EAST WEST LOVE STORY

How easy it is to say “I love you”,but do both the parties understand the meaning, well I am talking about young adults of either gender and meaning no offence intended for aberrations intended or unintended. Psychology says that love in such cases has three aspects to it First is passion , which is natural with coming of age, second is intimacy which is more of accepting each other living together with individual strong and weak points and finding a happy balance and tolerance to live happily ever after till death does them apart. Third is commitment to each other and mutual inter dependency in times good and bad and in joy and sorrow.

So when which aspect is meant or which aspects are excluded or included is the question.Offer and response both may get mistaken intentionally or otherwise.

Eastern world lays emphasis on the aspect of commitment and hopes that passion and intimacy aspects will match or will result as a part of mutual adjustment. Thus the social practice as in India of arranges marriages which are often decided by parents and families with the couple hardly getting any opportunity and time to interact or explore the first two aspects of passion and intimacy.

Western concept of dating and living together lays emphasis on the first two aspects of passion and intimacy before finally deciding to tie the knot and get married.

Both the systems seem to work in many cases but have exceptions in both the systems. Finding common grounds and a balanced middle path is difficult and works in a few cases .Belief in marriage as an institution of social relevance for human beings seems to find a general acceptance too. Given what can be controlled and managed by human beings the evolved system has endured test of times and does not seem to face any serious challenges but improvements and better balanced middle path between the two one can hope for.