LOVE is a mystery. A puzzle, a paradox. Opposites attract. Eternal love promises eternity, but often comes with an expiry date. Love kills, love cures; love can be cruel to be kind. Poets, philosophers, psychologists, saints, and matchmakers keen to make a quick buck—have all tried to solve this mystery from the moment Adam and Eve were kicked out of Heaven. Reams of poetry written. Mountains of prose piled up. Operas belted out. Pages and pages of research filed and footnoted. And yet, the answer stays out of our reach much like the riddle Meatloaf left behind for us: “I would do anything for love/But I won’t do that.” Anyone with a beating heart who has heard that Meatloaf song walks the earth haunted by one question: what does “that” stand for? What exactly is the “that” he wouldn’t do for love? Who can say for sure! Meatloaf is gone, leaving us guessing.
Luckily, not all riddles are left unsolved. Not all of them have to nag us this Valentine’s week. Dying to know what happens when vampires fall in love? Watch Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive. The love story of deeply depressed Adam (Tom Hiddleston) and a slightly less pessimistic Eve (Tilda Swinton) is centuries old. Adam is about 500 (not in human years, obviously!), and Eve, 3,000. The two have loved and lived for so long that they know how to appreciate the finer things in life—music, literature, science. Adam is an underground musician who thinks humans are a lost cause. He calls them ‘zombies’ who are blind to everything that is worth seeing. “I’m sick of it,” Adam says. “These zombies, what they’ve done to the world, their fear of their own imaginations.”
Denne historien er fra February 21, 2024-utgaven av Outlook.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra February 21, 2024-utgaven av Outlook.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
The 'Invisible' Dalits
The debate over sub-categorisation of castes is likely to shape the political discourse in the upcoming state elections
Caste Census: To Conquer Or Conserve?
The caste census is generating heated debate, but even its most ardent proponents are not able to articulate a plan about how to use the resulting data
THE FATEFUL COMEDY
Actor-director Rajat Kapoor talks about adapting Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov into a Hindi play
Mad Hatter
When a leader takes off his topi and holds it in his hands while appealing for votes, it signals something extraordinary
Circle Within Circles
The caste question in Muslims.
Backward March
The Maratha reservation question may continue to mire the next government in the state
The 69% Exception
Quota within quota: lessons to be learned from Tamil Nadu
United Indifference
The perils of tweaking tribal identities
Two Nations, Two Destinies
The widely differing balance of power between the military and civilian leadership in India and Pakistan has significantly impacted democracy in the two countries
Crème de la Crème
The mainstream society thinks reservations are against right to equality. It’s high time they are seen in the context of right to justice.
