Is this love? ...a short story by Bana Lathyf

Love is in the air… very true…
Starting from children's novels such as Beauty and
the Beast & Sleeping Beauty, love spreads its
fragrance onto adult novels from world famous authors
Sidney Sheldon and Danielle Steel.

Its every where I go…
No matter what the language, more than 70% of its
songs are based on a love story. 'My heart will go
on', 'meine pyaar tuji se kiya hain' and 'loabi
loabin' are such songs which would always b adored.

It follows you all over…
Go and rent a movie. Titanic, Pyaar Ishq aur
Mohabbat and Hii Halaaku would surely make you cry.
So switch the channels… OMG. Its Kasautti Zindhagi
Ki on Star Plus, Heena on Sony, Kitty Party on
Zee TV.
Quick turn it off!

And now am sorry to say it is in you, my friend. Yes!
You are in love with that cute neighbor of yours. You
can't sleep 'till you see her at least for the sixth
time in the day. You can't eat a bite 'till you hear
her soft voice sing sweet nothings in to your ear.
Yes. I agree that it could happen to you too after all
what's surrounding us all. The story Beauty and the
Beast and as such had lit up a flick in you. And your
surroundings have made you fall deep in blind 'LOVE'.

But did it ever occur to you that you are just trying
so hard to be the typical 'ROMEO'? The more you showed
would mean that you loved most?

Am sorry my friend, but tell me what is this 'love'
you claim of? Is it that little flick you had in you?
Or just a flame of desire you are airing with the
winds of lust?
Are you in 'love' with this girl like that first teddy
your parents gave you? Didn't you replace it with the
new Pooh you got after a week? Pooh took its place
beside you on the bed and teddy was thrown out. And
the routine continued all along. Is this 'love' of
yours as such?
Still you claim that you LOVE her?

SHEEEESSHHH… someone's had you my friend…
Listen up buddy…
'LOVE' is a word created by William Shakespeare. He
made up this magical word, defined it handsomely and
seasoned it with feelings just for the publicity of
his novels and to make his plays give out big green
bucks.
But little was he to know he was creating a feeble
disease that would make the world population soft
brained and to act as klutz's.

Why do you want to 'fall' in love? No one would want
to 'fall' in life. Falling means loosing. And don't
you mind at all to be blind in 'love'? Wouldn't you
care that you could be loosing so much of the other
potentials of life while being blinded? You define
'LOVE' in so many ways…
"Love makes you hurt… makes you cry… makes you envy…
makes you jealous…"
Is that how you define some thing nice?

So tell me my lover friend… tell me any two lovers
who's been totally loyal to each other. Why are you
shaking your head? NO?
So what you mean is 'LOVE' isn't loyal and sincere?
Wonder what good it is for then. Just an excuse to
play hard???

Heyy… heyy… that isn't your lover girl you are staring
at right now. Aha… so you still find this new girl
attractive.

Well… let me tell you my friend you aren't in love.
And to be more specific 'LOVE' doesn't exist. He he…
just don't make a fool of yourself by calling this
love. What's there is the physical attraction, which
is far stronger and true than what you call 'LOVE'.

FEEDBACK

Email me your feedback. I will forward it to Bana Lathyf and also upload it here.

@ "Several points: First, Shakespeare did most certainly NOT invent Love. Ample examples of the existence of this emotion appear far
before his time (i.e. the Symposium by Plato from around the 5th century (thus platonic love), yes the mahabharata, and the bible (there is no greater love, peter do you love me? love is patient, love is kind, etc...). Shakespeare only masterfully taped onto the source of the greatest human emotion. Artists do not create because they wish to invent, but because there is some beauty that they need to express. Secondly, What's wrong with falling or being blind? How can you find anything about yourself without falling into your emotions? What would any art be without it? You might argue one trusts their senses
to stay upright. My favorite quote about falling: "What is trust but a leap of faith? And what is leaping but controlled falling? I say one lives by knowing when to fall and how to land. And love is the longest fall of all. If you don't land right you break your heart. But, wasn't falling unbelievable? You feel truly alive only when you fall. Why be afraid? Being able to see and to know and to have proof are all well and God, but proof denies faith and without faith God is nothing. Faith can move mountains but is of course nowhere near the
immense magnitude of love. Lastly, and more practically a major difference exists between love and the lust and infatuation the author describes. I may thoroughly enjoy someone else's body, I may not even like them as a person. The greatest confusion with love today is there is only one word. The Ancient Greeks had it down
though: a word for friendly love, brotherly love, the love for a
parent, romantic love, and deep self sacrificing love or charity.
(You might reference the works of C.S. Lewis). Love is the deepest level of human relationship. It is the closest we
as mortals can come to the eternal. The world bows before love in awe. That, my friend is why you find it so dominant in your own life (though I also HATED Titanic, thought it was a terrible movie and Romeo and Juliet was perhaps less known for being the world's
greatest love story, since R&J were pretty much lustful twits, but for Shakespeare's ingenious devices and revolutionary plot (never had
comedy involving lots of puns and young lovers and tragedy been combined.) Hope you reconsider your view."--Lizzy Girl, 21 Aug 2004

@ "Love is in so many forms. I believe that the author is misled in his claim that it was Shakespeare who invented love. Was it not divine love that Allah had upon Mohammed? Did he not love his first wife Khadeeja? What about the daughter (Aisha) of his friend (Abu Bakr)? Read 'Arabian nights' -- what is in that? Love! Sometimes in its most noblest form. Sometimes a bit carnal and primal. But love nonetheless! Heard of the great "mahabharata" the greatest epic written by man? It also gives ample testimony to the fact that love is an integral part of humanity. The fact that some of us (including the author) have been unsuccesful at it is no reason to pass it off as some folly. It was love that inspired the monument of Taj Mahal. Have you ever read Khalil Gibran's The Prophet? 'When love beckons to you, follow him though his ways are hard and steep. And when his wings enfold you, yield to him though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you." Will the author please keep his selfcentered cynicism to himself and let us who still have faith keep trying?"--Hassan Amir, 14 Sept 2003

@ "Love is a broad concept of which everyone has their own definitions. The optimists may have their reservations about this piece. For e.g. Does falling in love have anything to do with falling? Isn’t it just an expression to mean being in love? Is love only about hurt and jealousy? Is it merely a physical attraction? Is everybody in love soft-brained or a klutz? Isn’t love the most wonderful thing in the world if you’re lucky? Nonetheless the author deserves applause for this intimate and articulate approach toward the matter."--Sharif Ali, Malaysia, 18 March 2003

@ "Bana Lathyf's version of what love is goes on to prove that he has a great love which he still cannot let go. And because of that he is hurting deeply inside. He is angry at love because his love cannot be his. Therefore in contrast of what he said in his article he believes strongly in love and hopes one day that he would be truly happy and in love. A word of advice: Lathyf be true to yourself, it's good to get out the anger inside but you must be careful that your anger does not diminish hope for others. All in all, a good piece of heartfelt litrature!"--J, Maldives, 5 March 2003

[There are some interesting comments about this review on the messageboard. CLICK HERE]

@ "Bana Lathyf's camp deconstruction of the myth of love is clearly more akin to Sharif Ali's cynical Company of Strangers than Mariyam's sentimental End of the Rainbow. However, it is more fascinating for its vivid glimpses of Maldivian youth bombarded by a local and imported culture committed to preserving the myth, than for the writer's endless negations which ultimately only betray his own deep rooted fascination for what he is dismissing. But there's no doubt that this is an eloquent piece that has come straight from the heart. "--Ali Rasheed, Maldives, 20 Feb 2003