Surface tension

It’s hard enough to make love work without placing on it impossible constraints. Why fret over looks, height, assets, when it is kindness that is the rare gift and goodness that will last?

- Simran Mangharam

here is a muchness to love that makes it one of the most exhilarating things a person can experience. Dopamine levels shoot up, prompting feelings of euphoria and obsession. A neurochemical cocktail with markers not unlike those associated with addiction can make the urge to be with the person feel like a physical compulsion.

For most of us, this eventually settles into steadier rhythms, thankfully; with highs persisting from physical contact and other forms of endearment.

The reason I go into all this is simply to say that love matters. It forms the foundation of every happy life I have encountered.

Which is why it concerns me when, of all the things to get in the way of love — and there are plenty of valid ones, from mismatched value systems to varied life goals — caste, wealth, skin tone and other absurd social constructs serve as a breaking point.