What do we like about love?

I have not experienced romance. Some films, books or some stories do get me into such a mood. Love is one of the most wonderful feelings. You lose yourself completely in it. We speak about logical love. It is loving someone with a set of conditions. But the kind of love I trust is something else. It is a genuine form of affection for someone. Many of my friends find it weird that I haven't experienced love. No one had approached me. I never asked anyone either. I don't know if I was someone's secret crush. All I know is one thing. I am all in favour of love marriages and relationships. 

To me, it is a democratic process. Both have to like the other person before committing. External pressure and influence are relatively less. I am aware that friends/people in close circles can shape our opinion. But at the end of the day, you have complete authority and the choice to not succumb to pressure. That is one thing I love about love. 

But love does not mean surrendering yourself to someone completely. We want to see two independent souls forming meaningful associations. It is natural that there will be differences of opinion. You may support something, your partner may stand at the other side. If you believe in true love, you should refrain from imposing anything to your partner. Why? It is a personal opinion. You need to embrace someone as they are. Your belief system, values etc might hold good for you. But does that make sense to the other one sharing life with you? Think about it. 

Do we live in an intolerant society? External factors like caste, religion, family background, finance etc are some of the societal barriers against love. Some lovers are forced to wage a battle or to forget the one that they love. The feeling of losing your special ones for reasons other than personal is extremely painful. I remember Kevin and Neenu. Kevin was brutally killed. All he did was he loved someone. He married her. Their castes were different. It invoked intolerance. He was abducted by a gang. They killed him and his body was found from a canal. The whole murder was planned by Neenu's family. A clear cut example of honour killing.  

I don't understand. What relevance do honour and pride carry when a person is causing harm to the happiness of their own son or daughter? The same thought applies to all the relatives and well-wishers. Is falling in love with someone a crime to be punished? We think of the couple from our own point of view. That is where questions like caste, religion may come in. But what matters ultimately? Is it the happiness of your loved ones or the pride of your family? Let me remind something. The latter does not matter much in today's world. You can leave a space for your children to carve out their own legacy. 

We as a society need to learn and accept relationships without judgement. Be it in any form, any identity, love is what binds them. Let us learn to respect that feeling. We can worry about the rest of the things later. Why do we need to block someone's personal choice?