Ever wondered why we miss our school or college years? For one, we have traversed notably from the innocent, inquisitive era to the contours of current societal mannerisms. Maturity glides us above the humdrum in a way that routine excites us no more. The teenage years were however different. Every day sparked new possibilities and adventures. Even if we were bounded by academics, we would still be up for surprises. Each day in our maturing years now, we crave for that surprise element and scamper so hard to somehow orchestrate.
Personally, I miss the charm amongst individuals today we saw back then. The ethic of non-intrusion and letting oneself be. Within the charm lied a certain nuance of romance that has been demolished in an orderly manner from our lives. Romance that oozed mysticism. You would recall the looming presence of the hardcore romantics giving it all to win over their love in a righteous way. The chivalrous agreement of bearing the pain of disapproval at every bend and still swinging back with a renewed energy and focus to fulfil the romance. All this without disturbing or affecting their love interest in any way.
The romance I refer to is not just between 2 individuals of the opposite or same sex or males alone, but the love of an individual towards another living being, place or thing. There was a certain affection, possessiveness and compassion apart from love that we displayed towards the person, place or object. We wanted to keep it enigmatic to the prying eye of the society or our communes lest it gets contaminated amongst the populace. We wanted them to last forever, even if we weren’t alive. Such was the color of our love. We were the perfect Romeos or Juliet, even if they were stupid. We created chemistry that tingled our senses in mysterious ways on any interaction with our partner or what we loved.
Where has all that romance vanished now? Not just in grown-ups but even among the youth? To me the romantic backdrop has twisted into ‘pervertisation’ of a ghastly form. What was once loved, caressed, treasured has now turned to audacious form of display and abuse. Display of affection aided with the ascendance of social media and our handling of it. Excessive information has killed the curiosity. Abuse through the injudicious, unethical and careless use of what we fantasize.
To start with our relations – which were once revered through understanding and vibes, now needs to be validated by having our loved one part of every endeavour we are into. Aren’t we killing the mystery of our relations by intruding into every spec of their life. Leaving them no room for solace and provisioning for that elusive space to breathe. Have we turned into attention seeking monsters by placing ourselves and our needs at the centre of the universe, where we always fathom to command obedience from our partner? Even in doing so, being oblivious to the needs of others who gyrate in our ecosystem?
Where is the lover who was considerate, patient and accommodating to the vulnerabilities of whom he or she loved and adored? Whom they left alone when signalled or asked for privacy and wanted to be cut off from the ostentatious display of bonding. Aren’t these some of the leading reasons for relationships going sour?
The fallen explorer
Why only relations. Where are those travellers who respected their place of visit by not contaminating them and littering around? Who respected secrecy and not clamoured to clicking pictures of places, people or moments that were highly important, private or forbidden to the local culture. But instead dissolved themselves with the local flavour and savoured the moment into their library of experiences that could be engraved deep within their souls. We only need to read and see the apathy of explorers to the grandeur of nature. If you read the expeditions of Mount Everest or the popular base camp for example, you would be horrified with the waste littered by humans. Alternatively, you must read the desperate state of beaches and sea shores which are getting clogged by human waste. I see exotic and adventurous travel packages to the North pole been sold at an age where we are stricken with the crisis of climate change.
Yes, travelling is good and important, but can we do it by prioritising to conserve the natural elements over our bag of chips and can of soda? Can we avoid manipulating with nature and its laws to suit our travel plans? Do we not derive enough happiness in letting places be as they are instead of making it a point to visit it at the cost of distorting the canvas?
Whenever there is a forced habitat built around unadaptable places it shakes our very ecosystem considerably. Let me not speak of the rapid extinction of the animal and plant kingdom affected due to this. Why can we not be the ardent Romeo who loves to gaze from far away and dares not to abuse his love. Won’t the wrong handling of nature’s beauty label us a pervert for stalking and abuse?
Surge of the free market
Finally, what about things, gadgets or antiques? We love to posses them all. If there is a story of a product helping someone with its functionalities or a car suiting the taste of its owner, we want to own that too. Technology is moving at break neck speed for the adoption of any product or service today is exponentially faster than what it has been before. We purchase without knowing the full product suite that is on offer. We have made logic redundant in the wake of growing purchasing power that is making us go bonkers. Whatever happened to the art of preserving items of use for years? Again, we abuse them to the max and ensure they are worn out as soon as possible.
Thankfully, there are an emerging group of minimalists in answer to the free market and capitalistic madness. It would make enough sense to read and know about these groups that are causing a systemic change in the human cognitive behavior that is aligned to the laws of natural selection. This could well be the order of the future world where cola shall be easily accessible than clean drinking water and we would have to drive miles to source healthy food as compared to a burger. If this surprises you, compare the prices and their accessibility even today!
What goes around, comes around
I miss this degree of mystery and art of preservation that culminates into real love in individuals. This was widely observed in a true romantic. The one who can boldly say I love it and yet I do not own it or even plan to own it. The silent romantic who sleeps with a hope of meeting the lover but not against the will and might of nature. We are better off being the old Romeo again and stay dreamy about our love and pray for its immortality.
We must learn to attach with the one we love, by detaching our self from materialistic and personal gains from the relationship. For our history has proven how retracting the laws of nature can be towards the gluttony of the human endeavor in having it all and abusing it defiantly. And besides, we all know one thing for sure that ‘karma is a bitch’.
That’s so thoughtful 👍
Yes, everyone should aim at implementing.