Manoj Maheshwari has a brief chat with Khalil Gibran on the vexing question
The editor said: Write me a piece on Love….
Love….what can I say about love? What can I pen that is not corny or hackneyed? I was in a
real quandary and at my wits end….and then a bulb lit up……
I decided to call Khalil Gibran….the man whose philosophy made a whole generation feel
intellectual and uplifted…..surely if anyone knew about love it was HE….and so I picked up
my magical device and called the Prophet himself….
The signal whirled through ether and unknown dimensions and then….. a deep voice
answered…. “This is Khalil…how may I enlighten you?”…
I was in conversation with the Master himself….and hopefully asked: “Oh Master, what is the
true essence of love?”
I waited for the literary pearls of wisdom and a philosophical soliloquy, but… the answer
was nothing like I imagined…
“Love my son? Do you still try to unravel the vagaries and mysteries of love? Were my
teachings not enough to show you the light?”
As I had but a hazy recollection of the teachings of the Great One…I hedged my bets…” Oh
Master, I do seek pardon….I have imbibed your teachings….”….Google came to my rescue
as I continued “When love beckons to you follow him, Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when he speaks to you believe in him, Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the
north wind lays waste the garden. For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you…….”
By now, I was even more confused about the concept of love and seriously questioning my
sanity in calling Khalil Gibran for the true essence of love….
There was silence for a moment and then a small laugh….”In the material world, we are all
given to pontificating….writing in a manner that most people think is intellectual….we need
to market and sell ourselves…but now? Now I can truly give you my interpretation of love….
Love is a spontaneous joy within a person. It needs to come from within and is neither
binding nor possessive… love does not impose but liberates… Love is not selfish nor can it
be contaminated by hate, jealousy, doubts, anger, or possessiveness.
Love cannot be intellectualized or analyzed – love is all heart and true emotions – an ecstasy
beyond description…”
Is this me? Or Khalil Gibran? Or love itself? I can’t say…. all I can say – Love can’t be taught or
learned…it is in each one of us, we need to find it and define the experience for ourselves…
