Love
So, up until this moment, Ravi thought that love was about caring - caring about the person you are in love with. It was attributed to a certain satisfaction in being with that person that you do not feel like seeing other women. It was about finding the person beautiful. But this particular moment, which happened now, as this incident is being narrated, changed that view forever, for Ravi. Love needn't be associated with any of this! Ravi couldn't figure out the connection. Love could be a totally independent feeling that had nothing to do with caring, loyalty or even beauty. Ravi almost had a panic attack! He almost had a panic attack because he had associated "love" with all of the above feelings, and may be a few more other feelings, until now and had judged his previous relationships based on that! No wonder, all his relationships sank, due to the heavy burden of these unrelated expectations imposed on them. This was a supreme mistake.
Ravi felt a tear wet his eyelids as he realized this. He realized that he had overburdened a simple emotion and rid himself of its innate lethal nature. He remembered the last time he was in 'love'. It was ages back, when he considered himself young and brave. It was a romantic period of sadness sprinkled with occassional spurts of love and excitement. He was consumed by life and he felt alive every moment he lived. Life was in its purest form. It wasn't bottled or labeled!
It was then that he met this girl. She had a certain attitude of deadliness in her in that she didnt give a damn about a thing in the world. The love that they felt was lethal, it had the subtle fragrance of the evening sky, the dangerous attraction of a grey ocean and the beauty of sadness. It was only about experiencing emotions in its purest forms, unadulterated, unaltered, without a care about the rest of the world! That was love!
Ravi realized that he had forgotten to be in love. He became more and more aware of his world. The more aware he became, the less courageous he got. The more he lost his courage, the older he became. The older he became, the farther he got from love. Now finally in the deathbed of love, Ravi finds a regeneration, a rebirth. He could be born again, he could unlearn everything he had learned and regain the wonder in his eyes.
The author was stoned to death by an angry mob in a later chapter of this novelette.
