I was flying to a town in Germany for a two day workshop. It was a local flight and I was reading the “In flight magazine”. It was interesting to know about multiple cafe bars in Tokyo that were run under the concept of “Pet therapy”. I read about Owl cafes where a number of Owls were let free in a cafe. People came to the cafe to take selfies with the Owls, have a coffee with them. I also read about a Goat cafe where a beautiful white skinned goat with pink lips was roaming freely in the cafe. She was the center of attraction to all visitors. She was named Sakura which means Cherry Blossom. The author had wonderfully depicted his thoughts around such cafes. In spite of being a part of pet therapy for people, Sakura cried loudly at nights at times. The author had ended the article with the question “Is Sakura missing her partner? Maybe she is waiting for him to arrive!”
I opened my Facebook account and saw many posts from friends that said “Feeling loved with my love”, “Celebrating valentines day with my love”, “I’m incomplete without my love”. I realized it was Valentines day. I was happy to see my friends happily posting about their love life. However for a minute, I asked myself “How many times each one of these persons are also complaining at times? That’s ok. Does this love and life have a dark side too?”. My mind was reluctant to think further.
“Love is in the air” I smiled to myself. Every creature has a feeling of love within itself. Every creature wants to feel loved and cared enough. This is the universal truth and one cannot deny it. What if I was Sakura (the goat)? I tried to imagine for a minute. Maybe I’d cry thinking of the day when I would feel loved? Maybe I’d feel happy for the relation-less love that people show on me? Maybe I’d continue my routine of finding food and moving on? What would be my ultimate goal? I may not even have the capability of thinking about my goal since I’m just a goat.
My mind rewound back to a few months. “Hey Subha!!” called out a familiar voice; “How are you? It’s been years that we met!” Turning to see who it was, I was surprised to meet my school friend Naresh. I was walking towards a bus stop and met him. Our conversations took us back to school days and we spoke of a few of our friends. “How’s Rajesh?” I questioned. Rajesh was my friend Arun’s younger brother. He would fondly call me “Subha akka”. He was in touch with me until a few years back. Naresh looked worried and said “Hey, didn’t you know that he passed away three years back. He committed suicide due to a love failure!”. His words hurt me deeply. After a few other talks, we parted.
Months flew and I got reminded of Rajesh now and then. “How could he do this? Wasn’t he the most lovable son in his family?” I remember Arun telling me that Rajesh gets pampered a lot and his parents don’t care of Arun. He always told me that being a first son was disgusting as he wouldn’t get the privileges of his brother. “What made him take such a hard decision in life? Didn’t he consider talking to someone before he made this decision? How terrible the situation at home must have turned?” I tried to park these questions and get rid of those thoughts.
Isn’t it ridiculous to see that even a five sensed animal that needs love tries to move on in its life without getting depressed and we humans boasting of our analytical and common senses go towards ending our lives?
A sense of feeling lost maybe felt in such scenarios when you feel unloved. But remember it does not take just the special one to make you feel loved. Remember your mom who spent sleepless nights taking care of you? Remember your dad taking you to school on his bike? Remember your friend who played cricket with you? Remember your colleague who you hung around with for coffee? Remember your manager who taunted you with those performance reviews? Above all, yourself for all the ambitions and goals in life! Do they not deserve living with you? Do they not deserve spending sometime with?
Feeling lost? Open up! Tell your friends, tell your family, tell your surroundings, tell yourself “Be my valentine!” It’s not just one special one but you’d find that definitely “Love is in the air”. Call it a friendship, friend or a relationship – the term doesn’t matter to make you feel loved or cared. The world is equipped with better people always! The world is a better place to live in with all wonderful relationships! Celebrate Valentines day with all those who care for you!