LOVE STORY 2020 – नये जमाने का प्यार

“Aimer et laisser vivre. “
“Love and let live. “

We are in the midst of social and cultural evolution with emergence of unconventional relationships. With evolving time people are more accepting and understanding non- traditional relationships with an open mind. Earlier society was much more conservative but now relationships are breaking boundaries of class, religion, race and other social norms. We have come far from liberating healthy, consenting adult relationship and we still have a long way to go.

Love here is not just about an intimate relationship and lovers but all kind of love should be celebrated, whether it is for our parents, siblings or friends.

CLOSING THE AGE GAP

According to the cultural norms, there are two assumptions about age gap relationships – That the age gap in couples should be a smaller one and the man should be older partner. On an average a man prefers a woman three years their junior and for women it’s three years their senior. Society is more tolerant of the reverse pattern of men dating the younger women. But with coming time this simply isn’t the case in many relationships. Age gap of ten or more than 10 years in relationship has increased frequently. About 8% of age-gap couples have an age difference ten years or more in Western society and 1% of age-gap couples involve an older woman partnered with a younger man.

Age gap relationships are completely fine until it involves two consenting adults. Love is intangible and people can fall in love anytime with anyone. But partners with an age gap of more than 10 years’ experience social scrutiny and disapproval from family and friends. People are very quick to shame relationships if those involved are not of similar age.  It is also assumed that couples with age-gap fare poorly with relationship outcomes. But it is not the case in reality. In fact age gap couples have reported higher relationship satisfaction, trust and commitment and lower rate of jealously as compared to similar age couples. 

Age disparity may bring some unique set of challenges for the couples but the success of any relationship depends on trust, commitment and how they resolve problems in constructive ways .It has little to do with age so their biological age should not be barrier. The negative outcomes for age-gap relationship seem to reside not in problems within the couple, but in judgments and pressures from the outside world. “Celebrity couples such as Joan Henrietta Collins and Percy Gibson, Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart with huge age gap have gone some way changing the way ‘age gap relationships’ are considered. We need to look past the barriers set by society and let people make their own decisions.

LGBTQ + Happily ever after

LGBTQ is an initialism which stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning (still exploring one’s sexuality  or queer) and “plus,” representing other sexual identities. Homosexuality has been a taboo and these people have to face discrimination and pressure from their family or community. But the world is changing and now LGBT people are more socially accepted and homosexual romances are on the rise. Love is not necessarily between a women and a man. It is important to understand that love is not an exclusive prize only for the straights to enjoy but it’s a universal gift regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. They deserve to be treated equally with dignity and respect.

One such heartwarming love story is of Candice Green and Megan Berrette, same sex lesbian marriage. They are happily married with an adorable baby daughter. Megan, “I’m still in love with my wife. She’s so perfect for me because where I’m weak she is strong and where I’m nervous she is brave and she defends me and my family.”

People have different opinions on LGBTQ love stories varying from favourable to disapproval, depending on different community and areas but we are evolving enough to understand such beautiful relations because it’s okay to be diverse. When people are in any such unconventional relationship they tend to keep their relationship a secret due to parental disapproval or they fear judgement, discrimination, or public shame. We should aim for a future generation where people feel free to be with the person they want to. Everyone should be #FreeToLove.

  MOTHER DAUGHTER RELATION – First love

“A mother is she who can take the place of all others but whose place no one else can take.”

– Cardinal Mermillod

Mother-daughter relationships are undoubtedly the purest form of love. It is first and primary attachment relationship. Usually it happens that daughters are more likely to be closer to their fathers than their mothers. It is also commonly believed that the mother-daughter relationship is a complicated one. But with altering time mother daughter relationship have proved to be the strongest of all parent child bonds and their connection remain stronger than any other type of intergenerational family relationships throughout the major life changes. They can be friends, supporting and understanding each other. At present time some mothers and daughters bond through sharing activities and spending quality time together. While others connect over the phone or text throughout the day. 

Now a days parent-child lines are blurred that is, more mothers claim to be BFFs with their daughters which brings forward new openness, sharing and camaraderie. Although they also have ups and downs but their bond never breaks and they will always share this special bond.

OUR PETS– Unconditional one

Pets are generally kept for companionship and pleasure but they have become an integral part of our life and their presence in our house is overwhelming whether the pet happens to be a dog, cat, horse, birds, fish, rabbit or even a pig. This human animal bond is growing and people are developing relationships with pocket pets, birds, reptiles and other large animals also. It has become a growing global trend to have a pet and their integration into our family is increasing day by day. This owner –pet connection has positively influenced the well-being and health of both as they bring so much of love, affection, humour and comfort to our lives and expect little in return. 

Pets can sense our emotions and sense of mood. Nothing compares to the joy and unconditional love one receives from their pet after a long and tiring day especially dogs provide a sense of security and calming effects. Having a pet also brings a lot of work and responsibilities from providing healthy diet to a regular exercise, training, regular vet visits and many more which every pet should understand. Pets now are considered as a member of family and a loyal companion. 

SELF LOVE

Lastly, but definitely never the least. Love yourself. Self love is not simply justice state of feeling good. Rather it’s a state of appreciation for oneself that grows from all the actions that aid in supporting of a physical mental and spiritual growth. It is a Dynamic and gross through the actions that nurtures and matures it. Acting in a certain way that Aids and expand self love in us, we begin to accept all a weaknesses and shortcomings as much as we love our strengths. Having compassions for ourselves human being who was struggling to find meaning of their life and expect living fulfilment through our own efforts is is truly self love is all about. Afterall, how can you expect someone to love you if you can’t love yourself.

Image source:

Image 1: timesofindia.com 

Image 5 & 6: Cityweekly.net