Love 2.0

Famous Italian Physicist - Enrico Fermi

     Enrico Fermi once remarked that we can measure any physical quantity without using any instrument, just by estimating it. He demonstrated the same by estimating the yield of an atomic explosion at ‘The Trinity Site’ in 1945 by hurling in the air pieces of confetti that he cut from notebook paper, and further tedious calculations showed that he was more or less right. Scientists then came to believe that any quantity can be measured without an instrument, if you know how.

     But there is one quantity that’s impossible to measure. Each one of us knows it, some find it stupid, some are enthralled by it, but none of us has been able to escape it. It is the feeling of love, that we feel for our family, our friends, and ultimately, for our life partner. Years of scientific research on why we feel what we feel has led us to believe that it is actually a chemical combination of hormones that makes us love someone. Another explanation for why our parents love us so much is that because we are an extension of their DNA, the parent DNA loves the child DNA, feels hurt when the child is hurt, angry when the child is in danger, and concerned when the child is upset. This article isn’t a result of any research or sudden epiphany, but just like all of my write ups, is a culmination of a passing thought materialising into words.

     All of us are familiar with the basic protocol for romance – you see someone, you like them, you approach them, you become friends, you get to know them better, and once you’re sure of things, you tell them how you feel about them. If the feeling is mutual you’re the luckiest bastard on the planet, if it’s not, well, there’s always a next time, isn’t it?

     The aforesaid sequence was what was probably rampant a decade ago. Now, however, it’s a completely different story. Seeing or noticing someone at a bar or a club has been most commonly replaced by seeing their profile as an entry in the ‘People You May Know’ section on Facebook. Liking them has been replaced by going through their profile pictures, and deciding, “Damn, this girl is really pretty!”. Sending them a friend request has replaced the approaching part, and after hours and hours of chatting on Facebook Messenger, you pop the question online, probably saying something like “I lyk u. Do u lyk me?”

     As lame and downright cowardly as it seems, it sure is a fool proof way of not getting slapped in the face or laughed at if the person who’s asking is shy. However, most of the teenage romances these days have a similar start to their story. Whether or not they stand the test of time depends on who they’re in a relationship with and how serious they are about each other.

     Almost all online romances end terribly, mostly because people aren’t the same in real life as they project themselves online. But then, everyone deserves one chance at happiness, and sooner or later you’ll get that person you’ve envisaged in your mind, online or offline!

     Love has so many clichés associated with it – “People fall in love”, “Love is blind” and so on. Are those true? Totally. Not in a bad way though. It is absolutely justified to go out of your way for the happiness of the one you truly love. As long as he or she is ‘The One’, nothing you do is going to be detrimental to you. This comes with a tiny asterisk, that you shouldn’t expect the same in return. It isn’t a business deal, you know, for you to enumerate all clauses and conditions. I myself am too young to define what it truly is, but what I really know, is that when you love someone, love them unconditionally, whether or not they reciprocate to the same degree is their decision.

     There is no logical explanation as to why we do the craziest things for the dumbest reasons, but as long as we do them for those we truly want to spend our lives with, we’ve defined the real meaning of love without even understanding it ourselves!