Relationship
“The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost.”- Gilbert K. Chesterton
21st century is running with a very fast pace. Globalization is creating abundant opportunities to elevate one’s standard of living. There are many things to focus on today. Multi-tasking, socializing, taking rest, all these actions need time. One may reason, that if globalization is bringing the world closer then why are divorce rates increasing in society? What is the effect of globalization and the pace of the 21st century on our personal relationships? Are we trading the quality of our relationship with the materialism that the 21st century is promising us?
Many married and unmarried couples who are committed to each other are aware that compatibility is very important to maintain a relationship. But is compatibility enough to consistently enjoy a meaningful relationship? Break ups and divorce are still occurring at jet speed inspite of choosing a compatible partner. Two people getting committed to each other are like a seed being planted in the earth. For the seed to develop into a plant and later into a fruit laden tree it is important to care and provide the seed with the right ingredient at the right time which will contribute to its growth. Likewise in a committed relationship if there is a neglect towards nurturing a relationship then slowly and surely the relationship will lose its ‘moisture’ and soon will dry up and crack.
One has to introspect if one’s relationship is merely a ‘garnishing’ relationship or a ‘pickled’ relationship? Perhaps yet another analogy can help us to understanding the concept. When a chef prepares a delicious dish he further garnishes it with something that acts as mere decoration. Usually most of the garnishing elements don’t add any significant flavour to the dish. Eg. Coriander leaves sprinkled on a delicious dish of Biryani. On the other hand, cubes of raw mangoes are marinated, properly spiced and preserved in a bottle for a stipulated time period to create a lip-smacking delicious raw mango pickle. During the pickle preservation period in the bottle, all the ingredients percolate into the pieces of raw mango, thus given a flavour to the mixture. Point is that, ideally relationships too need to be preserved over a period of time if the love has to percolate deep within each other’s system. Caring, sharing and positively interacting bring spicy flavour to a relationship. For that one has to spend enough time to give and receive the caring and sharing in a given time frame (a time frame is like a pickle bottle in which the committed two absorb the spices released by each other). Unlike the ‘pickled’ relationship, a ‘garnishing’ relationship is just for decoration. Such ‘garnishing’ relationships are mere social decoration which adds no significant flavour to the relationship. Consequently there is no love experienced, and even if there is any, it doesn’t percolate within each other’s system. As a result even the slightest conflict between ‘garnishing relationship couple’ may lead to extreme decisions and possibly end the relationship.
Therefore one has to strike a balance between ambition and affection while shuffling priorities. Everyone has to analyze one’s relationship status from time to time and the price one is paying for neglecting the quality of their love life by chasing material gains in life. May you have happy ‘pickled’ relationships!
Original article written by Shraddha Sankulkarfor www.mindmatterz.net
