1.       The author of this note is a pure psychopath but I too echo the same quality.

2.       Whatever that is written seems an utter philosophy but it isn’t author’s fault. This is something which ‘Engineering’ has done to him and I do empathize with him on the same.

3.       The text has little to do with the title ‘Relationship’ than to do with every other thing in the world.

4.        I have no other choice than to believe in the golden words of this self-acclaimed/self-propounded author.

5.        I comply with the fact that it is very much sensible to believe author’s sayings than to believe my Friend/Girl-Friend/Boy-Friend …whatever…for the only reason that it will still be “Somewhat Sensible”. J

6.       The author is too much cynical/orthodox in his thoughts but I will still share/like/comment on his masterpiece.

And The most important of all :

7.       After reading, I will not blame the author for beating about the bush throughout and wasting my valuable time.

J J J  I hope my readers will abide by the above postulates J J J

Some of you might be wondering about the title that I have given to this excerpt. For few I may seem to be a maniac to have titled it as “Fuel-ling up the ailing Relationships” and that too, in a scenario when there exists such steep inflation in the petroleum sector and energy crisis is hitting the globe in its sky-high form. But before you skim through the next lines, I hope and pray that none of my readers is an environmental activist or a descendant of Captain Planet. Because this title has nothing to do with the rapid consumption of fossil fuels or with the irrepressible energy crisis; except than to act as an allegory to what I really intend to convey henceforth.

By the very inherent human property, we, the so called homo sapiens are experts in the field of exploration. Ahh !!! let me correct myself a bit more - “We are experts in the field of ‘Exploitation’ ”. In fact, there is not even an iota of doubt that we, the invincible humans, tempt to explore…exercise and exploit every other thing that we encounter. Since times immemorial, we have put in our heart and soul to master this art of gallantry, my dear friends. When our wants don’t meet our greed, we first set out for explorations, thereafter ‘use’ the explored entity/entities and then ‘misuse’ the same to gratify our gluttony.

Our realm of ‘over-exploitation’ is so very widespread that we don’t even hesitate to exploit the ones belonging to the same biological species. ‘Exploitation’ is so very versatile in nature. Ranging from the exploitation of our natural reserves be it fossil fuels, land, water, flora-fauna etc. we are determined to exploit everything and everyone. May it be living or non-living, mammal or reptile, child or elderly, man or woman, we are impartial while exercising this art of ‘exploitation’. It is quite evident that what we are heading forward to is nothing but an Over-all Crisis.

You must be banging your head hard and thinking as to why I am talking about things like energy crisis, exploitation of resources and so on when the title has nothing to do with it. Firstly, do abide by the oath that you have taken few seconds back and secondly, continue reading. Let me try being little more precise than being cryptic. What I aim to bring forth, is exactly not about the various forms of crisis that surround us, but my objective is to outline the paradigm shift that has mutated our ideological framework in the recent times.

Today, besides suffering from all other forms of crisis, what we severely suffer from is an altogether different calamity i.e. – ‘An Emotional Crisis’.  It is the attitude of ‘exploitation’ that we possess that has exploited every relation and led to this predicament. The word ‘Relation-ship’ has been used, rather misused, to such an exorbitant level these days that the ‘ship’ boarding this ‘relation’ is bound to get shipwrecked. When every aadmi, may it be bada aadmi/chhota aadmi or even the newly famed “Aam Aadmi” of Mr. Kejriwal, seems apprehensive about the soaring food and oil prices, then why are we so numb when it comes to emotions. We want to run away from emotions. We find our lives to be much more comfortable without having them. We want to relinquish them in every aspect of our living.

Is it bad to have a high Emotional Quotient? My answer to it is a straightforward- No. In the process of instilling artificial intelligence into the machines, we, in a way have transmuted our own neural networks. We like being artificial. We like being pseudo. I have no idea as to why people think that possessing a high EQ (Emotional Quotient) is an omen for fragility and a sign of being vulnerable to weaknesses. Emotions are a strength, just let them breathe, just let them blossom. They instil life into a being. Let’s perceive this from a different dimension. It is merely impossible to relate our Physical body (sthul sharir) with the Austerel (sukshma sharir) and the Causal (kaaran sharir) bodies without experiencing ‘emotions’. Thus, emotions facilitate experiential learning. Every human act should start with an emotion and should also culminate with it. It is only then we ‘live’ in a true sense.  

“25 lakhs for a Doctor, 15 lakhs for a government employee and nearly 5 lakhs for any tom dick and harry”, said a friend of mine hailing from Rajasthan. Now, tighten up your sit belts because these are not the fancy pay packages that he was talking about but to my utter astonishment these figures were the dowry rates defined, as per the working of bridegroom. I still breathed a sigh of relief for he, at least, didn’t rate engineers for that matter. We sell our emotions, isn’t it? We even trade with what is so invaluable. We love to form bonds based on agreements. We love to form relations based on treaties. If the treaty is adhered strictly, well and good; else we are always ready to take ‘Relationships’ to the courts and fight ‘Legally’. Emotions going Legal!!! The other day, I remember congratulating a Facebook friend for adding a life event “In Relationship with…” and the very next day I found him to be single again. Kudos !!! that’s the only word I have. We can highlight our relationship statuses on social networks and change them according to our convenience but is it what really ‘Relationship’ is all about. What makes a relation a Relation, what constitutes a relation?

Love has got suffocated in the intricacies of human confinements. It is striving desperately for its subsistence. Ironically, love is that ingredient which is responsible for infusing ‘Life’ into anything and everything; but today, it is itself endeavoring for its survival. Let love survive, relations will automatically thrive. When consciousness is drenched with emotions, a true relationship is born. For a relation to be an everlasting one, it has to have its roots soaked in originality.

Love is bountiful and beautiful. Live, Love and Lead!

(Akshay Thakur is an ECE student at VIT, Chennai and Founder at stimulusindia.com.)