THE CONCEPT OF “UNCONDITIONAL LOVE”

 

I love to summarize theories.After, almost, eight years, I have managed to summarize my subject – Economics – in a single statement.  “THERE IS NO UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.”  Sounds, like a tagline for a movie? It’s the Naked Truth.

Everytime, I discuss this with my different batches of Economics students, I get different reactions – from a dirty look to a blank one. Some of them think I am cynical (I am, actually); some think it’s a joke and a few do not comprehend it. Let, me explain:

Everything, in life, comes with a price and an expiry date – even relationships. So does love – whether it is between two adults or between two siblings or between adults and children. The price takes a different form, under different circumstances. Most of the time it is materialistic and sometimes, it is intangible. The more I ponder, the more I realise that the  magnitude of  price varies between different forms of love; because there are two different people involved in a transaction      (oops,sorry)relationship, with different perspectives( to life) and different selfish motives( in mind).

Are we all aware of it? We are. It’s just that- we live in a state of constant denial of this fact. The idea that someone is showering unconditional love (when, in reality, they are not) suits our selfish motives and gives us a sense of security. As “rational” beings (an assumption – economists, often, use) we just cannot handle the thought of reflecting at our naked emotions.Infact, acceptance of this fact- would save us a lot of heartache or unpleasantness in life.

That brings us to the question – Are human beings, always, always, “rational”? True – the sixth sense works round the clock. We are never blinded by emotions, as we believe. Our head, every moment, weighs the cost-benefit of anything and everything, around us. It’s time, we accept that we give more, only, when we get more or are sure of getting more, in return for our love. Our love, towards others has a boundary and/or is conditioned. Anyone to prove me wrong?

• Meena

Economics Teacher.