{Of all lies, art is the least untrue - Flaubert}



Monday, November 01, 2004

Opposite of Love

I was thinking to write about love, but found it too difficult, it may be because my naivety in the field or its too difficult an idea to comprehend. so I thought why not write something about 'Opposite of Love'. So you have it.

Disclaimer: Before reading this post, I warn the softie hearts of its high senti levels. Also it is not based on any personal experience :).

I have long back heard that the opposite of love is not hate, its indifference. They say its as unmagnetic as magnetic love is.Love is such a universal feeling, indifference is such a closed, hopeless and irritatingly-empty feeling. Hate, in many ways, is better than indifference. Firstly when you hate( or hated by) someone, at least you care (or get cared). And its lot easier to hate someone you loved than be indifferent. Also, being hated by someone you loved is not as painful as getting indifference in return.

We hate because of many reasons, one of which is we have loved or loved by someone but unfortunately or otherwise, it is no more the case. Hate may be seen as an effort to write off someone and try to gain some comfort with it. It include things like lying to yourself and try to see all bad, like trying to paint a false picture to console oneself but the beauty of this is that we know its all false but we need to get in terms with it to go on but again we think if this is the way to go on, should we go like this or it make some sense or its beginning of some bigger compromise in life and is he/she so bad to hate or its just me, who is now making fool of myself, its complex but this feeling of hate is more like that of compassion. So it cannot be opposite of another feeling of compassion, love. To me their basic nature looks same, at least now.

The feeling of indifference is much more difficult to practice when you are still in love. Its like turning a blind eye to a bleeding limb. Being indifferent require a tough heart -to say the least. and on the other side when you are inflicted with such a thing, its most helpless of feelings to suffer with. Its more or less like the death of the loved, even more painful because he/she is not dead but living to haunt you to death or till you too become indifferent, but its not easy on being either side of this feeling, so unlike love.

My views may be amateurish, but its good to put down to verify them at a 'later day'....

1 comment:

anurag said...

A fine of mine has send me a nice poem on love, hate and indifference:

Against Indifference

MORE love or more disdain I crave;
Sweet, be not still indifferent:
O send me quickly to my grave,
Or else afford me more content!
Or love or hate me more or less,
For love abhors all lukewarmness.

Give me a tempest if 'twill drive
Me to the place where I would be;
Or if you'll have me still alive,
Confess you will be kind to me.
Give hopes of bliss or dig my grave:
More love or more disdain I crave.

---Charles Webbe