Will You Be My Valentine?

Dear Lalitha,
I read your thread on love. Wonderful.
There's a beautiful verse I think in Brihadarayanka Upanishad, which says, that a husband loves his wife only because he sees his self in her. The wife loves her husband only because she sees herself in him. The verse goes on to say all kinds of love are somehow rooted in self-interest. Our love for God is selfish; whereas Her love for us is not. We do not love God when She does not manage the world in the way we foolishly dictate Her to. But God still loves us even when we swerve from the beautiful path She has laid lovingly for us.
I appreciate and admire your journey in the path of love. But as your friend I need to tell you, that the path of love is full of pain and suffering. Like the clothes that are spun around by the spin-drier of the washing machine, love will toss us around, swirl us and suck us dry.
Once caught in Love it is not for us to direct our lives. Love takes us along in her own path.

I was just kidding, Lalitha. Even if there are no fbs and no views, even if I had been assured that nobody will see this thread, I would have still written and posted it, for is it not the nature of love to just give without even waiting for the acceptance of the gift?
Thanks for the participation, Lalitha. And thanks for making me read that nice thread on love.
love,

 

Dear Seethalakshmi,
Thanks for the nice words. Yes, it will be my pleasure, privilege and honour to accept you as my Valentine. It is nice to know that my valentine is also my fan.

thanks for the acceptance,
love,

 

Dear Malathi,
It is very heartening to note that what I wrote this morning has been soothing to you. You are right, Malathi. Life and sometimes even Love tires us, whether it is love for our children, spouse, parents, relatives or friends. Suddenly we feel let down by our loved ones and even start doubting our own worth and whether our choices were all right.
It is perfectly normal to have such lows in life. They add a richness to our lives and give an extra dimension to our joys and pleasures.
Once one of my big clients was caught in a sales tax raid. He was totally down. And though I was not handling his sales tax affairs he called me for a consultation (paying me my full rate) and asked me to speak something that will comfort him.
I made it clear to him that I was not going to tell any lies to make him comfortable. I knew his case was pretty serious. But I told him that six months down the line he wont even remember this problem. He told me that it was not possible. I asked him about the major problem he was in six months before that date. Well, he could not remember.
The same would be the case with this problem too. And if he was careful enough to learn the lesson, the problem would not be repeated.
That guy called me after six months to tell me what I said was true.
I think that it's the way with most of our troubles. They are time-bound.

HE is getting pretty serious. That's why I posted this thread to ease the situation and give something light to the ILites. I am very very happy that you enjoyed it.
Eagerly waiting for your review of HE 12, 13 and 14.
Love,

 

It feels nice to see your happiness and excitement about you son going out and having fun. So long as you draw a line somewhere and enforce it with all your might, there are no issues.

If by "handling" you mean the traditional way the teenagers handle their lovers, then, well, I can't even "handle" one let alone 15800. But as I said it is just the love of the heart or the divine spart as Athena, the heroine of the book calls it. In that case I can handle even a billion.

Only in this context I understand the concept of Rasalila. Lord Krishna was dancing with 16000 women (roughly the total IL strength as of now) He was in love with all of them. It should be only the "divine" kind of love which Paulo Coelho has endorsed.

I am not drawing any comparisons. But another incident comes to my mind. I know a "Swamiji" a strong devotee of Krishna, whose discourses are simply great. Because he was an ardent devotee of Krishna, women used to get attracted towards him. I have known women going behind him leaving their families behind. Swamiji is very pure and he does not even touch these women. These women live in his Ashram. They even call themselves his wives. They do the chores there.
That's another example of the "divine spark" love which the authors describes.

love,

 

Dear Sundari,
Thanks for your kind wishes. Your nice photoshop picture has added a great colour to this thread.
love,

 

Dear Shanthi,

Thanks a lot. And you have described this "Valentine Offer" in very precise words. It's coming from a father, a husband to the mothers, daughters, sisters, other fathers, and every one who has the time to read the post.

I loved these profound lines about love. Love is normally a thread and during hard times it's an anchor. But when possessiveness gets mixed with that it becomes a noose.
Love is a beautiful house in which we can live, sing, dance and rejoice.But if it were to be built out of bricks of possessiveness then it becomes a prison or even a tomb.

We do not require any special day for Love. Love makes every day special. But still is better to earmark a day or two so that some people at least start loving on that day.

God is everywhere, no doubt. But we need to erect temples and statues to localise his presence in a particular place.
So even though there is love all throughout the year, having a special day for love, only sharpens it.

Thanks. Have corrected it.

You are right. I might start reading the book again. And it will haunt me like Hesse's Siddhartha, Pirsigs Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Mainteance, Maughm's The Razor's edge, Huxley's Island.

Thanks for accepting the offer.
love,

 

Dear Sriniketan,
Thanks. The calligraphy quote and the love quote belong to that great writer Paulo Coelho. I should also thank the translator who has preserved the spirit of the original. (Coelho writes in Portugese)

Please, Sriniketan, dont commit that usual blunder we are all prone to. Please do not include this book under the "If time permits" category. This is a "must read" category.
I am sure your husband is perfectly all right now. He would be taking a lot of rest. When he is resting, just read out from this book. Or try to read it together. Believe me, sriniketan, you will never be the same person again.
You can even order the book from the net.

I have written a number of books. When I ask you to buy my book and read it, you will have to do it for me. But reading The Witch Of Portobello is for yourself. Your husband. Your peace and for your love. Never, ever miss it.

love,



I think the Tamil saying'' yaadum oorae yaavarum kaeleer' is very much for this occasion.

sriniketan[/quote]

 

Most Gracious ILites,

When I chose the title of this thread, I was afraid. Afraid that I might be mistaken. But I could not think of a better way to communicate about that wonderful book.

I told my wife about the thread first thing in the morning. I thought she might object to the title.But as my real lover and my true friend she not only endorsed it but was also enquiring every now and then about the number of Valentines I had acquired till then.

I am very happy and more than that I am moved by the very loving responses I got for this post. A big thanks to those who have responded and to those who have not for love can't be conditional or discriminating.


I have an extended work-schedule now. I come home for an early supper by 5 30 and then have to go back to office and work till 8.

Today when I came home for my supper I was surprised to see my wife in the house. Normally she would have gone to play shuttle by that time. I was first worried.

The cook told me curtly "Indhu wanted you to go upstairs before eating your supper."

I was worried. She was not well since yesterday. She had cough, cold and thanks to the congestion in her throat she could not speak.

I ran up the stairs only to find on the bed, a nice T shirt, a cadbury's bar and a beautiful gift wrapped in golden colour gift paper.

Happy Valentine's day was written in block letters on the white marker board we use to write our To Do lists.

In her characteristic way she made me look like a dumb husband by her gesture. I had not thought of any gift. I just told this fact to her by sending an sms and then hid myself.
:hide

love,