As the month of February enters, social media and advertisements are filled with quotes of love, videos, jokes, memes etc. And then we have companies flooding us with all their attractive products with the tag lines of “true love” and “happily ever after…” and top it all, they have discount sales on these items, so that the ones who are in true love and are sincerely devoted to their partners buy their products to justify their emotions. Adding to the glamour we have all our WhatsApp messages, Facebook stories and Instagram feeds full of various solutions and tips as to how to go about to find a date on V-day. And the bottom line for all of it is: Love is in the air!

Undoubtedly, love is the kind of emotion which stands tall and strong in the face of adversity and struggles, an emotion which has the courage to be resilient in the tough battles of life. It is something which has survived all the pangs of wars and never failed to exist in the war-torn ghettos or in the most devastated lands. It is the only emotion which has the capability to outlive death and forever reign in the hearts of humans. It never propagated vulgarity nor did it ever demand to be used for the sake of fun and frolic. It only prevailed to sow the seeds of unbound devotion and loyalty to make space for a clean and pure society.

But unfortunately, in our times, this dignified emotion is being exploited by commercialization and false show of glamour. In the name of dating and flirting, we are plagued by the illness of separation, heart breaks and jealousies, rape culture, sexual harassment and acid attacks. The irony of the situation is while on one side we claim love to be an emotion free of hatred and obstinacy, we are the ones who harbour negative vibes blatantly towards those who don’t return the love we seek from them. We hear of so many women attacked purely because they turned down a romantic offer; exercised their consent.

However, it’s never too late to come ‘back to square one’. All we ever need to reflect on is whether love only means acquiring the other person for the rest of our lives, or is it looking beyond that person’s body and valuing their soul. Being Almighty’s best creations, we need to make peace, love and justice prevail and try to make this world where love is not an illusion or just to be inscribed in poems and sonnets.

Making love and turning it into reality doesn’t mean we make our neighbourhoods and parks into places of indecency and vulgarity. The very essence of the fact to make love a reality is to strive towards understanding that love is a deep spiritual bond not just between two individuals but two souls. Love demands that we should move beyond the base and mundane standards of beauty set by society and not get fooled by the fake outcry of love made by the people making money out of it.

We need to understand that falling in love for the beauty of the person will cost us a great deal but falling in love with the person’s character will lead us to bright mornings and peaceful homes.

Love is way too costly to ever go on a discount sale. So, the young folks of the day, being the building blocks of civilization should stop the onslaught of consumerism which is slowly plaguing the very foundations of this bond and turning it into a time-pass and a “temporary date.”

Love never demands perfectionism, it craves rather craves for honesty, integrity and genuineness. As for perfectionism, it only makes us feel more inadequate. Love with all its colours of happiness comes along with imperfections, which we must learn to embrace.