Lifestyle

P.S.
I Love You

Tulip Chowdhury

Knowing that one is loved can do wonders for the soul. Saying “I love you” even after all has been said is very important to a person. The magic words can open the floodgates of love and help build up a special bond. The bond of love can endure the pros and cons and build a life long relationship. Like wings of angels these words can lift one's soul and soar into infinity.

However in our culture the saying often remains out of practice. Somehow we just do not say “ Ami tomake bhalo bashi” (I love you) as easily as it is said in English and many other languages. But our new generation, our children and grandchildren want to hear that they are loved. The parents love their children. But when the working Mom comes home at the end of the day and tells her little girl “I love you and missed you” the little girl knows that although her mother was not with her, she has been in the mother's heart. She smiles, knowing she is important to the person who is dearest to her. It gives the child a feeling of trust and security. When the husband comes home to find the wife tired after a bad day he can set her heart swinging with love and make her feel rejuvenated just by saying aloud these magic words. Our hearts crave to be loved and wanted. Love is what makes us feel that life is worth living for.

Saying “I love you” can work wonders for many people. A terminally ill person hangs on to the love of friends and relatives. For these people the days are numbered. They know that material things matter very little when its time to leave the world. It is people's love and affection that will fill the heart with gladness before the last breath is out. There may be hundreds of other ways to show that one is loved but hearing the wonderful words from someone makes this world itself a heaven. Repeat the words “I love you “ to a person who knows that the time to leave the world is knocking on the door and this person feels as if someone is holding on to him or her. Even the will power to live goes up as a person is repeatedly told that he or she is loved and wanted. Health experts say that when the will to live is there it can work miracles for an ill person.

Maintaining a harmonious relationship between a husband and a wife is a not a one-way street. Love nurtures the relationship while the practical life has it running full scale on the lifeline. Life these days is not easy. Life is competitive and is earmarked with time. The world moves so fast that when one slows down the world marches past and you are left behind. Quite often the husband and the wife find themselves stressed out as they try to run the home and the office and try to do well at both. Coming home after a hard day can be like coming to heaven when they know that they share the strongest bond of love. Both, the husband or the wife can express the emotions with thoughtful gestures like bringing in flowers or having a candle lit dinner. And then the picture becomes complete when the magic words are said. “ I love you” opens the doors wide and gives space to breathe, in this rough and tough world.

Old people often complain that they are of no use to others. They feel as if they are burdens on others. Grandpa, Grandma, or old parents, all need to hear that they are very much loved even if they just sit around the house. Bringing them their favourite books or flowers can do wonders. But once in a while telling them that they are loved will be like holding out lights for them. Old people need to hear that they are wanted and loved by all, even from the nearest ones.

When people fall in love they say, “I love you”. The world itself changes with the utterance of these words. Life acquires a new meaning the minute these words are out. To find a love in life is a divine gift from the heavens.

“Omnia vincit amor” meaning “Love conquers all” is true for people all over the world. When the heart is down or the world looks bleak love can give fresh hopes and fill life with longing for itself.

As Kahlil Gibran says,

“When you love you should not say, “God is in my heart”, but rather, “ I am in the heart of God.”

When people are in love they find new ways in life, to them life holds out strength that can do wonders. People in love find God's light within them. But what starts the light glowing? It is the magic words, “ I love you.”

There are millions of ways to say those wonderful words. Say it with ink and paper or say it Ion your PC screen. Let the pigeon carry the message, or let the Internet do the magic by telling the person that you do love him or her.

And if you want to say it at the end of everything, write “P.S.: I love you”. It is better to be late than never.

Copyright (R) thedailystar.net 2008