I have this very good friend here in BITS who is very, very
good at physics, but very, very bad at human psychology. Ironically, it is with
this friend that I discuss most of the pressing issues about life. And yes,
though this friend doesn’t appreciate human behaviour as much as I do, she does
manage to give me ideas… Lots of ideas. Like the other day when we were taking
time off studies. The topic of discussion that day was whether man would have
been better without emotions.
Most of us will agree to the fact that there is no life if
there are no emotions. Without emotions, there would be no motivation to live. The
whole human civilization would come to a standstill. It is desire that drives
our mind and body. The ultimate goal is happiness. Had there been no desire,
why would you want to sleep? Why would you want to dress, cry, laugh, celebrate?
Moreover, why would we love?
This is where another friend, also involved in the
discussion, gave the example of childbirth. A woman gives birth to a child, but
she has no emotions whatsoever attached to that little soul. Hours after the
birth, she feels hungry, and the nearest thing looking edible is the child. Since
there is no attachment, she wouldn’t hesitate a second before consuming her own
progeny. Considering the fact that there would be millions of such women all
across the world, there would be a million deaths. How will the race continue?
Gross example it is, I agree, but it did end the argument. Later
that evening, over dinner, as I drifted into my own world, I again started
contemplating. True, emotions can’t be done away with. But imagine life without
that small fragment… if there was no one to love, there would be no one to
hate. No desire would imply no rat race, no pressure to prove you to the world.
Furthermore, no let-downs, no sorrow, no regret… it’s not a bad bet!
I was still chewing over this piece of her mind, when we
started talking again. This time, the topic to murder was love. Midway through
this discussion, I got so frustrated with trying to make her understand the
importance of love in life; I asked her how she defined love.
Her reply was shocking to me at first. “Love is nothing but probably dependence.” I did not understand, so
I asked her to elaborate. “Why do you love somebody?” she started. I couldn’t
answer. I always thought love was unconditional. “People love only those people
whom they need”, she continued when she realised I was too appalled with the
reply. “I love my parents because whatever I do my subconscious knows I need
them to survive. We love friends because we need somebody to share experiences
with. We fall in love because we need somebody to stick to us when the whole
world is against us.”
For the first time in my life, I was left speechless. Love was,
in my dictionary, the most pure and morally right emotion. This discussion
shook the whole foundation.
I’m still pondering over this. Is man really that shallow?
It is probably not for us to decide.
