What is love?

Dipti told me this story over a year ago on one of our trips to kathak classes in Phoenix and it stuck ever since. I think it has a lot of depth and validates quite a bit. A lot of you might be able to relate in one way or another. It's been on my mind and I felt the need to share it with my readers.

A boy went up to his teacher and asked her what love and commitment meant. The teacher said: "go into the woods nearby and bring me back the best, most exotic plant you can find. There's only one rule you need to follow; once you take a step forward in search of what you think may be a better plant, there's no turning back. You can only walk forward, not backward."

The boy went out into the woods and finally came back with a plant. The plant was definitely not the best the woods has to offer. In fact it was an average plant. The teacher asked him what happened and the boy said: "I walked by many beautiful plants along the way. Every time I stopped to look at a plant, I thought I might find something better if I walked ahead. Ultimately all I found was this plant. It wasn't my first choice, but I knew I would not find anything better ahead so I brought it back".

The teacher replied: "And that is what love is. We continue to think that there is something better out there and leave what we have. Even when we know what it looks like, how to care for the plant etc. Ultimately we are forced to make a compromise because realization hits that we've left everything behind and there may not be anything more ahead".

The boy now asked: "ok. so I know what love and commitment is now. But what exactly is marriage?" The teacher asked the boy to go back into the woods and do the same thing, with the same stipulation.

The boy came back with another average looking plant. The teacher asked him what happened this time, and he said: "Well, this time around I decided to bring back the 1st plant that I saw. What if there was nothing else better ahead. At least with this plant I know what I'm getting into and what it looks like".

The teacher smiled and said: "and that's what marriage is. It's all about what compromise and what you're familiar with".