DATED – 8th August 2015

I guess, one of the most commonly question asked on LOVE must be – HOW MUCH DO YOU LOVE ME? While the person who has asked this question eagerly awaits an answer, the person who has to answer is having a fight within – ‘My God! How do I answer this question?’ After the internal upheaval, a few possible answers are – I love you more than what you think; I love you more than anyone else in this world; I love you till eternity; My love for you is as deep as the ocean and as high as the sky; I love you so much (with hands spread); I love you as much as I love salt in my food; I love you as much as the bees love nectar; and so on ….

After this, the counter question is – You love me only so much? And I know, we really wish we didn’t have to answer that! Is it practically possible to define how much we love someone or how much someone loves us? I don’t think so. Any answer would not satisfy us, would it? But, love is clearly visible in various things people do for us –

• (Willingly or unwillingly) accompanying wife for her window shopping
• Making coffee for me post dinner in spite of being dead tired
• Getting a favourite dish parcelled when we don’t feel like cooking
• Throwing a surprise birthday party
• Husband supporting me when I have taken a standpoint in a situation
• Our dear ones shouting at us when we are doing something wrong according to them
• When the mother-in-law asks me to take some rest, and takes over the cooking
• Boss asking me if my health is okay the day I look weak
• Lightening my mood and making me laugh
• Patiently listening to us, even while we talk crap
• Friends appreciating me for a lovely poem I wrote
• When someone just says – I believe you are capable and can do much more
• School and college going kids cooking for all the elders in the house on a holiday
• People stopping us from eating junk
• The father asking us to stop doing time pass and focus on work
• The Head taking the entire family for a trip
• The teacher punishing me because I have not done my homework
• The soldiers taking guard on the border for our safety

So, love might not always be in a direct form of saying ‘I LOVE YOU’, greeting cards, SMS, or a gift. Various people have their own ways of expressing love. We must be alert enough to understand it. At the outset, it might look like something else; but think over it – it is their love for us.

A person shouting at me on the road is not love, but rage. But if my loved one gets angry because I didn’t drive well, is certainly love. They are concerned for our safety. Rage is when any Tom-Dick-Harry shouts at us; but when our loved / dear ones give us a feedback (in a way we like or hate), it surely is love.

Vis-à-vis my life –

I think I have been blessed for the love people shower on me in various ways. I think I would have really been a special creation of Him to get so much love from all around me. This includes all of you reading this blog. It is because you love reading what I write, you have reached until here. Thanks!

My suggestion is – Let’s stop asking this question, ‘How much do you love me?’ No answer would really satisfy us. Instead let’s focus on understanding various expressions of love. For I truly feel – after all …… LOVE is LOVE!