The Perfect Love

5 tips to a healthy relationship!

2009-03-28T18:33:00.000+05:30

Relationships can play a major role in our lives.However, not all relationships are healthy. Sometimes we associate with people who may not have our best interests in mind. It’s vital that you learn to recognize a healthy relationship from a harmful one.However any relationship can seems to be an intimate one.That is,it’s totally normal to look at the world through rose-coloured glasses in the early stages of a relationship. But for some people, those rose-coloured glasses turn into blinders that keep them from seeing that a relationship isn’t as healthy as it should be.
You can have an intimate relationship with anyone. An intimate relationship is one in which you can truly be yourself with someone who you respect and are respected by in return. It is an emotional connection that can also be physical.Many people think that “intimate” means being physically intimate, such as being in a sexual relationships. However, an intimate relationship can be with anyone who you are really close to and with whom you can be completely open and honest. Intimate relationships afford you the opportunity to grow as an individual.
Relationships are difficult to maintain when they are filled with conflict, negativity and a lack of trust. For the most part, people want the same thing from a romantic partner. People want spouses and partners who are:Understanding,Appreciative,Respectful,Caring and kind,Helpful,Trustworthy, Positive,Fun to be around.

What Makes a Healthy Relationship?
———————————————————————–
1.Mutual respect:
Respect is the first positive step in building a relationship .A relationship without mutual respect can never be happy and healthy. Mutual respect is absolutely necessary in a good relationship .Each partner has a right to privacy. Being a couple does not give you the right to invade your partner’s privacy. Love involves trust and this preclude any spying on your partner.
There may be things that you love to do and your partner hates and vice versa. That shouldn’t mean that both of you can’t do the things you love. You can enjoy the things you enjoy on your own or with friends or family members. Or, you and your partner can stretch a little once in a while and share these things even though they are your favorite things. you should be able to discuss anything with your partner in a reasonable manner. If you can’t it is time to take a good long look at yourself.Relationships work the best when partners have a lot in common, but respect and appreciate the differences that do exist. It helps to appreciate someone for who they are rather than try to change them or how they behave.
Everyone has a right to an opinion even if it is not considered accurate by someone else. The right to have an opinion is not limited to accuracy and you should definitely remember this in your relationship.

2.Trust:
Trust is the central pillar supporting any real relationship. With so much at stake, be it emotions, finances, children or future goals, there needs to be implicit trust for love to fully develop. Building trust in a relationship takes hard work and commitment. Trust requires that you listen to each other and communicate your needs.
It’s OK to get a little jealous sometimes — jealousy is a natural emotion. But how a person reacts when feeling jealous is what matters. There’s no way you can have a healthy relationship if you don’t trust each other.Relationships work the best when partners reassure each other of their love and commitment. It never hurts to tell a spouse that you love him or her and that you will always be there.Trust, after all, is the glue that holds couples together – even when they face great challenges. Without trust, couples might be more likely to split in times of crises, fail at getting intimate, and have doubts about each other. Couples who trust each other have security and probably feel closer.So trust is an essential key to healthy relationship.Be predictable and learn to share things and secretes.Once you’ve built trust, you’ve done something magical, and you should do everything in your power to keep it if you plan on maintaining your relationship.
And above all trust requires honesty above all else.

3.Honesty:
Honesty is vital to the health of all relationships. Mutual trust, openness, and understanding are the key contributors to feelings of friendship and intimacy. Conversely it is very hard to be in a relationship with a person who distorts or withholds information critical to that relationship.Yet there are internal tensions that can pull us away from truth-telling. One of the most powerful of these forces is fear - fear of what other persons will think of us or how they will use the information we reveal. n a relationship, any relationship, complete honesty is always needed. In fact, honesty should be part of the relationship’s foundation. The principle behind it is that basically, no one likes being lied to, and if a relationship is to flourish, it should not be peppered with lies.
In the end, the truth shall come out. You are not only in danger of losing him when the truth behind the lies is finally revealed, but you would also lose yourself in the process. Losing yourself is one of the worst possible outcomes in the end of a relationship; sometimes, it is hard to regain the sense of who you truly are.People need to be able to talk freely with a romantic partner. Sharing what is going on in one’s life and how one feels about issues is important to do. But, being open with a partner is not always easy because it requires spouses to tell the truth and to LISTEN to things that may be difficult to hear. Listening in an attempt to UNDERSTAND, not control, evaluate, or judge is critical to having an satisfying relationship.

4.Support:
Couples feel closer and are more satisfied with their relationships when they approach problems and difficulties as a team. Couples who take an US versus the PROBLEM, rather than a YOU versus ME approach to conflict are much happier in the long run.It’s not just in bad times that your partner should support you. Some people are great when your whole world is falling apart but can’t take being there when things are going right (and vice versa). In a healthy relationship, your significant other is there with a shoulder to cry on when you need it the most.

5.Care:
Nothing in this world stays long and steady.As times goes by everything under the sun changes.So it is necessary to keep thing in care in order to maintain their goodness.This is also true for love.Care in what needed to maintain a good relationship rolling.’Cause rolling sione gather no moss!Over time, couples typically take each other for granted. At the start of a relationship people appreciate all the things that their partners do for them. However, as time goes on, people tend to expect more, but acknowledge a partner’s contributions less often. To keep a relationship happy and healthy it is important to show appreciation on a consistent basis.

These 5 things are your key to a successful relationship.Relationships can be one of the best — and most challenging — parts of your world. They can be full of fun, romance, excitement, intense feelings, and occasional heartache, too. Whether you’re single or in a relationship, remember that it’s good to be choosy about who you get close to. If you’re still waiting, take your time and get to know plenty of people.
Think about the qualities you value in a friendship and see how they match up with the ingredients of a healthy relationship. Work on developing those good qualities in yourself — they make you a lot more attractive to others. And if you’re already part of a pair, make sure the relationship you’re in brings out the best in both of you.
And always remember ‘The best relationship is the one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other’.

I am alive!

2009-03-19T21:11:00.003+05:30

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eSnips Social DNA

Mmmmm ... mmmmm ...
Mmmmmmmmmmmm
I get wings to fly
Oh, oh ... Im alive ...
Yeah

When you call on me
When I hear you
Breathe
I get wings to fly
I feel that Im alive

When you look at me
I can touch the sky
I know that Im alive
Mmmmm ohhhhh ahhhhhh

When you bless
The day
I just drift away
All my worries die
Im glad that im
Alive

Youve set my heart
On fire
Filled me with love
Made me a woman on
Clouds above

I couldnt get
Much higher
My spirit takes flight
Cause I am alive
Ohhhhh

When you call on me
When you call on me
When I hear you breathe
When I hear you breathe
I get wings to fly
(fly)
I feel that Im alive
(Im alive)

When you reach
For me
Raising spirits high
God knows that

That Ill be the one
Standing by

Through good and
Through
Trying times

And its only begun
I cant wait for the
Rest of my life

When you call on me
When you call on me
When you reach for me
When you reach for me
I get wings to fly
I feel thatIm alive
Yeah

When you bless
The day
I just drift away
All my worries die
I know that Im alive

I get
Wings to fly
God knows that Im alive

Q & A

2009-03-15T18:37:00.001+05:30

Q: What do squirrels give for Valentine's Day?
A: Forget-me-nuts.

Q: What did the valentine card say to the stamp?
A: Stick with me and we'll go places!

Q: What did the stamp say to the envelope?
A: I'm stuck on you.

Q: Who sends a thousand valentines cards signed', guess who' ?
A: A divorce lawyer.

Q: What did the light bulb say to the switch?
A: You turn me on.

Q: Did Adam and Eve ever have a date?
A: No, but they had an apple.

Q: What did the boy octopus say to the girl octopus?
A: Can I hold your hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand? Valentine Joke

Q: What did one snake say to the other snake?
A: Give me a little hug and a hiss, honey.
Knock, Knock,
Who's there?
Olive
Olive who?
Olive you!

Q: Why did the banana go out with the prune?
A: Because it couldn't get a date.

Q: What is a ram's favourite song on February 14th?
A: I only have eyes for ewe, dear

Q: What travels around the world but stays in one corner?
A: A stamp.

Q: What happens when you fall in love with a French chef?
A: You get buttered up.

Q: What is a vampire's sweetheart called?
A: His ghoul-friend.

Q: If your aunt ran off to get married, what would you call her?
A: Antelope.

My One And Only

2009-03-15T18:34:00.001+05:30

Roger, who was 19 years old, was buying an expensive bracelet, to surprise his girlfriend on Valentine's Day, at a very smart jeweller's shop in Hatton Garden, London.

The jeweller inquired, 'Would you like your girlfriend's name engraved on it?'

Roger thought for a moment, grinned, then answered, 'No, instead engrave 'To my one and only love'.'
The jeweller smiled and said, 'Yes, sir; how very romantic of you.'

Roger retorted with a glint in his eye, 'Not exactly romantic, but very practical. This way, if we break up, I can use it again.'

A True Love Story-Stevie and Mike

2009-03-15T18:26:00.001+05:30

by Stevie Sigan

It was a rainy day. Nothing new for a day in Syracuse, New York. I lugged a camera, tripod and lights back to the equipment room from my car, all appendages tucked safe and snug and dry in their cases while water dripped from my hair into a puddle at my feet, as I waited for everything to be checked in by the student working behind the desk. Then, shoes squeaking, I trudged upstairs to the editing suites to spend my rainy Sunday afternoon enclosed in a soundproof box of a room behind three computer screens, logging and capturing footage for a production assignment.

A private hallway lined with twelve doors, segregated by program: Avid and Final Maker Pro. This is, essentially, the edit suites. Each room is stocked with a computer, and one, two or three monitors, keyboards, mics and a large-formatted book specially designed by the student employees of “the Suites” to answer your every editing question (or at least attempt to in order to keep you away from bothering the limited staff for as long as possible).

That afternoon I signed in at the front desk. My best friend’s boyfriend, Pete, was working. They had just started dating and I hadn’t met him but for a few occasions so we talked a bit. While we were talking, another guy walked up. Now, this guy happened to be a long-time distant crush of mine…. I’d seen him around the suites before, around campus, but we had never met. One of those types you gaze at from afar and want so badly to meet if you could only find the rhyme or reason to make the meeting happen in a natural sort of way. So, Pete and I spoke and I watched my crush out of the corner of my eye as we talked… and prolonged the conversation hoping he might join in. Sure enough, in due time, Pete introduced me to my boyfriend that day. Ironically, my best friend and Pete broke up later that week, but anytime she mentions him in any kind of negative light I remind her that he was good for at least one reason: Mike.

Four hours later, eyes spinning, tired and hungry, I was heading out from my four hours of labor. Pete stopped me on the way out and pointed over to Mike.

“He’s having a sausage party next weekend,” he said.

Totally confused and presuming I was about to be part of some weird dare or joke, I simply conceded.

“Okay...”. I continued walking.

Pete stopped me. “No, really, he’s having a sausage party,” he continued. “Do you want to come?”

I glanced up at Mike, who was now smirking. “It’s true,” he said. “I am. I am having a sausage party,” were his first words to me.

“And… what’s a sausage party?” I asked, inevitably, strange thoughts formulating in my head. Some kind of guys-only get together? I was a bit dazed as I racked my brain for some dirty reference I didn’t know…

“Well, it’s a party where we cook sausage,” he continued. “People come over and eat it, we play music and we dance.”

Still in disbelief, I turned back to Pete. “For real? This is a real thing?”

“Oh yeah. The last one was great.”

“The house smelled like meat for days,” Mike added. “You should come.”

He gave me his number and address, and I told him, still hesitant, that I might stop by.

I pondered this sausage party for a week, questioning the legitimacy of the event. My roommates thought it was a bit bogus, but I convinced one good friend to go with me despite the unknown. But come Saturday, something came up and my friend backed out. I didn’t push it, and I was too skeptical to show up to a ‘sausage party’ alone. So, I didn’t go.

A week later I found myself in the editing suites again, trying to read this guy further. A few days later, the same. And again, the same. Mixed signals, mixed smiles, mixed words… I agonized over all of them for a week or two—pining for him, then stopping myself due to his lack of making a move. I figured it must have been a joke—the sausage party. But then he’d say something to make me think otherwise again… I finally got my act together one day and asked him out to dinner to find out for sure one way or the other whether he was interested. He was.

He told me that night that he thought I wasn’t interested when I didn’t show up at the party. That he had been waiting for me to come all night.

“I didn’t think it was a real thing—a sausage party,” I told him. “It’s a bit strange, you know.”

“Yeah, I was thinking that might have had something to do with it,” he said.

Our first date was at a Middle Eastern restaurant just off-campus that same night. We’ve been together ever since. I’m still waiting for him to throw me a sausage party.

Would you be my date tonight?

2009-03-13T14:02:00.000+05:30

Love at first sight

2009-03-13T13:38:00.000+05:30

Love & Sex!

2009-03-11T18:05:00.000+05:30

Love & Sex are linked through and through.You can never expect love without sex(well you certainly can have sex without love,but that’s not the point here of course).Some of you may argue about the possibility of internet love as an exceptional example.Yes, that’s true to some extent but not totally; as you CAN experience sex through talking.Its not the same but its not bad either.Whatever ,you can not separate these two true human feelings from one another.
From ancient time man and woman are tied together by the thread of love and sex.They never get old and bored.Though there are tradition that sometime makes love making a sin and offensive gestures but the lovers never listen and played on.

LOVE:is defined as any of a number of emotions and experiences related to a sense of strong affection and attachment. The word love can refer to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes, ranging from generic pleasure to intense interpersonal attraction. Love is not a single feeling but an emotion built from two or more feelings. Anything vital to us creates more than one feeling, and we also have feelings about our feelings (and thoughts about our feelings). This diversity of uses and meanings, combined with the complexity of the feelings involved, makes love unusually difficult to consistently define, even compared to other emotional states.As an abstract concept, love usually refers to a deep, ineffable feeling of tenderly caring for another person.
Whereas nobody really knows why we fall in love with one person and not another. Factors like intelligence and shared values are only half of the puzzle. The other half is how your biology influences who you fall in love with. A research says that it takes precisely 30 seconds to fall in love or estimate whether the person is worth falling in love with. So, love at first sight does exist! Wonders like these do happen but it takes more to nurture a relationship.Sexual compatibility is as important as emotional compatibility. If one partner has a stronger sex drive than the other, it is bound to create differences. So, it is imperative to find different ways and occasions to bond with your partner – both emotionally and physically for a healthy relationship to function.
Healthy SEX leads to a healthy life. You may have tried copious measures to get that extra glowing skin and shiny hair. You must have also worked out rigorously to achieve that perfect ten figure you’ve desired. But the key to your mind and heart is fulfilling sex. Even for those who lose their temper or are always in a depressed state of mind, ’sex’ can be the solution.

A happy sexual life with your partner not only gets you in shape with better skin texture and silken tresses, it also burns extra calories, keeps you fit, combats asthma, relieves headache, reduces depression and tranquillises your mind. From make-up experts, hair stylists, sexologists and fitness connoisseurs – there’s a common consensus that a vigorous sexual life leads to a healthy life – both physically and emotionally.Experts say”The extra edge of sex may be due to the feeling of being wanted, an expression of emotions and certain hormonal and physiological changes that happen as an expression of love for another individual. Unfortunately, the benefits of sexuality are usually quoted out of context and people may look at this as a panacea for everything. But sexuality without emotions have limited value.”
So make your life healthy with these two age old human feelings;and enjoy each day(and night)to fullest.be happy!

Soul Mate....

2009-02-20T21:39:00.000+05:30

You Know its love!

2009-02-13T16:59:00.000+05:30

The Kiss..

2009-02-13T16:55:00.000+05:30

Together...........

2009-02-12T22:19:00.000+05:30

The Perfect Love

2009-02-12T21:03:00.000+05:30

LOVE IS...........

2009-02-10T15:04:00.000+05:30

Uploaded on authorSTREAM by aSGuest12684

Maple Leaf:

2009-01-18T22:12:00.000+05:30

In China and Japan the Maple Leaf is an emblem of lovers. North American settlers used to place the Maple leaves at the foot of their beds to ward off demons and encourage sexual pleasure as well as peaceful sleep. Also in the North American region, the stork can be observed weaving Maple branches in nests - as such, the Maple became a symbol of the love found in welcoming a new child in the home. Just as the sweet rich sap produces Maple syrup so too does the Maple leaves serve as a love symbols as they depict the sweetness and wonder of love in every day life.

A beautiful shell

2009-01-18T16:57:00.000+05:30

By- Vannessa Thibodeau -

Once I was a beautiful shell
Giving life to the creatures of the sea
Tides and time pounded on me, breaking me bit by bit

Then I was stuck nowhere to go...
The barnacles found a place to dwell
But Mother Ocean gave me a second chance

The tides washed me upon the shore
There I lay waiting in the sun, dull and chipped and ugly
Then, you came along and found me

The barnacles were picked, the sand washed off
You polished me up and brought out my luster...
I'm still chipped with imperfections
But you laid me out for everyone to see...
The beautiful colors inside me

Now I'm shiny with colors and gold
The tides have yet to see me grow old
With the tenderness and care you gave me
I am once again a beautiful shell

If You Will Be MY Eyes.

2009-01-18T16:40:00.000+05:30

by Loverboy

If you will be my eyes, I will be you tears

Warming your cheeks, calming your fears

If you will be my heart, I will be your beat

Working all time, to give you your heat

If you will be my lips, I will be your kiss

Dreaming about, the old time we missed

If you will be my wish, I will be your star
So I can give you, your hope from far

If you will be my love, I will just be me

No greater thing, I can offer you to be

only memories...................

2009-01-17T22:29:00.000+05:30

Author Unknown

Once upon a time, there was once a guy who was very much in love with this girl. This romantic guy folded 1,000 pieces of papercranes as a gift to his girl. Although, at that time he was just a small executive in his company, his future doesn't seemed too bright, they were very happy together. Until one day, his girl told him she was going to Paris and will never come back. She also told him that she cannot visualise any future for the both of them, so let's go their own ways there and then... heartbroken, the guy agreed.

When he regained his confidence, he worked hard day and night, slogging his body and mind just to make something out of himself. Finally with all these hardwork and with the help of friends, this guy had set up his own company...

"You never fail until you stop trying." he always told himself. "I must make it in life!"
One rainy day, while this guy was driving, he saw an elderly couple sharing an umbrella in the rain walking to some destination. Even with the umbrella, they were still drenched. It didn't take him long to realise those were his ex-girlfriend's parents. With a heart in getting back at them, he drove slowly beside the couple, wanting them to spot him in his luxury sedan. He wanted them to know that he wasn't the same anymore, he had his own company, car, condo, etc. He had made it in life!

Before the guy can realise, the couple was walking towards a cemetary,and he got out of his car and followed them...and he saw his ex-girlfriend, a photograph of her smiling sweetly as ever at him from her tombstone... and he saw his precious papercranes in a bottle placed beside her tomb. Her parents saw him. He walked over and asked them why this had happened. They explained, she did not leave for France at all. She was stricken ill with cancer. In her heart, she had believed that he will make it someday, but she did not want her illness to be his obstacle ... therefore she had chosen to leave him.

She had wanted her parents to put his papercranes beside her, because, if the day comes when fate brings him to her again he can take some of those back with him. The guy just wept ...the worst way to miss someone is to be sitting right beside them but knowing you can't have them and will never see them again.
The End."

A tragic story that perhaps happens only in the movies. At the end of the day, money is money is money but love is divine. In our quest for our material wealth, take time to make time for our loved ones. There will be a time when we have only memories to cling to.

Feel like a Rose

2009-01-14T22:33:00.000+05:30

I Was Loved By You!

2009-01-14T22:06:00.000+05:30

BECAUSE OF YOU

2009-01-13T22:58:00.000+05:30

Author: Vishal Narsian

Because of you
my world is now whole,
Because of you
love lives in my soul.
Because of you
I have laughter in my eyes,
Because of you
I am no longer afraid of good-byes.
You are my pillar
my stone of strength,
With me through all seasons
and great times of length.
My love for you is pure
boundless through space and time,
it grows stronger everyday
with the knowledge that you'll always be mine.
At the altar
I will joyously say 'I do',
for I have it all now
and it's all because of you.

Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beholder

2009-01-13T22:53:00.000+05:30

Author Unknown

She was not beautiful.
Nothing about her was extraordinary.
Nothing about her made her stand out in a crowd.
She grew up in a family of six.
The eldest, she learnt responsibility at an early age.
As she grew stronger, and brighter,
She instilled a sort of light cheer to whomever she met.

She was not beautiful.
But she made others feel beautiful about themselves.
She meets a rebel boy who thinks he's all man.
Befriending him, she teaches him how to read,
A little boost the man needed to go to college.

They became friends fast and she fell,
Fast in love with her rugged, handsome student.
The "man" then finds himself in a dilemma
He soon found himself in love with a girl.
A girl so beautiful, she turned even the grouchiest men's head.
Her hair was a halo of light around her,
Her eyes the bluest blue of ocean.

Like an angel he tells his tutor
Like a beautiful angel.
The girl swallows a lump at her throat

She was not beautiful
She did not possess the heart of the one she loved
But she did not care.
As long as he was happy,
She would be or so she tried to.

She helped him write the most beautiful letter to his angel
All the time envisioning that it was she herself
Receiving those very letters.
And so the girl helped him choose the right words,
Buy the right gifts for his angel
His angel brought him much joy
And much pain to the girl who cried behind her smiles.
But that never stopped her from giving more
Than she will ever receive.

Then one day, all hell broke loose
The angel he loved left him for another man,
A richer, more successful man.
The boy was stunned
He was so hurt he did not speak for days
The girl went to him
He cried on her shoulder and she cried with him
He hurt and so did she.

Time went by.
And so the wounds heal.
The boy realizes something about his friend/tutor
He never realized before.
How her laughter sounded heavenly
Or how her smiles brightened up the darkest days.
Or simply how beautiful, yes beautiful she looked to him!

Beautiful.
This plain, simple girl was beautiful to him.
And he began to fall.
Fall so in love with this beautiful girl.

On one day, he picked up all his courage to see her.
He walked to her house, nervous ad fidgeting.
Running his thoughts over and over in his head.
He was going to tell her how beautiful she was to him.
He was going to tell her how wonderfully n love he was with her.
He knocked.
No one was home.

The next day he found out,
The beautiful girl he fell in love with had brain aneurysm
That put her into a coma.
The doctors were grim and the family decided to let her go.

One final time he got to see her.
He held her hand.
He stroked her hair,
And he cried for this beautiful girl.
He cried for he will never see her smile
Or hear her speak his name

He cried.
But it was too late.

The beautiful girl was buried and the heavens broke out
In a beautiful spring shower, a cry for their loss.
She was the most beautiful girl in the world.

Look around you.
Aren't there a lot of plain faces?
Take a good look
A real good look or you might miss out
On that beautiful person.

Forever.

Absence.........

2009-01-08T17:39:00.000+05:30

CUPID-a symbol of love

2009-01-07T00:17:00.000+05:30

In Roman mythology, Cupid (Latin cupido) is the god of erotic love and beauty. He is also known by another one of his Latin names, Amor (cognate with Kama).In popular culture Cupid is frequently shown shooting his bow to inspire romantic love, often as an icon of Valentine's Day. It is said that if Cupid shoots his arrow of love and hits you, that you will fall helplessly and madly in love with the next person you meet.

In Roman mythology, Cupid is the son of Venus, the goddess of love. In greek mythology, he was known as Eros and was the son of Aphrodite. He is known as a mischievous, winged child armed with bow and arrows. The arrows signify desires and emotions of love,Cupid has always played a role in the celebrations of love and lovers. There is a very interesting story about Cupid and His mortal Bride Psyche in Roman mythology.read the story here.
According to legend, Cupid's arrows come in two varieties: the Golden Arrow, which generally signifies true love, and the Leaden Arrow, which represents wanton and sensual passion. He is also known to sometimes carry a torch with which to inflame desire between men and women. Cupid is not always successful in his endeavors, however. Sometimes his arrows turn people away from those who fall in love with them. In some mythological tales, Venus was scratched by one of Cupid's arrows while playing with her son, the result being that the Godddess fell instantly in love with Adonis...the first man she saw after receiving the wound.
According to some sources, Cupid (as Eros) arose out of Chaos, along with Tartarus and Earth (making him one of the oldest Gods), only later becoming associated with Aphrodite as her winged son. The mingling of Eros (who, in this instance, was considered to have no parents) with Chaos is said to have created the race of birds. In certain mythological tales, it is stated that there was no race of immortals before Eros caused all things to mingle. Other legends maintain that Eros hatched from an egg laid by Nyx, also known as Night. Cherubs are also believed to be descendants of Cupid. Depicted as loveable little winged creatures devoid of either arrows or quivers, cherubs are typically not mischievous, as is their infamous alleged ancestor.
The fable of Eros and Psyche is usually considered allegorical. The Greek name for a butterfly is "psyche" and the same word means the "soul." Thus, Psyche represents the human soul which, purified by sufferings and misfortunes, is prepared for the enjoyment of true and pure happiness. In works of art, Psyche is often depicted as a maiden with the wings of a butterfly.

Unchained Melody ..

2008-12-20T17:19:00.000+05:30

Oh my love, my darling
I've hungered for your touch
A long, lonely time
And time goes by so slowly
And time can do so much
Are you still mine
I need your love, I need your love
God speed your love to me

Lonely rivers flow to the sea, to the sea
To the open arms of the sea, yeah
Lonely rivers sigh 'Wait for me, wait for me'
I'll be coming home, wait for me

Ghost

2008-12-20T17:03:00.000+05:30

Sam Wheat (Patrick Swayze) and Molly Jensen (Demi Moore) are a happy and loving couple living in New York City. The only problem in their relationship is Sam's apparent discomfort with saying "I love you" to his girlfriend, only responding to her saying it with "ditto". This bothers Molly, who feels she needs to hear him say "I love you" in return.

One night, while walking back to their new apartment after going to the theatre, they encounter a thief named Willy Lopez (Rick Aviles). He pulls a gun and Sam is shot. Sam chases Willy, but loses him; when he returns to Molly, he sees her cradling his own corpse, and realizes that he is now a ghost, trapped between worlds. Lights descend to take him away, but he flees.

Sam realizes that the robbery was planned when Willy sneaks into the house and rifles through his belongings. Sam follows Willy home and learns that his close friend and co-worker, Carl Bruner (Tony Goldwyn), hired Willy to rob Sam in order to get his office computer password; Carl is involved in a money laundering deal at the bank where he and Sam worked. Sam had recently changed his computer password, locking Carl out of the phony accounts where Carl had stashed the money. Sam lashes out in frustration at his supposed best friend, but realizes that, as a ghost, he can do little.

Sam fears that Molly is in danger but is helpless, unable to communicate with her in his spiritual form. As fate has it, however, he encounters Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg), a con artist posing as a medium who ironically discovers (through hearing Sam say that her business is a "crock of shit") that she really does have her family's power to hear ghosts, though she cannot see them. Seeing her as his only hope of communicating with Molly, Sam endlessly pesters Oda Mae until she eventually gives in and agrees to help him.

Oda Mae reluctantly calls Molly and tells her she is communicating with Sam, but Molly is understandably skeptical. Molly is convinced only when Oda Mae tells her several private things that only Sam could know, most importantly Sam's use of the word "ditto".

Sam encounters a troubled ghost (Vincent Schiavelli) haunting the Subway, who teaches him how to touch and move objects by focusing his emotions on his intended target. He also learns that Oda Mae is now being plagued by ghosts coming from as far away as New Jersey to speak to their living relatives. One briefly possesses her, but it is seen that this greatly saps a ghost's energy. He promises that she will no longer be bothered if she helps him.

Meanwhile, Molly visits the police, having become quite skeptical of Oda Mae's claims. The desk sergeant assures her that she's right to be suspicious, as there's no file on any 'Willy Lopez' — but there is an amazingly large file on Oda Mae Brown, who is well-known to local police as a huckster and small-time fraud.

Sam and Oda Mae move to thwart Carl's plan. Carl had stolen $4 million and put it in a fraudulent account. Under Sam's instructions, Oda Mae poses as 'Rita Miller' — the name on the account - to withdraw the money, and grudgingly gives the large cheque to two nuns collecting for charity. Carl panics when he realises the account has been closed, and is tormented by Sam, who, invisible, behaves like a poltergeist and types the word "MURDERER" on his computer.

Carl traces the missing money and ends up at Molly's door, asking about Oda Mae. Molly slips and reveals that Oda Mae was Rita Miller, and that she knows about the secret 'slush fund' that Carl has been frantically trying to access. Carl realizes that Sam's ghost is present and tells him he will be back to kill Molly if he doesn't get the money back. Sam runs off to warn Oda Mae, but Willy arrives soon after. Oda Mae and her sisters escape as Sam terrorizes Willy, prompting Willy to run out into the street in a panic. Willy is hit by a truck, but only realises he is dead when he sees his own corpse. As he does so, the shadows around him rise from the ground and take the shape of demons, which drag him into darkness as his screams echoes away .

Molly is still unsure about Oda Mae, but she is convinced after Oda Mae slides a penny under the door and Sam uses his powers to place the penny in Molly's hand (earlier, we see that Sam and Molly save pennies "for luck"). Sam then uses Oda Mae's body to share a passionate moment with Molly, but an outraged Carl storms in and threatens to kill Molly and Oda Mae if he does not get his money. Sam is forcefully ejected from Oda Mae's body and tries to stop Carl, but, as seen before, the possession has left him drained.

Molly and Oda Mae escape to a loft above the apartment, with Carl in pursuit. He tries desperately to catch up with the women and finally gets to Oda Mae, pulling out a gun. Molly comes to Oda Mae's defense, but Carl overpowers her and he takes her hostage instead. Sam's energy is restored and he forces Carl to throw the gun away, enabling Molly to escape unharmed. Fighting in vain to stop Sam's attacks, Carl foolishly swings a hanging hook at him. The hook passes through Sam's ghostly body, swings back and shatters an open window, which falls and kills Carl while he is trying to escape. Sam expresses regret as the demons take Carl's terrified spirit away.

When Sam returns to Oda Mae and Molly, Molly can see and hear him, as he has assumed a partly visible form. After saying a final goodbye to Oda Mae, he shares a final kiss with Molly and tells her he loves her, to which she responds with "ditto". Sam then walks off into the bright light to heaven.

Casablanca

2008-12-20T16:56:00.000+05:30

Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) is a bitter, cynical American expatriate in Casablanca. He owns and runs "Rick's Café Américain", an upscale nightclub and gambling den that attracts a mixed clientèle of Vichy French and Nazi officials, refugees and thieves. Although Rick professes to be neutral in all matters, it is later revealed that he had run guns to Ethiopia to combat the 1935 Italian invasion, and fought on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War against Francisco Franco's Nationalists.

Ugarte (Peter Lorre), a petty criminal, arrives in Rick's club with "letters of transit" obtained through the murder of two German couriers. The papers allow the bearer to travel freely around German-controlled Europe and to neutral Portugal, and from there to America. The letters are almost priceless to any of the continual stream of refugees who end up stranded in Casablanca. Ugarte plans to make his fortune by selling them to the highest bidder, who is due to arrive at the club later that night. However, before the exchange can take place, Ugarte is arrested by the local police, under the command of Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains), a corrupt opportunist who says of himself, "I have no convictions ... I blow with the wind, and the prevailing wind happens to be from Vichy." Unbeknownst to Renault and the Nazis, Ugarte had entrusted the letters to Rick because "... somehow, just because you despise me, you are the only one I trust."

At this point, the reason for Rick's bitterness re-enters his life. His ex-lover Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) arrives with her husband Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), a fugitive Czech Resistance leader long sought by the Nazis. The couple need the letters to leave Casablanca to "reach America and continue [his] work." German Major Strasser (Conrad Veidt) arrives to ensure that Laszlo does not succeed.

When Laszlo speaks with Signor Ferrari (Sydney Greenstreet), a major figure in the criminal underworld and Rick's business rival, Ferrari divulges his suspicion that Rick has the letters. Laszlo meets with Rick privately, but Rick refuses to part with the documents, telling Laszlo to ask his wife for the reason. They are interrupted when a group of Nazi officers led by Strasser begins to sing "Die Wacht am Rhein", a German patriotic song. In response, Laszlo tells the house band to play "La Marseillaise", the French national anthem. The band looks to Rick for permission, and he nods his head. Laszlo starts singing, alone at first, then long-suppressed patriotic fervor grips the crowd and everyone joins in, drowning out the Germans. In retaliation, Strasser orders Renault to close the club.
From left to right: Victor Laszlo, Ilsa Lund, Captain Renault and Rick Blaine

That night, Ilsa confronts Rick in the deserted cafe. When he refuses to give her the letters, she threatens him with a gun, but is unable to shoot, confessing that she still loves him. She explains that when she first met and fell in love with him in Paris, she believed that her husband had been killed trying to escape from a Nazi concentration camp. Later, with the German army on the verge of capturing the city, she learned that Laszlo was in fact alive and in hiding. She left Rick without explanation to tend to an ill Laszlo.

With the revelation, Rick's bitterness dissolves and the lovers are reconciled. Rick agrees to help, leading her to believe that she will stay behind with him when Laszlo leaves. When Laszlo unexpectedly shows up, after having narrowly escaped a police raid on a Resistance meeting, Rick has Ilsa hide while the two men talk.

Laszlo reveals that he is aware of Rick's love for Ilsa and tries to get Rick to use the letters to take her to safety. However, the police arrive and arrest Laszlo on a petty charge. Rick convinces Renault to release Laszlo by promising to set him up for a much more serious crime: possession of the letters of transit. To allay Renault's suspicions about his motives, Rick explains that he and Ilsa will be leaving for America.

However, when Renault tries to arrest Laszlo for accepting the letters, Rick double crosses Renault, forcing him at gunpoint to assist in the escape. At the last moment, Rick makes Ilsa board the plane to Lisbon with her husband, telling her that she would regret it if she stayed, "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life."

Major Strasser drives up by himself, having been tipped off by Renault, but Rick shoots him when he tries to intervene. When police reinforcements arrive, Renault pauses, then tells his men to "Round up the usual suspects." Once alone, Renault suggests that he and Rick leave Casablanca and join the Free French at Brazzaville. They walk off into the fog with one of the most memorable exit lines in movie history: "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Hither, Hither, Love

2008-12-20T16:40:00.000+05:30

by John Keats

HITHER hither, love---
'Tis a shady mead---
Hither, hither, love!
Let us feed and feed!

Hither, hither, sweet---
'Tis a cowslip bed---
Hither, hither, sweet!
'Tis with dew bespread!

Hither, hither, dear
By the breath of life,
Hither, hither, dear!---
Be the summer's wife!

Though one moment's pleasure
In one moment flies---
Though the passion's treasure
In one moment dies;---

Yet it has not passed---
Think how near, how near!---
And while it doth last,
Think how dear, how dear!

Hither, hither, hither
Love its boon has sent---
If I die and wither
I shall die content!

The Last Ride Together

2008-12-16T21:38:00.000+05:30

Author: Robert Browning

I

I said--Then, dearest, since 'tis so,
Since now at length my fate I know,
Since nothing all my love avails,
Since all, my life seemed meant for, fails,
Since this was written and needs must be--
My whole heart rises up to bless
Your name in pride and thankfulness!
Take back the hope you gave--I claim
Only a memory of the same,
--And this beside, if you will not blame, . . . . . . 10
Your leave for one more last ride with me.

II

My mistress bent that brow of hers;
Those deep dark eyes where pride demurs
When pity would be softening through,
Fixed me a breathing-while or two
With life or death in the balance: right!
The blood replenished me again;
My last thought was at least not vain:
I and my mistress, side by side
Shall be together, breathe and ride, . . . . . . 20
So, one day more am I deified.
Who knows but the world may end tonight?

III

Hush! if you saw some western cloud
All billowy-bosomed, over-bowed
By many benedictions--sun's
And moon's and evening-star's at once--
And so, you, looking and loving best,
Conscious grew, your passion drew
Cloud, sunset, moonrise, star-shine too,
Down on you, near and yet more near, . . . . . . 30
Till flesh must fade for heaven was here!--
Thus leant she and lingered--joy and fear!
Thus lay she a moment on my breast.

IV

Then we began to ride. My soul
Smoothed itself out, a long-cramped scroll
Freshening and fluttering in the wind.
Past hopes already lay behind.
What need to strive with a life awry?
Had I said that, had I done this,
So might I gain, so might I miss. . . . . . . 40
Might she have loved me? just as well
She might have hated, who can tell!
Where had I been now if the worst befell?
And here we are riding, she and I.

V

Fail I alone, in words and deeds?
Why, all men strive and who succeeds?
We rode; it seemed my spirit flew,
Saw other regions, cities new
As the world rushed by on either side.
I thought,--All labour, yet no less . . . . . . 50
Bear up beneath their unsuccess
Look at the end of work, contrast
The petty done, the undone vast,
This present of theirs with the hopeful past!
I hoped she would love me; here we ride.

VI

What hand and brain went ever paired?
What heart alike conceived and dared?
What act proved all its thought had been?
What will but felt the fleshly screen? . . . . . . 60
We ride and I see her bosom heave.
There's many a crown for who can reach.
Ten lines, a statesman's life in each!
The flag stuck on a heap of bones,
A soldier's doing! what atones?
They scratch his name on the Abbey-stones.
My riding is better, by their leave.

VII

What does it all mean, poet? Well,
Your brains beat into rhythm, you tell
What we felt only; you expressed . . . . . . 70
You hold things beautiful the best,
And pace them in rhyme so, side by side.
'Tis something, nay 'tis much: but then,
Have you yourself what's best for men?
Are you--poor, sick, old ere your time--
Nearer one whit your own sublime
Than we who never have turned a rhyme?
Sing, riding's a joy! For me, I ride.

VIII

And you, great sculptor--so, you gave
A score of years to Art, her slave, . . . . . . 80
And that's your Venus, whence we turn
To yonder girl that fords the burn!
You acquiesce, and shall I repine?
What, man of music, you grown grey
With notes and nothing else to say,
Is this your sole praise from a friend,
"Greatly his opera's strains intend,
Put in music we know how fashions end!"
I gave my youth; but we ride, in fine.

IX

Who knows what's fit for us? Had fate . . . . . . 90
Proposed bliss here should sublimate
My being--had I signed the bond--
Still one must lead some life beyond,
Have a bliss to die with, dim-descried.
This foot once planted on the goal,
This glory-garland round my soul,
Could I descry such? Try and test!
I sink back shuddering from the quest.
Earth being so good, would heaven seem best?
Now, heaven and she are beyond this ride.

X

And yet--she has not spoke so long! . . . . . . 100
What if heaven be that, fair and strong
At life's best, with our eyes upturned
Whither life's flower is first discerned,
We, fixed so, ever should so abide?
What if we still ride on, we two
With life for ever old yet new,
Changed not in kind but in degree,
The instant made eternity--
And heaven just prove that I and she
Ride, ride together, forever ride? . . . . . . 110

NOTES:
"The Last Ride Together." The rapture of a rejected lover
in the one more last ride which he asks for and obtains,
discovers for him the all-sufficing glory of love in itself.
Soldiership, statesmanship, art are disproportionate in their
results; love can be its own reward, yes, heaven itself.

My True Life Love Story

2008-12-16T21:29:00.000+05:30

By Emsboots

I had been widowed for 3 1/2 years when my dearest friend arrived for a visit with her latest husband of 6 years for she wanted so much for us to meet before her death as she was facing her last days here on this earth. Well he was a very nice looking man , a cowboy really and a long haul truck driver so we struck up a nice friendly relationship that made my dear friend very happy and said to me when my time comes please do not let him be alone , I made her this promise never realizing that he would after a period of grieving for her ask me to come and live with him.

The way he approached me was by telling me he had a big surprise for me as his late wife had planned this vacation of a sort for the two of us to be had after her dearth. Shocked beyond belief I accepted his invitation as this was one her last wishes. But he was not to tell me where we were to go just pack a bag for a week and trust him to do as she had requested. So with some skepticism I packed my bag and waited for him to pick me up and off we went taking over 5 hours to arrive at out final destination at the Horse Shoe Casino, well let me tell you I was like a child set loose in a candy store as I had never been in one before and all of the excitement made all of the adrenaline flow like magic and I became very at ease with the situation .

We spent a lovely week together and talked of many things one of which he said he was not going to be alone and had chosen me as his companion for the balance of our lives if I would but accept him . I told him I had to give this a lot of consideration as I had never planned on marrying again so he let me know what was ahead for me and would wait for my reply. We wrote back and forth and talked on the phone almost every night as he was out on his trips across the country and would relate to me all of the things he was seeing so I could feel as if I was there with him to enjoy them as well. Knowing I was so fascinated and intrigued by his stories he asked if I would like to take a trip on his next run out West with him so I accepted and much to my delight I found I loved the open road as he would take extra pains to see I could enjoy a new and exciting place each morning and night as we traveled together . He was so sweet and caring I could not help but fall madly in love with him and accepted his marriage proposal when he got down on one knee and asked to take his name and be his wife. Granted as he had said to me she will always hold a special place in my heart but I have found my long awaited soul mate .

We made a number of trips over the country and I had moved to his home where we shared so many wonderful dreams and plans of our future together. After we both felt that enough time had elapsed we set the date for our marriage and set about making all of the final little details of a glorious wedding , and on the night just 3 hours before his untimely death we had sat and said to one another " well nether of us will leave this world alone, unloved or unwanted as we have one another " so as he gently touched my face and said "I do love you with all of my heart now and forever more so never leave me " and I promised him I would always be here for him and he went in and tried to sleep. After two hours of fretful rest he arose and headed to the bathroom only to collapse in respiratory arrest where I administered CPR and was able to have him up and coherent when the medics arrived but he still was in need of oxygen so he was placed in the ambulance with me at his side and once he was in route to the hospital he said to me as his last words ever spoken alive was " I love you babe , everything is going to be alright so don't worry " but once said he went into cardiac arrest never to come out of again and with being placed on life support for 25 minutes he completely flat lined leaving me behind to ride the roads all alone once more .

As I was placing him in the ground I felt this flutter about me and glanced around to see this golden butterfly wing towards heaven letting me know he was on the road again but to God's highway this time. When he would awaken on the road he would always say to me " come on babe it's time to be on the road again " and off we would go so I know in my heart when he awakens from this trip he will once again call out to me in his usual manner " okay babe time to be on the road again" and I will meet him at the gate and we will forever ride the golden streets of heaven as we had planned . He had passed to the other side just 3 weeks before our scheduled date of earthly marriage but in my heart of hearts I was married to him in the eyes of God for we had made out vows on a mountain top to each other before God and even if we had never stood before man and made this vow for on the eve of his passing he had announced to all of his friends our date to be forever more together. So on this day that was to be the date of our proposed marriage I went to the cemetery where he is at rest and made my vows once more to him in prayer to God so I know our marriage is approved by God for as I said my prayer another butterfly joined with another and they both flew towards heaven side by side .

Thankful for a true love of a life time

Say I love U!

2008-12-15T22:47:00.000+05:30

Missing U!!!

2008-12-15T22:24:00.000+05:30

Heartbreak....................

2008-12-15T22:23:00.000+05:30

Love is forever

2008-12-02T13:42:00.000+05:30

Love is Flower......

2008-12-02T13:21:00.000+05:30

Together Forever

2008-11-28T17:13:00.001+05:30

love is happiness

2008-11-28T17:11:00.001+05:30

Love Each Other Every Day

2008-11-25T15:05:00.000+05:30

The easiest tidbit of love relationship advice you will ever get is to simply love each other. Kiss each other good morning when you wake up and kiss each other good night before bed. Embrace one another throughout the day and make sure you say you love each other every day. As simple as this sounds, the reassurance of touch and a few kind words can keep a relationship going indefinitely. Amidst all the other responsibilities we have in life, a few minutes in each other's arms is like a mini-vacation from the world. Always share a peaceful oasis together and your relationship will thrive.

Although relationships can be tough, the rewards are bountiful. By following this common sense love relationship advice, you can improve your relationship with your partner. After all, when you eliminate the little nightmares along the way, sharing your love with that special someone can be a dream come true.

Be Honest

2008-11-25T15:00:00.000+05:30

Lying is never a solid foundation to build a relationship and being honest is one of the most important pieces of love relationship advice. From small fibs to major lies, they all get in the way of having a positive, rewarding relationship. Always be honest about your likes, dislikes, opinions and desires from the very beginning. How can you find the right person if you are misrepresenting yourself?

For example, if your romantic interest loves to go dancing and you hate it, be honest from the start. It doesn't have to mean you won't go dancing once in awhile to please your partner. However, when you don't want to go every weekend your partner will understand why and you will be better able to work out a compromise.

Big lies, such as your financial circumstances or marital status, are certain to catch up with you and should never be held back to share later. Be upfront on all your relationships from the start so you can attract people who understand and appreciate your unique circumstances.

Demand honesty from your partner by allowing them to speak their mind and express their opinions. If you argue with everything your partner says, it discourages open communication. You can communicate whether you agree or disagree with their opinion but you still need to respect it.

Love is....

2008-11-23T20:53:00.000+05:30

I love U

2008-11-23T20:46:00.000+05:30

Improve Your Relationships

2008-11-13T22:38:00.000+05:30

Relationships are complex things, but following these basics will help you make your relationships healthy and strong.

When in doubt, listen first and check to see if you have understood the other person by asking them questions. Often relationships go awry when people feel they aren’t being heard or understood and sometimes it’s important just to listen. You have to know what they want, not what you think is good for them. Listening is what helps us to find connection with each other. This also means you need to tell others what you really feel, think, and want. You can’t feel connected if you don’t voice these things.

Communicate simply when it is most critical that they hear you. Get clear in your own mind what kind of outcome you would like and try to state it in the most simple and specific terms. You will more likely be understood the more clear you can be, and often that means fewer words, not more. Sometimes repetition is necessary in getting through to someone what is really important to you.

Always show respect. Respect means listening, accepting a no when you are given one, not taking them for granted, being honest in your dealings with them, and not criticizing often or discouraging them. It is also important that you do not try to control others, and just as important that you show respect to yourself and ask that they treat you the same or be willing to walk away.

Know when it isn’t a healthy relationship. Just because you care about someone doesn’t mean you should be in a relationship with them at this time. They should be good for you, not addicted to anything, not controlling or abusive in any way, and make you feel secure and happy. It is not possible to make a relationship work with someone who doesn’t care about you, or who abuses a substance or you, so don’t try.

Seek to be good for others and don’t tear them down. People like to be with those who make them feel good and who are good for them. Lighten up and have fun together and your relationship will grow.

I hate it when you cry

2008-11-09T22:11:00.000+05:30

by cute_ny

She was lying on her bed as if feeling lifeless. This was the first time she couldn’t bear this distance between him and her. As she hugged her pillow and wept to herself, she remembered the time they spent together a week back.
He invited her to his place where they spent three days together. They walked on beaches at night, shared intimate moments and ended up making love at the late hours. Something connected them and she loved it so much that she ached to be with him.
“Here is your ticket and call me as soon as you reach.” He instructed as she looked at him with teary eyes. They were standing at the bus station. As tears slipped from her eyes, he reached to wipe them. “I hate it when you cry…I love you sweetheart.”
His words echoed in her heart which made her cry harder as she tried to hold her painful voice inside. She was lying in her hostel room and three of her roommates were sleeping calmly. She did not want to disturb them with her sobs.
“You want me to make you smile?” He asked her as she nodded in response. He searched for something in his pocket and slipped it on her finger. “Will you marry me?”
A smile reached her face unable to hold the sudden surge of happiness that ran in her heart but nodded in refusal. He was confused as he frowned.
“How long will you love me?” I said giving him a naughty smile. “How long? Year or two…How long?”
“I will love you till my last breathe.” He said with a serious look. “I promise.”
There was something in his words and in his eyes as if he meant to keep that promise and it scared her. A sudden blast of horn made her turn as her bus was ready to leave so she embraced him with heavy heart.
“I love you.” She said as if her voice revealed how much she meant those words.
Last night he called her at three in the morning and it startled her. She was happy to hear his voice in her sleep as he kept talking to her for three hours and by that time she was wide awake. She tried to hang up and go back to sleep but he wouldn’t agree.
“Tell me you love me.” He had said that for the tenth time in between and she would obey him blowing a kiss on the cell. “Now go to sleep.”
“I don’t feel like sleeping.” He said in a tired voice. She had known him for a long time but today he was reluctant to hang up. Every time he would make an excuse and engross her in some romantic conversation as she dismissed the idea of hanging up.
“It’s almost morning!” She said checking out her watch. “Jai, I love you sweetheart and go to sleep. You have a job tomorrow.”
“I don’t want to hang up. I miss you, Preeti.” He said in a heavy voice. “I want you here by my side.”
“Jai.” She was out of words at his craziness. She realized that as the moments were passing by, his voice was growing weaker and tired.
“Jai! Are you okay?” She asked worried as she could make out he was having problem keeping up the conversation.
“Never felt better.” He said in a slow husky voice. “It’s just that I am falling asleep.”
“I think you should sleep now.” She said finally.
“I guess so…” He said with a pause. “I love you, Preeti.”
“I love you too.” She said and hung up. Something was disturbing her about Jai as she called him back but he didn’t receive. She hung up thinking that he must have fallen asleep.
She tried to sleep as her eyelids felt heavy when a sudden vibration of her cell made jump. Jai’s number made her blush as she smiled and received his call.
“Jai…Go to sleep!” She said firmly but an unrecognized voice greeted her.
“Hello…Who is this?” She asked worried.
“Who are you? How do you know Jai Mehta?” A voice asked on the other end.
“I am Preeti Khanna.” She answered as her heart raced. “I am Jai’s fiancée.”
“This is Dr. Sheharyaar Khan from Appollo Hospital and I am sorry to inform you that Jai Mehta has passed away fifteen minutes back.”
Preeti could feel her world shatter as these words hit her head like a hammer and she could feel her body grow numb. Dr. Sheharyaar Khan explained to her about Jai’s accident which took place two days back and he had a severe brain hemorrhage.
The words were a blur for her as her brain lost all capability of understanding. Jai’s handsome face and innocent smile floated in her mind and a sudden realization of losing him dawned on her.
Her friends were by her side when she revealed to them about Jai’s death. Preeti couldn’t believe that Jai is no more as she grabbed her cell phone to dial his number when a message symbol blinked on her mobile.
‘Preeti…I am sorry to leave u but I tried to keep my promise that I will love you till my last breath. I have loved u from bottom of my heart, ur smile brings solace to my soul and I can never bear to see u crying. Baby, even if I am not there…remember that I love you and will protect you. I will miss you….Goodbye.’
She has read his message again and again sobbing in the dark. She tried to dial his mobile number which was ‘switched off’.
Jai was gone and she knew he would never return to her. His memories assaulted her mind as she lay awake but by dawn she drifted off to a restless sleep. At morning when she checked her cell phone, there was a message for her.
“I hate it when you cry…I love you.”

James Joyce To Nora Barnacle

2008-11-08T22:34:00.000+05:30

15 August, 1904

My dear Nora,

It has just struck me. I came in at half past eleven. Since then I have been sitting in an easy chair like a fool. I could do nothing. I hear nothing but your voice. I am like a fool hearing you call me 'Dear.' I offended two men today by leaving them coolly. I wanted to hear your voice, not theirs.

When I am with you I leave aside my contemptuous, suspicious nature. I wish I felt your head on my shoulder. I think I will go to bed.

I have been a half-hour writing this thing. Will you write something to me? I hope you will. How am I to sign myself? I won't sign anything at all, because I don't know what to sign myself.

A Love Letter By Victor Hugo to Adele Foucher

2008-11-08T22:15:00.000+05:30

Friday evening, March 15, 1822

After the two delightful evenings spent yesterday and the day before, I shall certainly not go out tonight, but will sit here at home and write to you.

Besides, my Adele, my adorable and adored Adele, what have I not to tell you?

O, God! for two days, I have been asking myself every moment if such happiness is not a dream.

It seems to me that what I feel is not of earth. I cannot yet comprehend this cloudless heaven.

You do not yet know, Adele, to what I had resigned myself. Alas, do I know it myself?

Because I was weak, I fancied I was calm; because I was preparing myself for all the mad follies of despair, I thought I was courageous and resigned.

Ah! let me cast myself humbly at your feet, you who are so grand, so tender and strong!

I had been thinking that the utmost limit of my devotion could only be the sacrifice of my life; but you, my generous love, were ready to sacrifice for me the repose of yours.

You have been privileged to receive every gift from nature, you have both fortitude and tears.

Oh, Adele, do not mistake these words for blind enthusiasm - enthusiasm for you has lasted all my life, and increased day by day.

My whole soul is yours.

If my entire existence had not been yours, the harmony of my being would have been lost, and I must have died -- died inevitably.

These were my meditations, Adele, when the letter that was to bring me hope of else despair arrived.

If you love me, you know what must have been my joy. What I know you may have felt, I will not describe.

My Adele, why is there no word for this but joy? Is it because there is no power in human speech to express such happiness?

The sudden bound from mournful resignation to infinite felicity seemed to upset me. Even now I am still beside myself and sometimes I tremble lest I should suddenly awaken from this dream divine.

Oh, now you are mine! At last you are mine! Soon -- in a few months, perhaps, my angel will sleep in my arms, will awaken in my arms, will live there.

All your thoughts at all moments, all your looks will be for me; all my thoughts, all my moments, all my looks, will be for you!

My Adele!

Adieu, my angel, my beloved Adele! Adieu!

I will kiss your hair and go to bed.

Still I am far from you, but I can dream of you.

Soon perhaps you will be at my side.

Adieu; pardon the delirium of your husband who embraces you, and who adores you, both for this life and another.

Famous love letter by Franz Kafka

2008-11-08T22:10:00.000+05:30

Franz Kafka (1883 - 1924) worked for much of his life as an official in an insurance company. His extrordinary works of fiction were written largely in his spare time and many of his novels were published after his death from tuberculosis. Kafka first met Felice Bauer in 1912; for five years they pursued a tempestuous and ultimately unfulfilled love affair.

11 November, 1912

Fräulein Felice!

I am now going to ask you a favor which sounds quite crazy, and which I should regard as such, were I the one to receive the letter. It is also the very greatest test that even the kindest person could be put to. Well, this is it:

Write to me only once a week, so that your letter arrives on Sunday -- for I cannot endure your daily letters, I am incapable of enduring them. For instance, I answer one of your letters, then lie in bed in apparent calm, but my heart beats through my entire body and is conscious only of you. I belong to you; there is really no other way of expressing it, and that is not strong enough. But for this very reason I don't want to know what you are wearing; it confuses me so much that I cannot deal with life; and that's why I don't want to know that you are fond of me. If I did, how could I, fool that I am, go on sitting in my office, or here at home, instead of leaping onto a train with my eyes shut and opening them only when I am with you? Oh, there is a sad, sad reason for not doing so. To make it short: My health is only just good enough for myself alone, not good enough for marriage, let alone fatherhood. Yet when I read your letter, I feel I could overlook even what cannot possibly be overlooked.

If only I had your answer now! And how horribly I torment you, and how I compel you, in the stillness of your room, to read this letter, as nasty a letter as has ever lain on your desk! Honestly, it strikes me sometimes that I prey like a spectre on your felicitous name! If only I had mailed Saturday's letter, in which I implored you never to write to me again, and in which I gave a similar promise. Oh God, what prevented me from sending that letter? All would be well. But is a peaceful solution possible now? Would it help if we wrote to each other only once a week? No, if my suffering could be cured by such means it would not be serious. And already I foresee that I shan't be able to endure even the Sunday letters. And so, to compensate for Saturday's lost opportunity, I ask you with what energy remains to me at the end of this letter: If we value our lives, let us abandon it all.

Did I think of signing myself Dein? No, nothing could be more false. No, I am forever fettered to myself, that's what I am, and that's what I must try to live with.

Franz

love letter by Ludwig van Beethoven

2008-11-02T22:26:00.000+05:30

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), one of history's most famous and mysterious composers died at the age of 57 with one great secret. Upon his death, a love letter was found among his possessions. It was written to an unknown woman who Beethoven simply called his *Immortal Beloved.*

The world may never put a face with this mysterious woman or know the circumstances of their affair and his letters are all that is left of a love as intensely passionate as the music for which Beethoven became famous. Compositions such as the Moonlight Sonata as well as Beethoven's many symphonies express eloquently the tragedy of a
relationship never publicly realized.

July 6, 1806

My angel, my all, my very self -- only a few words today and at that with your pencil -- not till tomorrow will my lodgings be definitely determined upon -- what a useless waste of time. Why this deep sorrow where necessity speaks -- can our love endure except through sacrifices -- except through not demanding everything -- can you change it that you are not wholly mine, I not wholly thine?

Oh, God! look out into the beauties of nature and comfort yourself with that which must be -- love demands everything and that very justly -- that it is with me so far as you are concerned, and you with
me. If we were wholly united you would feel the pain of it as little as I!

Now a quick change to things internal from things external. We shall surely see each other; moreover, I cannot communicate to you the observations I have made during the last few days touching my own life -- if our hearts were always close together I would make none of the kind. My heart is full of many things to say to you - Ah! -- there are moments when I feel that speech is nothing after all -- cheer up -- remain my true, only treasure, my all as I am yours; the gods must send us the rest that which shall be best for us.

Your faithful,
Ludwig

Famous love letter by Lewis Carroll

2008-11-02T22:19:00.000+05:30

My Dearest Gertrude:

You will be sorry, and surprised, and puzzled, to hear what a queer illness I have had ever since you went. I sent for the doctor, and said, "Give me some medicine. for I'm tired." He said, "Nonsense and stuff! You don't want medicine: go to bed!"

I said, "No; it isn't the sort of tiredness that wants bed. I'm tired in the face." He looked a little grave, and said, "Oh, it's your nose that's tired: a person often talks too much when he thinks he knows a
great deal." I said, "No, it isn't the nose. Perhaps it's the hair." Then he looked rather grave, and said, "Now I understand: you've been playing too many hairs on the pianoforte."

"No, indeed I haven't!" I said, "and it isn't exactly the hair: it's more about the nose and chin." Then he looked a good deal graver, and said, "Have you been walking much on your chin lately?" I said, "No." "Well!" he said, "it puzzles me very much.

Do you think it's in the lips?" "Of course!" I said. "That's exactly what it is!"

Then he looked very grave indeed, and said, "I think you must have been giving too many kisses." "Well," I said, "I did give one kiss to a baby child, a little friend of mine."

"Think again," he said; "are you sure it was only one?" I thought again, and said, "Perhaps it was eleven times." Then the doctor said, "You must not give her any more till your lips are quite rested
again." "But what am I to do?" I said, "because you see, I owe her a hundred and eighty-two more." Then he looked so grave that tears ran down his cheeks, and he said, "You may send them to her in a box."

Then I remembered a little box that I once bought at Dover, and thought I would someday give it to some little girl or other. So I have packed them all in it very carefully. Tell me if they come safe or if any are lost on the way."

Lewis Carroll

Elizabeth Barrett Browning to Robert Browning

2008-11-02T22:12:00.000+05:30

To Elizabeth Barrett Browning:

...would I, if I could, supplant one of any of the affections that I know to have taken root in you - that great and solemn one, for instance. I feel that if I could get myself remade, as if turned to gold, I WOULD not even then desire to become more than the mere setting to that diamond you must always wear.

The regard and esteem you now give me, in this letter, and which I press to my heart and bow my head upon, is all I can take and all too embarrassing, using all my gratitude.

- Robert Browning
(1812-1889)

Napolean to Josephine

2008-11-02T21:49:00.000+05:30

In addition to being a brilliant military mind and feared ruler, Napolean Bonaparte (1763 - 1821) was a prolific writer of letters. He reportedly wrote as many as 75,000 letters in his lifetime, many of them to his beautiful wife, Josephine, both before and during their marriage. This letter, written just prior to their 1796 wedding, shows surprising tenderness and emotion from the future emperor.

Paris, December 1795

I wake filled with thoughts of you. Your portrait and the intoxicating evening which we spent yesterday have left my senses in turmoil. Sweet, incomparable Josephine, what a strange effect you have on my heart! Are you angry? Do I see you looking sad? Are you worried?... My soul aches with sorrow, and there can be no rest for you lover; but is there still more in store for me when, yielding to the profound feelings which overwhelm me, I draw from your lips, from your heart a love which consumes me with fire? Ah! it was last night that I fully realized how false an image of you your portrait gives!

You are leaving at noon; I shall see you in three hours.

Until then, mio dolce amor, a thousand kisses; but give me none in return, for they set my blood on fire.

The Notebook

2008-10-31T22:11:00.000+05:30

The movie starts off with an old man in a nursing home reading a story to an old woman each day. The story he reads is about two young lovers named Allie Hamilton and Noah Calhoun. They met one evening at a carnival many years ago. Although Allie refuses Noah's request to go on a date at first, she changes her mind after a double date with her friend. After that, they spent the whole summer together. Allie's parents disapproved of this and separate Noah and Allie because of Noah's lack of wealth. After waiting for Noah to write to her for several years, Allie meets and becomes engaged to a handsome young soldier named Lon.

Allie did not know that Noah had written 365 letters, one letter a day for a year. He stops writing after a year because he had never gotten a response. In a local newspaper years later, Noah's picture catches Allie's eye. He is standing in front of a fully restored, 200 year-old home. The article is filled with praise for his accomplishments. Allie's heart nearly bursts and she faints; the last time she saw the house it was rotted and decaying, and Noah spoke of his plans to buy and renovate the house.

With her love for Noah still alive, the picture pulls at her heart. She feels she must go back, see if Noah is okay, and tell him about her marriage. Noah seems distant when first seeing Allie. However, he invites her in after she mistakenly drives into his fence. Noah and Allie have lunch, visit and Noah walks her to her car later that evening. He asks her to come back the next morning, as he has something he wants to show her. Allie goes to her hotel, where she gets a phonecall from Lon. She tells Lon that she's tired, and will call him the next day. She goes back to Noah's house in the morning and he takes her out on the lake in a rowboat. Noah shows Allie a part of the lake, where hundreds of white ducks are gathered. It starts to rain heavily, and turns into an absolute downpour. They both wonder why each other ended the relationship and Allie says that she was never ready for the relationship to be over, to which Noah replies "It never was over for me, it still isn't over", Allie asks Noah why he never wrote to her. Noah tells Allie that he wrote 365 letters but she apparently had never received them, and he then kisses Allie passionately. He carries her into the house, where they make love for the first time. When Allie's mother comes to pick her up after a few days, she learns that her mother's true love is a lumberjack whom she visits to see and wonder what would've happened had she followed her heart. She then leaves Allie to decide who she would like to be with after giving her the letters that Noah sent. Allie is then faced with the decision of picking between her finance Lon, and her true love Noah.

In the end, she realizes that she needed Noah in her life. She returned to Noah and they lived a long, wonderful life together. Allie gets Alzheimer's and soon forgets all of her life with Noah. Noah reads from a notebook Allie had written about all that happened in their life together, and soon gets Allie to remember, despite what her doctors said. At night, Noah sneaks into Allie's room and they die together peacefully in their sleep.

What is True Love

2008-10-31T22:07:00.000+05:30

by Love Guru

Being in love is the most wonderful feeling in this whole wide world. When someone is touched by this powerful emotion of love then they feel as if they are in heaven. Finding true love is a very difficult task. Only few people are lucky enough to be loved by the person they love. True love is very essential for a lifelong bond. Different people have different views about true love. But according to me True love is pure and should be worshipped.

Well now let us discuss what exactly true love is. These following essential features will help you in understanding the exact meaning of true love.

1.True love is knowing your partner's desires even before they mention them
Two people can only be in love if they understand each other perfectly. Understanding and loving are two most important features of true love. You should know about your partner's needs and requirements even before they say it.

2.True love is giving and not expecting
If you love a person that does not mean that that person also loves you. True love requires you to face the reality. True love is pure and simple. You should always give and never expect if you truly love someone.

3.True love is sharing each others problems
Every person has to face challenges and hardships in their life. If you truly love a person you will stand by them in every challenge of their life. Two people who are truly in love share each and every emotion and problem with one other. By doing this their love for each other increases with every passing day.

4.True love is giving freedom to your lover
If you truly love a person then you should give them the required time and space. True love requires you to give freedom to your partner to live their lives according to their own wish. True love does not require you to be possessive or jealous.

5.True love means respecting each other
True love is a very powerful emotion. People who are in love should give equal respect and love to each other. True love requires you to respect your partner's decisions and efforts.

6.True love means accepting your partner as they are
If you truly love your partner then you should accept them they way they are. Do not ever try to change their habits or appearance. True love means loving the inner soul and not loving the outer beauty of your partner.

7.True love involves complete trust
True love requires you to trust and be loyal to your partner. Do not ever try cheating the person who loves you most dearly and completely.

These are some of the most important features of true love. A person can only love you truly if they full fill the above mentioned points.

WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR LOVE

2008-10-31T21:46:00.000+05:30

For most couples, whether married or in a long-term relationship, it can be a difficult transition once the "honeymoon" stage is over. The initial lust and butterflies in the stomach you once felt may have given way to a more laid-back, comfortable feeling with your significant other. It is normal for long-standing relationships to cool down after a while and this is when the real relationship building begins.

A good partnership is like tending to a pet - either you feed and nurture it, or bad things will happen. The small things you do become important. Daily habits help to forge strong relationships and marriages. It can be as simple as remembering to tell your partner "I love you," everyday.

If you are really serious about making your relationship work, there are several little rituals that you can incorporate into your daily life.

Talk To Each Other

Most relationship experts would agree that talking is the most important elements of a healthy partnership. Happy couples typically say their relationship works better when they can sit down one-on-one, share their feelings and work out their frustrations. Topics of discussion can extend past your relationship. Talk about work, how your day is going, or something funny that happened to you.

Many couples may complain that it is hard to find time in their busy day to have a daily couple's pow-wow. Well, it doesn't have to be an hour-long psych session each day. You simply have to set aside a few minutes for your special someone. For example, do a "weather" check during the day. Call your partner at home or at work to see how his/her day is going. By doing this, you will be more in sync when you reconnect after work.

If you have a pet dog, how about walking it together every night? The quiet time and fresh air can be your chance to focus on each other. If you have missed each other during the day, be sure to catch up at night right before going to bed. It is in this relaxed atmosphere that you can unwind and tell your partner about your busy day.

When you live together, you may automatically think you know everything about your lover. In reality though, it is very easy for life to get in the way if you don't take the time to connect with each other.

Flirt

Flirting isn't just for teenagers and couples on their first date. Part of a healthy sexual relationship involves flirting with each other everyday. And it doesn't just have to be a form of foreplay. Even on the nights when you are just too doggone tired to be intimate in bed, flirting can be a fun way to keep the zest in your relationship.

Don't be embarrassed about flirting in public either. Show off the strength of your relationship with a little PDA (public displays of affection). Walk hand in hand and try to steal a quick hug or kiss whenever you can. Most importantly, don't forget to say "I love you," as much as possible throughout the day.

Be Silly Together

Life is serious enough. Sometimes you just need to do something really silly. And if you can't do it with your significant other, who can you be silly with? When you find the time, try reliving your childhood by visiting an amusement park. Go on all the scary rides and eat all the sweets you can until your stomach can take no more.

For a daily ritual that you and your partner can share at home, try playing a game of Twister. The contorted positions you will find yourselves in will have you laughing in no time. Or kick back and watch a funny TV show that both of you enjoy. Whatever you do, the important thing is to laugh and have fun together.

Declare Your Independence

Remember that healthy relationships are made up of two independent people who have their own personalities and interests. It's not good for the relationship to be constantly joined at the hip. So also make a daily habit of getting away from each other. Peruse your own hobbies and interests.

Doing things separately gives you a chance to fill in the blanks that your partner may not be able to fill for you. For example, if one of you likes sports and the other likes the arts, use your alone time to go to the gym or enroll in a painting class. At the end of your day, you will find that you have more to talk about. It will help bring freshness to the relationship, as you both continue to grow as people.

Cultivate Common Interests

Along with developing your personal interests, apart from one another, it is also essential to find something you can do together. The emphasis is on finding an activity you can both enjoy. Although your definition of fun may be going shopping, he may not enjoy being dragged along.

If common interests are not present, happy couples develop them. Try working out at the gym together. Or take some classes together until you find something you both like. Maybe you'll both fall in love with cooking and connect each night by preparing dinner together.

Pocahontas and John Smith.

2008-10-31T21:43:00.000+05:30

Valentines Day is celebrated all over the world on 14th February. This day is associated with love. And when we are talking about love, how can we afford to forget about two of the greatest lovers- Pocahontas and John Smith.

Pocahontas , an Indian Princess was the daughter of Powhatan. 'Pocahontas' was a childhood nickname referring to her frolicsome nature; in the Powhatan language it meant "little wanton". Her father Powhatan was the powerful chief of the Algonquian Indians in the Tidewater region of Virginia.

It was in April/May 1607 when the English colonists arrived in Virginia and began building settlements. It was then that Pocahontas for the first time in her life saw Englishmen. Among them all, she found John Smith, one of the leading colonists, most attractive and developed a liking for him. The first meeting of Pocahontas and John Smith is a legendary story. It is believed that John Smith was leading an expedition in December 1607 when a group of Powhatan hunters took him captive and brought him to Werowocomoco, one of the chief villages of the Powhatan Empire. Smith was taken to the official residence of Powhattan and he was tortured. It was Pocahontas who saved his life from the attack of the Indians. Smith was laid across a stone and was about to be executed, when Pocahontas threw herself across his body. Pocahontas then helped Smith to stand on his feet and Powhattan adopted Smith as his son. This incident helped Pocahontas and Smith to become friends with each other.

Pocahontas, after this incident, made frequent visits to the Jamestown and passed on to the Englishmen messages of her father.

In 1608, Pocahontas is said to have saved Smith a second time. Smith and some other colonists were invited to Werowocomoco by Chief Powhatan on friendly terms, but Pocahontas came to the hut where the English were staying and warned them that Powhatan was planning to kill them. Due to this warning, the English stayed on their guard, and the attack never came.

In October 1609, after getting badly injured due to gunpowder explosion, John Smith returned to England. When Pocahontas made a visit to the fort, she was informed that Smith was dead.

In March 1613, an Englishman, Captain Samuel Argall kidnapped Pocahontas and informed Powhatan that he would not release her, until Powhatan released the English prisoners along with various weapons and tools that he had confiscated earlier. Argall, arrived in Jamestown in April 1613.

In December 1613 Captain Argall sailed up the Potomac River to a far Indian village to trade Pocahontas with the Indians. He traded a copper kettle for Pocahontas. The colonists hoped that Powhatan would trade the Indian prisoners and the guns he had taken for Pocahontas. Powhatan sent back many prisoners and promised friendship and corn, but he did not send back the guns. Captain Argall felt that by not sending the guns, Powhatan had sent only a part of the ransom. He did not send Pocahontas back to her father because of this.

Even though she was held hostage, Pocahontas was free to go from house to house. Pocahontas settled down in Henricus. She was given a warm room, pretty clothes, and food to eat. It is here that Pocahontas fell in love with John Rolfe, an Englishman. In April they were married. Pocahontas converted to Christianity. She went by the name of Rebecca Rolfe, living an English life.

For the next eight years the white men and the Indians were at peace. Pocahontas and John were very happy. They had a baby and named him Thomas. Rolfe invented new ways of planting and curing tobacco. He planned to send the tobacco to the Old World. In 1616 John and Pocahontas sailed to England to talk to King James about the sale of tobacco in England.

In early 1617, Pocahontas made a visit to London, where he met his friend John Smith after eight long years and was shocked to see him alive. She is said to have been greatly grieved at not being able to marry her first love. It was their last meeting.

It is said that overcome by emotion and recollections, while on a return voyage to Virginia, she died of a broken heart shortly afterwards in March on board.

Shakuntala and Dushyant

2008-10-31T21:39:00.000+05:30

The legend of the exquisitely beautiful Shakuntala and the mighty king Dushyant is a thrilling love story from the epic Mahabharata, which the great ancient poet Kalidasa retold in his immortal play 'Abhijnanashakuntalam'.

While on a hunting trip, King Dushyant of the Puru dynasty meets the hermit-girl Shakuntala. They fall in love with each other at first sight and, in the absence of her father, Shakuntala weds the king in a ceremony of 'Ghandharva'-a form of marriage by mutual consent with mother Nature as the witness. When the time comes for Dushyant to return to his palace, he promises to send an envoy to escort her to his castle.As a fond remembrance he gives her a signet ring.

One day when hermit Durvasa stops at her hut for hospitality, Shakuntala, lost in her love thoughts, fails to hear his calls.The temperamental sage turns back and curses her: "He whose thoughts have engrossed you would not remember you anymore." On the plea of her companions, the enraged sage relents and adds a condition to his curse-statement: "He can only recall you upon producing some significant souvenir."

Days roll by and nobody from the palace comes to fetch her. Her father sends her to the royal court for their reunion, as she was pregnant with Dushyant's child. While travelling, Shakuntala's signet-ring accidentally drops into the river and gets lost.

When Shakuntala presents herself before the king, Dushyant, under the spell of the curse, fails to acknowledge her as his wife. Heart-broken, she pleads to the gods for help. The spell is broken when a fisherman finds the signet ring in the stomach of a fish - the same ring that Shakuntala had lost on her way to the court. The king suffers from an intense feeling of guilt and injustice. Shakuntala forgives Dushyant and they are reunited happily. She gives birth to a male child. He is called Bharat, after whom India gets her name.

Salim and Anarkali

2008-10-31T21:36:00.000+05:30

The love story of Salim and Anarkali is a story that every lover knows. The Mughal prince Salim falling for a courtesan Anarkali is the stuff that legends are made of. The relationship of Salim and Anarkali outraged the Mughal emperor Akbar so much that both father and son decided to go on war.

According to legend, Salim, the son of the great Mughal emperor Akbar, fell in love with a beautiful courtesan named Anarkali as a young prince. Anarkali, whose title means "pomegranate blossom" (a title bestowed for her beauty) was famed for her dancing skills as well as her great beauty. It is believed that her original name was Nadira or Sharf-un-Nisa.He was mesmerized by her beauty and fell in love as soon as he saw her. But Anarkali was a
mere dancing girl, and dancing girls were not of noble birth. They were considered to be low-born and keeping any relation with them were looed dow and strictly prohibited by the society. Anarkali knew that their romance was forbidden in the eyes of the prince's father, Mughal Emperor Akbar. So she tried to keep away from Salim. But how could she hold herself back from the prince's charms for long? Love knows no rules, and soon Anarkali too was deeply in love with Salim.

But such an intense love can't be concealed forever. The emperor could not digest the fact that his son was in love with an ordinary courtesan. He started pressurizing Anarkali and devised all sorts of tactics to make her fall in the eyes of the young, love smitten prince. When Salim came to know of this, he declared a war against his own father. But the mighty emperor's gigantic army proves too much for the young prince to handle. He gets defeated and is sentenced to death.

This is when Anarkali intervenes and renounces her love to save her beloved from the jaws of death. She is entombed alive in a brick wall right in front of her lover's eyes. It is, however, said that she did not die. The tomb was constructed on the opening of a secret tunnel unknown to Salim. It is said she escaped through that tunnel and fled the place, never to return again. The heartbroken Salim lives on to become emperor Jahangir.

But he could never forget his one true love Anarkali, in his lifetime. When he died, her name was on his lips.

Thus ends the tragic love story of Salim and Anarkali. Even today, these two lovers are remembered by people and held in esteem by lovers all over; such exemplary their love was.

Layla and Majnun

2008-10-31T21:32:00.000+05:30

The young lovers become acquainted at maktab [traditional school] and fall desperately in love. Madjnun (Qays) is so besotted with love for Layli that he can not conceal his emotions. He begins to write poetry describing his love for her, and recites his poems to every passer-by.

Madjnun's father tries to ask for Layli's hand on his son's behalf, but Layli's father refuses as he believes that Madjnun is a madman who is destroying his daughter's reputation by his open declarations of love on every street corner. Madjnun's father then takes him on a pilgrimage, but he can not forget Layli and his madness intensifies.

"Layli and Madjnun in school"
Persian Miniature, Herat Style
( 15^th - 16^th Century )

In the mean time, Layli is unable to leave her house, as Madjnun's poems have made her the subject of people's gossip. Layli's father is intent on keeping them apart at all cost. A man by the name of Ebn-e Salaam asks Layli's father for her hand in marriage, but is told that she is too young and he should come again in a few years' time.

Madjnun leaves everything and heads for the wilderness living a miserable life. No one can console him, not even the generous Nawfal, who in Nezami's version is a prince in the Iranian style rather than an Arab official. Nawfal tries to give Madjnun advice, but when he does not succeed he is so saddened by his plight that he even goes to war with Layli's clan, demanding that Layli and Madjnun should be united. However, even when Layli's clan is defeated, her father refuses to allow his daughter to marry Madjnun. He says that Madjnun has destroyed his daughter's reputation, ["...not a wind passes without uttering my daughter's name..."] and he would rather kill her than give her to him. Nawfal realises that he can not pursue the matter any longer, and Madjnun leaves once again.

Time passes, and with Nawfal no longer appearing as a threat, Layli has many suitors. Ebn-e Salaam uses the opportunity and returns to ask for Layli's hand, and this time he is successful. They are married and he takes Layli to his own home. Madjnun is devastated when he hears the news and sinks further within himself refusing to return home to his family.

Madjnun's father dies of a broken heart. Madjnun had been his only son, and he had loved him dearly.
Madjnun is torn apart with the news of his father's death and heads back to the wilderness living among the wild animals.

Although Layli is married, she has not forgotten Madjnun, and her love for him is as strong as before. She sends a letter to Madjnun trying to console him after his father's death. She also explains that her husband knows she does not love him and she will always remain faithful to Madjnun.

"Madjnun watching the Battle of
Nawfal with Layli's Clan"
Persian Miniature, Herat Style

Shortly after, Madjnun's mother also dies and Layli sends him a message through an old man who has met him on his wanderings, to come and visit her. Madjnun returns, and the lover's see each other once more. However, Layli's husband has always loved her, and knowing that he can never win her love, falls ill and dies. Tradition demands that a widow must remain in her house for two years and not see any one in that period. Layli can not bear the thought of living without Madjnun any longer and consumed with sorrow, she dies. When Madjun hears the news of Layli's death, his world comes to an end. He visits her grave, weeps desperately and dies.

The Hardest Thing I Have To Say!

2008-10-27T14:24:00.000+05:30

It all started when I was 6 years old. While I was playing outside on my farm in California, I met a boy. He was an average kind of boy who teased you and then you chased them and beat them up. After that first meeting in which I beat him up we kept on meeting and beating each other up at the fence. That only lasted for a little while though. We would meet at the fence all the time and we were always together.

I would tell him all my secrets. He was very quiet he would just listen to what I had to say. I found him easy to talk to and I could talk to him about everything. In school we had separate friends but when we got home we would always talk about what happened in school. One day I said to him that a guy I liked hurt me and broke my heart. He just comforted me and said everything would be okay. He gave me words of encouragement and helped me get over him. I was happy and thought of him as a real friend. But I knew that there was something else about him that I liked. I thought of it that night and figured it was just a friend kinda thing that I was feeling.

All through high school and even through graduation we're always together and of course I thought of it as being friends. But I knew deep inside that I really felt differently. On graduation night even though we had different dates to the prom I wanted to be with him. That night after everybody went home I went to his house and wanted to tell him that I wanted to see him. Well, that night was my big chance and all I did was just sit there with him watching the stars and talking about what I was going to do and what he was going to do. I looked into his eyes and listened to him talk about what his dream was. How he wanted to get married and settle down. He said how he wanted to be rich and successful. All I could do was to tell him my dream and cuddle next to him.

I went home hurting because I didn't tell him how I was feeling. I wanted to tell him so bad that I loved him but I was too scared and frightened. I let my feelings go and told myself that someday I would tell him just how I felt. All through college I wanted to tell him but he always had someone with him. After graduation he got a job in New York, I was happy for him but at the same time I was sad to see him go. I was sad also because I didn't tell him how I felt. But I couldn't let him know now that he was leaving for his big job. So I just kept it to myself and watched him go on the plane. I cried as I hugged him for what I felt was going to be the last time. I went home that night and cried my eyes out. I felt hurt that I didn't tell him what I had inside my heart.

Well, I got a job as a secretary and then worked my way to a computer analyst. I was proud of what I had accomplished. One day I got a letter with an invitation to a marriage. It was from him, I was happy and sad at the same time. Now I know that I could never be with him and that we could only be friends. I went to the wedding the next month. It was a big occasion. The big church wedding and the reception at the hotel. I met the bride and of course him. I fell in love one more time. But I held back so it wouldn't spoil what should be the happiest day in his life. I tried to have fun that night but it was killing me inside watching him being so happy and me trying to be happy covering up my sadness tears inside of me.

I left New York feeling that I did the right thing. Before I left on the flight, he came running out of nowhere and said his good-byes and how he was very happy to see me. I came home and just tried to forget about what went on in New York. I had to go on with my life. As the years went on, we wrote to each other on what was going on and how he had missed talking to me. On one occasion he never wrote back to me at all. I was getting worried as to why he hadn't written anything for a long time after I had already written 6 letters to him. Well, just when everything seemed hopeless and sad in my life, I got a note that said: "meet me at the fence where we used to talk about things". I went and saw him there. I was happy to see him, but he was broken-hearted and sad inside. We hugged until we couldn't breathe anymore.

Then he told me about the divorce and why he hadn't written for a long time. He cried until he couldn't cry anymore. Finally, we went back to the house and talked and laughed about what I had been going and to catch up on old times. But in all of this, I couldn't tell him how I felt about him. In the days that followed, he had fun and forgot about all his problem and his divorce. I fell in love again with him. When it came time for him to leave back to New York, I went to see him off and cried. I hated to see him leave. He promised to see me every time he could get a vacation. I couldn't wait for him to come so I could be with him. We would always have fun when we were together.

One day he didn't show up like he said he would. I figured that he might have been busy. The days turned into months and I just forgot about it. Then I got a call one day from a lawyer in New York. The lawyer said that he had died in a car accident going to the airport. And that it took this long till everything was settled. It broke my heart. I was shocked about what took place. Now I knew why he didn't come that day. Again, I was broken-hearted. I cried that night, cried tears of sadness and heartache. Asking questions why did this happen to a kind guy like him?

I gathered my things and went to New York for the reading of his will. Of course, things were given to his family and his ex-wife. I finally got to meet her since the last time we met at the wedding. She explained to me how he was and how he always provided. But he was always unhappy. She would always try everything but she couldn't get him happy, as he was that night at their wedding. When the will was read, the one thing that was given to me was a diary. It was a diary that of his life. I cried as it was given to me. I didn't know what to think. Why was this given to me? I took it and flew back to California. As I flew on the plane I remembered the good times that we had together. I started reading the diary and what was written.

The diary was started with the day we first met. I read on till I started to cry. The diary told of him saying that he had fallen in love with me that day I was broken-hearted. But he was too afraid to tell me what he had felt. That is why he was so quiet and liked to listen to me. It told of how he wanted to tell me so many times, but was too afraid to say anything. It told of when he went to New York and fell in love with another. How the happiest time he had was seeing me and dancing with me at the wedding. He said he imagined it was our wedding. How he was always unhappy till he had no choice but to divorce his wife. How the best time in his life was to read the letters written to him by me. Finally, the diary ended when it said, "today I will tell her I love her". It was the day he was killed. The day I was going to finally find out what was really in his heart.

If you love someone, don't wait till tomorrow to tell him/her. Maybe that next day will never come at all.

Thinking of You

2008-10-27T14:09:00.000+05:30

Sophie's face faded into the gray winter light of the sitting room. She dozed in the armchair that Joe had bought for her on their fortieth anniversary. The room was warm and quiet. Outside it was snowing lightly.
At a quarter past one the mailman turned the corner onto Allen Street. He was behind on his route, not because of the snow, but because it was Valentine's Day and there was more mail than usual. He passed Sophie's house without looking up. Twenty minutes later he climbed back into his truck and drove off.
Sophie stirred when she heard the mail truck pull away, then took off her glasses and wipe her mouth and eyes with the handkerchief she always carried in her sleeve. She pushed herself up using the arm of the chair for support, straightened slowly and smoothed the lap of her dark green housedress.
Her slippers made a soft, shuffling sound on the bare floor as she walked to the kitchen. She stopped at the sink to wah the two dishes she had left on the counter after lunch. Then she filled a plastic cup halfway with water and took her pills. It was one forty-five.
There was a rocker in the sitting room by the front window. Sophie eased herself into it. In a half-hour the children would be passing by on their way home from school. Sophie waited, rocking and watching the snow.
The boys came first, as always, runnng and calling out things Sophie could not hear. Today they were making snowball as they went, throwing them at one another. One snowball missed and smackd hard into Sophie's window. She jerked backward, and the rocker slipped off the edge of her oval rag rug.
The girl dilly-dallied after the boys, in twos and threes, cupping their mittened hands over their mouths and giggling. Sophie wonder if they were telling each other about the valentines they had received at school. One pretty girl with long brown hair stopped and pointed to her face behind the drapes, suddenly self-consious. When she looked out again, the boys and girls were gone. It was cold by the window, but she stayed there watching the snow conver the children's footprints
A florist's truck turned onto Allen Street. Sophie followed it with her eyes. It was moving slowly. Twice it stopped and started again. Then the driver pulled up in front of Mrs. Mason's house next door and parked.Who would be sending Mrs. Mason flowers? Sophie wondered. Her daughter in Wisconsin? Or her brother? No, her brother was very ill. It was probably her daughter. How nice of her.
Flowers made Sophie think of Joe and, for a moment, she let the aching memory fill her. Tomorrow was the fifteenth. Eight months since his death.
The flower mans was knocking at Mrs. Mason's front door. He carried a long white and green box and a clipboard. No one seemed to be answering. Of course! It was Friday - Mrs. Mason quilted at the church on Friday afternoons. the delivery man looked around, then started toward Sophie's house.
Sophie shoved herself out of the rocker and stood close to the drapes. The man knocked. Her hands trembled as she straightened her hair. She reached her front hall on the third knock.
"Yes?" she said, peering around a slightly opened door. "Good afternoon, ma'am," the man said loudly. "Would you take a delivery for your neighbor?"
"Yes," Sophie answered, pulling the door wide open. "Where would you like me to put them?" the man asked politely as he strode in.
"In the kitchen, please. On the table." The man looked big to Sophie. She could hardly see his face between his green cap and full beard. Sophie was glad he left quickly, and she locked the door after him.
The box was as long as the kitchen table. Sophie drew near to it and bent over to read the lettering: "NATALIE'S Flowers for Every Occasion." The rich smell of roses engulfed her. She closed her eyes and took slower breaths, imagining yellow roses. Joe had always chosen yellow. "To my sunshine," he would say, presenting the extravagant bouquet. He would laugh delightedly, kiss her on the forehead, then take her hands in his and sing to her "You Are My Sunshine."
It's was five o'clock when Mrs. Mason knocked at Sophie's front door. Sophie was still at the kitchen table. The flower box was now open though, and she held the roses on her lap, swaying slightly and stroking the delicate yellow petals. Mrs. Mason knocked again, but Sophie did not hear her, and after several minutes the neighbour left.
Sophie rose a little while later, laying the flowers on the kitchen table. Her cheeks were flushed. She dragged a stepstool across the kitchen floor and lifted a white porcelain vase from the top corner cabinet. Using a drinking glass, she filled the vase with water, then tenderly arranged the roses and greens, and carried them into the sitting room.
She was smiling as she reached the middle of the room. She turned slightly and began to dip and twirl in small slow circles. She stepped lightly, gracefully, around the sitting room, into the kitchen, down the hall, back again. She danced till her knees grew weak, and then she dropped into the armchair and slept.At a quarter past six, Sophie awoke with a start. Someone was knocking on the back door this time. It was Mrs. Mason."Hello, Sophie," Mrs. Mason said. "How are you? I knocked at five and was a little worried when you didn't come. Were you napping?" She chattered as she wiped her snowy boots on the welcome mat and stepped inside. "I just hate snow, don't you? The radio says we might have six inches by midnight, but you can never trust them, you know. Do you remember last winter when they predicted four inches, and we hand twenty-one? Twenty-one! And they said we'd have a mild winter this year. Ha! I don't think it's been over zero in weeks. Do you know my oil bill was $263 last month? For my little house!"
Sophie was only half-listening. She had remembered the roses suddenly and was turning hot with shame. The empty flower box was behind her on the kitchen table. What would she say to Mrs. Mason?
"I don't know how much longer I can keep paying the bills. If only Alfred, God bless him, had been as careful with money as your Joseph. Joseph! Oh, good heavens! I almost forgot about the roses."Sophie's cheeks burned. She began to stammer an apology, stepping aside to reveal the empty box.
"Oh, good," Mrs. Mason interrupted. "You put the roses in water. Then you saw the card. I hope it didn't startle your to see Joseph's handwriting. Joseph had asked me to bring you the roses the first year, so I could explain for him. He didn't want to alarm you. His 'Rose Trust,' I think he called it. He arranged it with the florist last Apirl. Such a good man, your Joseph..."
But Sophie had stopped listening. Her heart was pounding as she picked up the small white envelope she had missed earlier. It had been lying beside the flower box all this time. With trembling hands, she removed the card.

"To my sunshine," it said. "I love you with all my heart. Try to be happy when you think of me. Love, Joe."

Jane Eyre and Rochester

2008-10-25T22:18:00.000+05:30

In Charlotte Bronte's famous tale, friendless characters find a cure for loneliness in each other's company. Jane is an abused orphan employed as a governess to the charge of an abrasive, but very rich Edward Rochester. The improbable pair grow close as Rochester reveals a tender heart beneath his gruff exterior. He does not, however, reveal his penchant for polygamy - on their wedding day, a horrified Jane discovers he is already married. Heartbroken, Jane runs away, but later returns after a dreadful fire has destroyed Rochester's mansion, killed his wife, and left him blind. Love triumphs, and the two reunite and live out their days in shared bliss.

Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler

2008-10-25T22:13:00.000+05:30

Gone with the wind can be identified as one of the immortal pieces of literary works in this world. Margaret Mitchell's famous work has chronicled the love and hate relationship between two of the most famous characters in the novel, Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler. There is hardly any more mesmeric fictitious heroine like Scarlett and the highs and lows of her relationship with Rhett, a man of somewhat doubtful antecedents has held the interest of many successive generations.

Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler had a tempestuous relationship.Their violent love life was interspersed with certain tenderness, but the period of relative calm always ended in tragedy. Scarlett and Rhett had only few common things in their nature.

And unfortunately, the common ground was based on negativity, relationships cannot survive on negativity. Both were cold blooded, opportunistic, selfish and arrogant. Scarlett had uncontrolled passion, but again regrettably, she bestowed her passion on the wrong person. Rhett was too cynical, too much a man of the world to care much about love. He equated lust with love, they were sides of the same coin for him. Scarlett's passion about Ashley Wilkes, ended in realizing that she had only infatuation for him and not love! Rhett, with his antisocial public image was the only man in Scarlett's life who gave back as good as he got from her. Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler were too alike in their approach to life, it was something they were perpetually disgusted about each other. But they also loved each other, accepting the way they were.

Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler was not meant to be together for ever. Their own nature was against them, love needs to connect at the emotional plane too, only physical passion cannot prepare the ground for an everlasting rewarding relationship. Scarlett and Rhett needed more common grounds on the emotional level.

Romance Stories: Paolo & Francesca as told by Dante...

2008-10-25T22:08:00.000+05:30

Even as doves when summoned by desire,
borne forward by their will, move through the air
with wings uplifted, still, to their sweet nest,

those spirits left the ranks where Dido suffers,
approaching us through the malignant air;
so powerful had been my loving cry.

"O living being, gracious and benign,
who through the darkened air have come to visit
our souls that stained the world with blood, if He

who rules the universe were friend to us,
then we should pray to Him to give you peace,
for you have pitied our atrocious state.

Whatever pleases you to hear and speak
will please us, too, to hear and speak with you,
now while the wind is silent, in this place.

The land where I was born lies on that shore
to which the Po together with the waters
that follow it descends to final rest.

Love, that can quickly seize the gentle heart,
took hold of him because of the fair body
taken from me— how that was done still wounds me.

Love, that releases no beloved from loving,
took hold of me so strongly that through his beauty
that, as you see, it has not left me yet.

Love led the two of us unto one death.
Caina waits for him who took our life."
These words were borne across from them to us.

When I had listened to those injured souls,
I bent my head and held it low until
the poet asked of me: "What are you thinking?"

When I replied, my words began: "Alas,
how many gentle thoughts, how deep a longing,
had led them to the agonizing pass!"

Then I addressed my speech again to them,
and I began: "Francesca, your afflictions
move me to tears of sorrow and of pity.

But tell me, in the time of gentle sighs,
with what and in what way did Love allow you
to recognize your still uncertain longings?"

And she to me: "There is no greater sorrow
than thinking back upon a happy time
in misery— and this your teacher knows.

Yet if you long so much to understand
the first root of our love, then I shall tell
my tale to you as one who weeps and speaks.

One day, to pass the time away, we read
of Lancelot— how love had overcome him.
We were alone, and we suspected nothing.

And time and time again that reading led
our eyes to meet, and made our faces pale,
and yet one point alone defeated us.

When we had read how the desired smile
was kissed by one who was so true a lover,
this one, who never shall be parted from me,

while all his body trembled, kissed my mouth.
A Gallehault indeed, that book and he
who wrote it, too; that day we read no more."

And while one spirit said these words to me,
the other wept, so that— because of pity—
I fainted, as if I had met my death.

And then I fell as a dead body falls.

— Dante, InfernoV.82-142
translated by Allen Mandelbaum

***************************************
Dante does not use Paolo's name in this Canto nor Francesca's until line 103. The encounter that follows, in which Francesca tells Dante their sad tale, is one of the most celebrated passages in the Commedia.

Paolo & Francesca were historical contemporaries of Dante. Francesca's father, Guido da Polenta, lord of Ravenna had waged a long war with Malatesta, lord of Rimini. Finally peace was made through intermediaries, and to make it more firm, they decided to cement it with a marriage. Guido would give his beautiful young daughter Francesca in marriage to Gianciotto, eldest son of Malatesta. Though Gianciotto was very capable and expected to become ruler when his father died, he was ugly and deformed. Guido's friends informed him that if Francesca sees Gianciotto before the marriage, she would never go through with it. So they sent Gianciotto's younger brother Paolo to Ravenna with a full mandate to marry Francesca in Gianciotto's name. Paolo was a handsome, pleasing, very courteous man, and Francesca fell in love the moment she saw him. The deceptive marriage contract was made, and Francesca went to Rimini. She was not aware of the deception until the morning after the wedding day, when she saw Gianciotto getting up from beside her. When she realized she had been fooled, she became furious. In any case, the feelings of Paolo and Francesca for each other were still very much alive when Gianciotto went off to a nearby town on business. With almost no fear of suspicion, they became intimate. Gianciotto's servant found them out, and told his master all he knew. Gianciotto returned secretly to Rimini and went to Francesca's room. Since it was bolted from within, he shouted to her and pushed against the door. Paolo and Francesca recognized his voice, and Paolo pointed to a trapdoor that led to a room below. He told Francesca to go open the door as he planned his escape. As he jumped through, a fold of his jacket got caught on a piece of iron attached to the wood. Francesca had already opened the door for Gianciotto, thinking she would be able to make excuses, now that Paolo was gone. When Gianciotto entered and noticed Paolo caught by his jacket. He ran, rapier in hand, to kill him. Seeing this, Francesca quickly ran between them, to try to prevent it. But Gianciotto's rapier was already on its way down. Before reaching Paolo, the blade passed through Francesca's bosom. Gianciotto, completely beside himself because of this accident— for he loved the woman more than himself— withdrew the blade, struck Paolo again, and killed him. Leaving them both dead, he left, and returned to his duties. The next morning, amidst much weeping, the two lovers were buried in the same tomb.

— Charles Singleton,
Commentary: Dante's Inferno(1977)

Odysseus and Penelope

2008-10-25T22:00:00.000+05:30

The Odyssey is the story of a man's journey to his homeland, as well as the story of a king's struggle to return to his kingdom. Though these statements are true, they are not prevalent in the heart and mind of the man/king in question, Odysseus. Many will argue that Odysseus's reason for returning to Ithaca is to regain his status as King, to once again rule a land and its people, but it is not. Odysseus battles temptation and braves the wrath of angry gods to once again be in the arms of his wife, his love, Penelope. The Odyssey is the love story of a man and a woman. It is obvious throughout The Odyssey that not only does Odysseus love Penelope dearly, but he cares far less for societal and political status than he does for her. Penelope, not power, is Odysseus's true reason for returning home to Ithaca. While held captive on Calypso's island, Odysseus lives the life of a god. He lives on an island of utter beauty, sleeping with a goddess every night. Daily, he dines on ambrosia and nectar, the food of the gods. Most mortal men would consider this life possible only in a dream world, but still Odysseus cries. When Zeus orders Calypso to allow Odysseus to leave her island, she tries to make him an offer he can't refuse: …you'd stay right here, preside in our house with me and be immortal. Much as you long to see your wife, the one you pine for all your days…and yet I just might claim to be nothing less than she, neither in face or figure…. (pg. 159,ln 230-234) Calypso wishes Odysseus would stay with her, and so she offers him immortality, the life of a true god. If power, ruling authority, and kingship were all that he wanted, Calypso's offer would have guaranteed this and more. (He would have accepted the offer right away and taken her back to bed). Calypso's offer would have made Odysseus stronger and more powerful than ever, and as an immortal he would have had far more power and status than any king anywhere. Why would he fight so hard to return to Ithaca simply to regain kingship over its land? If Odysseus could have settled down right away and live a comfortable, satisfied life, he would have. Strength and status would never have satisfied Odysseus. He was in search of something far more important and powerful. Odysseus is once again offered a new life when he finds himself shipwrecked on the island of Phaecia. He seeks the aid of the king as soon as he arrives. When Odysseus meets with King Alcinous, he makes it very clear that he wishes to get home to Ithaca. Even though Alcinous agrees to assemble a crew of men and a ship to carry Odysseus home, he also makes him an offer. "You could wed my daughter and be my son-in-law / and stay right here with us. I'd give you a house / and great wealth" (pg.189, ln 358-360). Odysseus would have the hand of Alcinous' beautiful daughter, Nausica. He would be wealthy, have power, and most appealing of all, he would no longer have to struggle to reach Ithaca. Odysseus would be able to stay in Phaecia and live a peaceful life as the King's son-in-law and heir to the throne. When Odysseus rejects the offer, however, and speaks of returning home, it becomes more clear to the reader why he feels he must return to Ithaca. As he parts with Alcinous Odysseus says "may I find an unswerving wife when I reach home" (pg 287, ln 48). He speaks not of his kingdom, but of his wife. He has been gone for twenty years, but the royal couples' love is so strong that Odysseus still has hope that she hasn't forgotten him. It is at this point that Odysseus states that Penelope is his reason to press on. She is his reason to keep reaching for the shores of Ithaca. When Odysseus reaches Ithaca, his journey is truly complete. Some will argue that because his kingdom is in such terrible condition, his first order of business would be to bring everything to order. This is one of his tasks, since he is the King of Ithaca. But in Odysseus' heart, all the hardships are over because he has found what he has been searching for the past eleven years. The love between him and his wife is as strong as ever. Though he must ease himself back into her life slowly, he does as soon as possible. With the exception of dealing with the suitors, he leaves all duties aside until he has reacquainted himself with his love: The more she spoke, the more a deep desire for tears welled up inside his breast - he wept as he held the wife he loved, the soul of loyalty, in his arms at last. joy, warm as the joy shipwrecked sailors feel when they catch sight of land…. (pg 463, ln 259-263) Odysseus has Telemachus take care of the maids, and puts off visiting his father. He barely even takes the time to question anyone about anything that has happened in Ithaca. His heart swells with "warm joy" simply at the sight of Penelope. While in bed the lovers speak of the life they will spend together, not of wealth, status, or what actions they must take next as king and queen. This proves that Odysseus truly does love Penelope, and that their love for each other was far more important than any other possible factor that could have driven Odysseus home. Penelope's love was worth more than a house and wealth in Phaecia. It was worth more than nectar and ambrosia or immortality. Her love was worth a twenty-year struggle against all odds. Penelope's love carried Odysseus across the seas and back into her arms.

Napoleon and Josephine

2008-10-25T14:46:00.000+05:30

Napoleon's greatest love would come from the Caribbean island of Martinique. Napoleon never went there, but this woman's father, Joseph Gaspard Tascher de la Pagerie, owned a sugar plantation, complete with slaves, on the island. The family had significant wealth and power, and the children led a very comfortable life in an idyllic location.

Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de la Pagerie was born on June 23, 1763. If you noticed that there is no "Josephine" in her name, you may wonder how that name came about. Her friends and family had always called her Rose, but Napoleon, never content to just go with the flow, called her Josephine (from Josèphe), and that is how she will be forever known.

Growing up and getting wise

Josephine was given an education in a local convent. As was the custom, her family arranged a marriage for her. It was a promising union, as her husband, 19-year-old Alexander de Beauharnais, was a well-educated and quite wealthy viscount. Well-connected at court, he was also considered one of the best dancers in Paris. Alexander seems to have been a little disappointed in his Rose, but she was elated with the match. The two were married in Paris on December 13, 1779. She was 16.

They had two children, Eugène in 1781 and Hortense in 1783, but the marriage was less than happy. Josephine was a bit plump and was not the elegant lady preferred by high society, while Alexander was every bit the dashing dancer that had so attracted Josephine. Soon, his eyes began to wander, and in 1783 he deserted his wife and returned to Martinique, where he was less than faithful. He was hoping to become involved in the American War of Independence, and he took his mistress along with him to the United States. Over the years, he would father several illegitimate children.

Josephine soon understood the situation. Now, it wasn't all that unusual for a nobleman to have a mistress, but Josephine was not amused; she applied for and received a legal separation, complete with a nice income. She spent some time in a convent, which is not as severe as it may sound. The convent was home to many ladies of the highest social class, and Josephine learned a great deal from them. Later, she stayed with relatives at the chateau of Fontainebleau. She became active on the social scene, which is to say that she had a long string of affairs, some with rather important men.

In 1788, Josephine returned to Martinique, where she spent two years. Among other things, she witnessed a relatively minor slave uprising: All was not well in what she remembered as her idyllic homeland. She returned to Paris, where she had something of a reconciliation with Alexander, though the two never really reunited. Her social life continued, as did her habit of spending far beyond her means. As a result, she was always in financial difficulty.

Facing the guillotine

Alexander had become a true supporter of the Revolution and had risen to be the president of the National Assembly. Later, he was given some important assignments, including command of the Army of the Rhine. But in 1794, to be a nobleman was to be in trouble. The Terror was well under way, and the guillotine was busy separating heads from shoulders.

In March 1794, Alexander was arrested and thrown into prison. To her credit, Josephine did all she could to secure his release. Warned that she was also in danger, she continued her efforts and was put into jail in April. In those days, jail was essentially a way station on a trip to the guillotine. The husband and wife were reunited in prison, though we don't know if they actually reconciled. (Some people believe that while in prison Josephine had an affair with General Louis Lazare Hoche, and it is entirely possible that she did.)

Alexander was executed on July 23, 1794. Josephine had every reason to believe that she would meet the same fate, and sooner rather than later. Her luck turned good, though, because in July, Maximilien Robespierre and his supporters were arrested and executed. The Terror was over. Josephine was released on August 6, 1794, after almost four months in prison.

Starting over

Reunited with her children, Josephine set to starting her life over. To do so, she turned to her many friends. One of them was Thérèse Tallien, who had been her friend during Josephine's years of separation from her husband. Another was Paul Barras. One of the best ways to describe Barras would be "survivor," as he had managed to ride out the storm of the Revolution, the Terror, and the fall of Robespierre to emerge as one of the most powerful men in France.

Without question, Josephine's friendship with Barras was the best thing she had going for her. Of course, it seems likely that she was far more than his friend; most historians believe that she was his mistress. The two of them were in a position to help each other out in their various business dealings as well. Josephine had had some really good connections, and some of them were even still alive!

Josephine had beauty and charm, and she knew how to survive - in style. But as all who knew her would eventually discover, one thing that she was really good at was spending money, whether or not she had it to spend.

Meeting Napoleon

There are varying accounts of how Napoleon and Josephine met. Napoleon was a national hero with an up-and-coming career, so he was in great demand for parties all over Paris. He knew Paul Barras and other social luminaries, and it is quite likely that he met Josephine in 1795 at one of the many social functions he attended. Napoleon himself said as much.

Here is the more popular, if less likely, story of how Josephine met Napoleon, according to Josephine's daughter, Hortense, from her memoirs, Memoirs of Queen Hortense (2v), published in 1927 (Cosmopolita Book Corporation):

Following the riots on the 13th Vendémiaire a law was passed forbidding any private citizen to have weapons in his house. My brother, unable to bear the thought of surrendering the sword that had belonged to his father, hurried off to see General Bonaparte, who at that time was in command of the troops stationed in Paris. He told the General he would kill himself rather than give up the sword. The General, touched by his emotion, granted his request and at the same time asked the name of his mother, saying he would be glad to meet a woman who could inspire her son with such ideals.

As the legend continues, Josephine decided to visit Napoleon to thank him for his kindness toward her son. Napoleon, who was busy with his maps (as usual), saw Josephine and fell head over heels in love with her.

This story is unlikely, but the fact remains that Napoleon was interested in taking a wife and soon decided that Josephine was the woman for him. Josephine was not completely honest with him. She allowed him to think that she was a bit younger than she was, and of more substantial means. On the plus side, she was a woman of some significant experience, particularly sexual experience. Napoleon, who had very little experience along that line, was probably quite impressed with her charms.

Falling in love

Napoleon fell madly in love with Josephine. His passion is reflected in the many love letters that have survived. One classic example, written in Paris in December 1795, appears to follow an amusing evening, perhaps their first sexual encounter, and can be found in a 1931 edition of their letters:

I awake full of you. Your image and last evening's intoxication have left my senses no repose whatever.

Sweet and incomparable Josephine, what a strange effect do you produce upon my heart! Are you vexed? Do I see you sad? Are you troubled? . . . My soul is crushed with grief, and there is no repose for your lover; but is there any the more when, abandoning myself to the profound emotion which masters me, I draw from your lips, from your heart, a flame which consumes me? Ah! It was last night I really understood that your portrait was not you!

You are leaving at noon; I shall see you in three hours. Meanwhile, mio dolce amor, a thousand kisses; but do not give me any, for they burn my blood.

Napoleon was deeply in love, but Josephine wasn't so sure. She had a pretty good deal going - she was involved in a number of business and other affairs and was maintaining a, ahem, close relationship with Paul Barras. Barras, on the other hand, may well have been anxious to move his rather expensive plaything on to someone else. Indeed, it seems that he arranged for Napoleon to be appointed commander of the French army in Italy in exchange for Napoleon's marrying Josephine.

It's a bit hard to understand why Josephine was interested in Napoleon at all. Sure, he was a young hero, but he was also penniless and fairly lacking in social graces. Josephine, on the other hand, had pretty much made it by the time she met him. She had climbed to the very top of the social ladder and was involved in all sorts of interesting things.

And then there was the little matter of Napoleon's family. Josephine was 32 years old, 6 years older than Napoleon. She was previously married, had two half-grown children, and had little in the way of money, plus her connections were dubious in their nature. Napoleon's siblings and mother were convinced that he could do far better and that Josephine would be a disaster for him. They did everything they could to discourage the marriage. Had Napoleon's mother, Leticia, been on hand in Paris, she likely would have exerted her influence, and the marriage would not have taken place.

Questioning her future

Josephine was also not convinced that marrying this young general was the best decision she could make. Marrying a general may sound like a good deal, but generals have a tendency to be sent to far-away places where they can end up being killed. In addition, generals were still very political, and if they fell out of favor they could find themselves at the very least out of a job. Napoleon had already discovered how easy it was to suddenly be on half pay. Josephine, who was involved in military supply dealings, was well aware of the downside to military careers.

Josephine's friends counseled against the marriage. Of greater importance was the opposition of her daughter, Hortense. But Josephine may well have figured that any daughter would fear losing her mother to a man who would not be her real father. As it happened, Napoleon was an excellent stepfather to both of Josephine's children.

And then there was the little matter of General Hoche, whom Josephine had met, so to speak, while in prison (see the earlier section "Facing the guillotine"). Not only was Josephine not in love with Napoleon; she had hoped that General Hoche would leave his wife and marry her. (She finally realized that he would never do so, which may be why she eventually agreed to marry Napoleon.)

It seems that Napoleon was not the greatest lover in the world, either. Though Josephine was adept in such matters and taught Napoleon a great deal, his approach was similar to his military strategy: He offered little in the way of preliminaries, preferring a quick attack with the fastest possible victory.

Not in love and faced with the opposition of friends and his family, Josephine stalled when Napoleon asked her to marry him. His passion worried her, as she was unable to match it. Besides, any fire can cool quickly, so Josephine made Napoleon wait through the winter of 1795-1796. Finally, faced with her increasing age, diminishing prospects, and Napoleon's persistence, Josephine relented and agreed to marry him.

Marrying their future

Napoleon and Josephine agreed to a civil ceremony at 8:00 p.m. on March 9, 1796. Josephine was there early, wearing Napoleon's famous gift to her, an enameled medallion engraved "To Destiny." (They could not have possibly imagined how significant those words would be.) Barras, serving as a witness, was on time, as were other members of the wedding party. Only one person was missing: the groom!

Anyone can be a little late, even to his own wedding, but as the minutes dragged on into first one hour and then two, emotions must have been on edge. The official who was to marry them left, and an underling was on hand for the ceremony, even if the groom was not. You can only imagine what thoughts were going through the various minds there assembled.

If any of them had known Napoleon well, none of this would have been all that big a surprise. As general in chief of the Army of France in Italy, Napoleon had been planning a campaign and had become so engrossed in his maps that he had completely lost track of time. Clearly, his priorities were not those expected of a typical groom. Then again, Napoleon was not a typical groom.

Nothing about the wedding was normal. Josephine lied about her age on the marriage certificate, claiming to be 4 years younger, and Napoleon added 18 months to his age. The end result was that they appeared to be roughly the same age.

If the wedding was unusual, the wedding night was downright bizarre. Okay, lots of folks are really tired on their wedding night, and it may not really be the best possible time for an evening of wild sexual abandon. Still, Napoleon's passion and Josephine's inclinations would suggest that some kind of activity was likely. But upon coming to bed, Napoleon discovered that he was expected to share his wedding bed with another male!

That would be Fortuné, Josephine's little pug dog. Now, Napoleon wasn't a big fan of dogs (or cats, for that matter). Even if you're an animal lover, you can forgive him for being upset on this occasion. Josephine, who may have still been a bit upset from the long delay in the wedding ceremony, informed Napoleon that the dog was used to sleeping in her bed and that there was no reason for that to change. An unamused Napoleon nevertheless attempted to claim his husbandly rights (or perform his husbandly duties, take your pick), but the miserable dog, evidently unhappy with the competition, bit him on the shin.

Josephine's children had been apprehensive about their mother's marriage to this young general. True, Napoleon had treated her son with kindness in the matter of his father's sword (if that story is really true), but like any children, they worried about how their stepfather would relate to them.

The day after the wedding, the newlyweds went to visit her children. Napoleon was at his most charming and generous. He arranged to send his own younger brother Jérôme to go to school with Eugène, visited their school, and generally did whatever he could to make them feel comfortable with him. By the end of the visit, Josephine's children knew that they had a new father they could trust - and love.

Napoleon and Josephine were married. One of the greatest love stories in history had begun. But it didn't start out very promising. Within a couple days, Napoleon was off to Italy and glory, while Josephine was to stay home.

Orpheus and Eurydice

2008-10-25T14:42:00.000+05:30

Be warned: this story is beautiful but tragic. It begins with Orpheus, the best musician that ever lived. One strum of his lyre, one note sung, and beasts would crawl to him, rocks would shift their moss to move to be closer, trees would tear their roots to be closer to him. He had more power than a mortal man ought to for he was the son of the Muse Calliope.

He lived his life simply and carelessly until the day he met Eurydice. She was a Dryad, and when they fell in love it meant everything to them. But the rustic god Aristaeus saw Eurydice's beauty and desired it, and did not care that she was unwilling and in love with another. She ran from him in terror, without thought to her step, and so it was she stepped on a poisonous snake in her flight. The venom of its bite killed her at once and her spirit went to the Underworld. Orpheus was inconsolable. His grief was bitter, but he did not let it lull him into a stupor, he decided to take action.

With his lyre, Orpheus descended into the Underworld. A normal mortal would have perished any number of times, but Orpheus had his lyre and his voice and he charmed Cerberus - the three-headed monster dog of Hades who guarded the Underworld - into letting him pass. Facing Hades and his cold Queen Persephone he played for them his sorrow at the loss of his love. The heart that was frozen by Hades' abduction melted in Persphone's breast and a tear rolled down her cheek. Even Hades could not help weeping. They let Orpheus through to Eurydice, but warned him very carefully: Eurydice would follow him into the light of the world and once she entered the sunlight she would be changed from a shade back to a woman. But if Orpheus doubted, if he looked back to see her, she would be lost to him forever.

Orpheus heard and rejoiced. He turned and left the dark hall of Hades and began his ascent back to life. As he walked he rejoiced that his wife would soon be with him again. He listened closely for her footfall behind him, but a shade makes no noise. The closer to the light he got, the more he began to believe that Hades had tricked him to get him out of the Underworld, that Eurydice was not behind him. Only feet away from the light Orpheus lost faith and turned around. He saw Eurydice, but only for a moment as her shade was whisked back down among the other dead souls. She was gone.

Orpheus tried again to enter the Underworld and demand her return, but one cannot enter twice the same way - and no other way was open to him. All that was left to him was death. Here the story changes. There are different stories of his death. Some say he played so mournfully that his songs called for death, and that the animals who surrounded him tore him apart, weeping as they did. Some say it was Maenads in a frenzy who ripped the singer to shreds. Some say he was struck down by Zeus for disclosing mysteries that were meant to be kept sacred. Either way, he was torn apart, and much of him was thrown to the winds. But the Muses mourned the death of their son and prodigy, and saved his head to sing forever.

Tristan and Isolde

2008-10-23T15:45:00.000+05:30

The tragic love story of Tristan and Isolde has been told and retold through various stories and manuscripts. It takes place during medieval times during the reign of King Arthur.
Isolde of Ireland, also known as Isolt, Isold, Iseult, or Ysolde, was the daughter of Angwish, King of Ireland. She was betrothed to King Mark of Cornwall. King Mark sent his nephew, Tristan, to Ireland to escort Isolde back to Cornwall.Tristan (Tristram) whose name means "sorrow", given to him because of the loss of his mother at his birth, was a noble knight.
Before leaving Ireland, Isolde's mother gave a love potion to Isolde's handmaiden, Brangraine, with strict instructions to keep it safe until they reached Cornwall. It was then to be given to Isolde on her wedding night. Sometime during the voyage, Isolde and Tristan drank the potion by accident and fell forever in love.
Isolde did marry Mark of Cornwall, but could not help but love Tristan. The love affair continued after the marriage. When King Mark finally learned of the affair, he forgave Isolde, but Tristan was banned from Cornwall. Tristan moved to King Arthur's court and later went to Brittany. There he met Iseult of Brittany (also known as Iseult of White Hands). He was attracted to her because of the similarity of her name to his true love. He married her, but did not consummate the marriage because of his love for the "true" Isolde. After falling ill, he sent for Isolde in hopes that she would be able to cure him. If she agreed to come, the returning ship's sails would be white, or the sails would be black if she did not agree. Iseult, seeing the white sails, lied to Tristan and told him that the sails were black. He died of grief before Isolde could reach him. Isolde died soon after of a broken heart. Iseult regretted her actions after she saw the love that the two had for each other.

the story of Romeo and Juliet

2008-10-23T14:59:00.000+05:30

In the town of Verona lived two families, the Capulets and the Montagues, engaged in a bitter feud. Among the Montagues was Romeo, a hot-blooded lad with an eye for the ladies.

One day, Romeo was recounting for his friends his love for Rosaline, a haughty beauty from a well-to-do family. Romeo's friends chided him for his "love of love" but agreed to a plan to attend the feast of the Capulets', a costume party where Rosaline was expected to make an appearance. The disguises would provide Romeo and his friends a bit of sport and the opportunity to gaze undetected upon the fair Rosaline. Once there, however, Romeo's eyes fell upon Juliet, and he thought of Rosaline no more.

Asking around to learn the identity of Juliet, Romeo's voice is recognized by Tybalt, a member of the Capulet clan. Tybalt calls for his sword, but the elder Capulet intervenes, insisting that no blood be shed in his home. So Romeo is tolerated long enough to find an opportunity to speak to Juliet alone, still unaware of her identity.

He begs for an opportunity to kiss her hand. She relents. He presses his case, desiring her lips. She has no breath to stop him. Interrupted by the girl's nurse, Romeo learns the name of his heart's desire: Juliet Capulet.

The vision of Juliet now invades his every thought. Unable to sleep, Romeo returns late that night to the bedroom window of his love, hiding in the bushes below. There, he is surprised to find Juliet on the balcony, professing her love for him and wishing that he were not a Montague.

O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name. . .
What's a Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet. .

Romeo appears from the bushes, ready to deny his name and profess his love. The two agree to meet at nine o-clock the next morning to be married.

Early the next morning, Romeo appears at the cell of Friar Lawrence begging the friar to marry him to Juliet. Friar Lawrence does not take Romeo seriously at first, but he is soon impressed with Romeo's sincerity. The Friar agrees to perform the ceremony, praying that the union might someday put an end to the feud between the two households. Still, he advises Romeo keep the marriage a secret for a time. Romeo and Juliet are married.

On the way home, Romeo chances upon his friend Mercutio arguing with Tybalt in the public square. Spying Romeo, Tybalt tries to taunt him into a fight. Romeo has no desire to harm the kinsman of his new wife. Mercutio is stunned and embarrassed by Romeo's soft words and draws his sword. Romeo tries to restrain his friend, but Tybalt thrusts his sword underneath Romeo's arm, stabbing Mercutio. Tybalt then flees with his friends. The wound is worse than at first suspected. "Ask for me tomorrow," says Mercutio, "and you shall find me a grave man." He dies.

Tybalt returns still cursing the unexpectedly reluctant Romeo. But Romeo is reluctant no longer, drawing his sword and slaying Tybalt. The moment Tybalt falls, Romeo realizes he has made a terrible mistake: "O, I am fortune's fool!"

Desperate, Romeo rushes to Friar Lawrence who advises him to travel to Mantua until things cool down. He promises to inform Juliet.

Juliet receives the news of Tybalt's death and Romeo's exile. She dares not mention her marriage to her father now. Then, she receives more bad news. Her father has decided it is time for her to marry. He has selected a suitor: Paris, a kinsman of Mercutio.

Juliet, too, rushes to Friar Lawrence for counsel. The good Friar launches an elaborate plot. Juliet should agree to marry Paris. She will then take a sleeping potion, which will simulate death for three days. Her body will be placed in a tomb while she is mourned, and the Friar will send word to Romeo. Romeo will arrive in time to rescue her. The celebration over her return to life will provide an opportunity to explain about the marriage and the circumstances surrounding Tybalt's death.

The plot proceeds according to plan, and the wedding preparations for Paris and Juliet give way to solemn funeral arrangements. But the Friar's letter to Romeo fails to reach him before he hears of Juliet's death. Romeo obtains a poison from an apothecary and travels to Verona.

Under the cover of darkness, he breaks into Juliet's tomb. They are alone for only a moment. Paris, who also had come to mourn Juliet, interrupts, and believing Romeo to be a grave robber, draws his sword. The two men fight, and Paris is killed. Dying, Paris asks that his body be placed next to Juliet's. Only now recognizing Paris, the guilt stricken Romeo obliges.

Then Romeo kisses the lips of his Juliet one last time.

Eyes, look your last.
Arms, take your last embrace.
And, lips, O you the doors of breath,
Seal with a righteous kiss
A dateless bargain to engrossing death

Romeo thanks the apothecary for his skill and drinks the poison.

The effects of the sleeping potion wear off, and Juliet awakens calling for Romeo. Finding him next to her, dead, with a cup in his hand, she guesses what has transpired. She tries to kiss the poison from his lips, but failing that, unsheathes his dagger and plunges it into her breast.

Friar Lawrence learns that Romeo has not received his letter and rushes to Juliet's tomb to rescue her. He discovers the tomb already open and finds the sad contents within. Soon the Friar is joined by the Night Watchman, who had been alerted to the disturbance. Then the families gather around the star-crossed lovers. The Friar's mournful account of their death shames the two families into ending their feud forever.

Pyramus and Thisbe

2008-10-22T23:46:00.001+05:30

A very touching love story that is sure to move anyone who reads it is that of Pyramus and Thisbe. Theirs was a selfless love and they made sure that even in death, they were together. Pyramus was the most handsome man and was childhood friend of Thisbe, the fairest maiden in Babylonia. They both lived in neighboring homes and fell in love with each other as they grew up together. However, their parents were dead against them marrying each other. So one night just before the crack of dawn, while everyone was asleep, they decided to slip out of their homes and meet in the nearby fields near a mulberry tree. Thisbe reached there first. As she waited under the tree, she saw a lion coming near the spring close by to quench its thirst. Its jaws were bloody. When Thisbe saw this horrifying sight, she panicked and ran to hide in some hollow rocks nearby. As she was running, she dropped her veil. The lion came near and picked up the veil in his bloody jaws. At that moment, Pyramus reaches near the mulberry tree and sees Thisbe's veil in the jaws of the lion. He is completely devastated. Shattered, he pierces his chest with his own sword. Unknown to what just happened, Thisbe is still hiding in the rocks due to the fear of the lion. When she comes out after sometime, she sees what her lover did to himself. She is totally shattered when she sees the sword piercing right through her lover's chest. She also takes the sword and kills herself.

Lancelot and Guinevere

2008-10-22T23:38:00.000+05:30

The tragic love story of Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere is probably one of the best-known stories of Arthurian Legend. Lancelot fall in love with Queen Guinevere, King Arthur's wife. Their love grew slowly, as Guinevere kept Lancelot away from her. Eventually, however, her love and passion overpowered her and the pair became lovers. One night, Sir Agravain and Sir Modred, King Arthur's nephew, led a band of 12 knights to Guinevere's chamber where they burst in upon the lovers. Discovered, Sir Lancelot made a fighting escape, but poor Guinevere was not so lucky. She was seized and condemned to burn to death for her adultery. Fear not. Sir Lancelot returned several days later to rescue his beloved Guinevere from the fire. This whole sad affair divided the Knights of the Round Table and weakened Arthur's kingdom. Poor Lancelot ended his days as a lowly hermit and Guinevere became a nun at Amesbury where she died.

Robert and Elizabeth Browning

2008-10-22T15:12:00.000+05:30

A secret courtship between two legendary poets

Life in Love

Escape me?
Never---
Beloved!
While I am I, and you are you,
 So long as the world contains us both,
 Me the loving and you the loth
While the one eludes, must the other pursue.
My life is a fault at last, I fear:
 It seems too much like a fate, indeed!
 Though I do my best I shall scarce succeed.
But what if I fail of my purpose here?
It is but to keep the nerves at strain,
 To dry one's eyes and laugh at a fall,
And, baffled, get up and begin again,---
 So the chace takes up one's life ' that's all.
While, look but once from your farthest bound
 At me so deep in the dust and dark,
No sooner the old hope goes to ground
 Than a new one, straight to the self-same mark,
I shape me---
Ever
Removed!


As we study literature, Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning appear as
one of most romantic literary couple from the Victorian period. After
reading her poems for the first time, Robert wrote to her: "I love your
verses with all my heart, dear Miss Barrett--I do, as I say, love these
verses with all my heart."


With that first meeting of hearts and minds, a love affair would
blossom between the two. Elizabeth told Mrs. Martin that she was
"getting deeper and deeper into correspondence with Robert Browning,
poet and mystic; and we are growing to be the truest of friends."
During the 20 months of their courtship, the couple exchanged nearly
600 letters. But what is love without obstacles and hardships? As Frederic Kenyon
writes, "Mr. Browning knew that he was asking to be allowed to take
charge of an invalid's life—believed indeed that she was even worse
than was really the case, and that she was hopelessly incapacitated
from ever standing on her feet—-but was sure enough of his love to
regard that as no obstacle."



The Bonds of Marriage


Their subsequent marriage was a secret matter, taking place on
September 12, 1846, at Marylebone Church. Most of her family members
eventually accepted the match, but her father disowned her, would not
open her letters, and refused to see her. Elizabeth stood by her
husband, and she credited him for saving her life. She wrote to Mrs.
Martin: "I admire such qualities as he has—-fortitude, integrity. I
loved him for his courage in adverse circumstances which were yet felt
by him more literally than I could feel them. Always he has had the
greatest power over my heart, because I am of those weak women who
reverence strong men."


Out of their courtship and those early days of marriage came an
outpouring of poetic expression. Elizabeth finally gave her little
packet of sonnets to her husband, who could not keep them to himself.
"I dared not," he said, "reserve to myself the finest sonnets written
in any language since Shakespeare's." The collection finally appeared
in 1850 as "Sonnets from the Portuguese." Kenyon
writes, "With the single exception of Rossetti, no modern English poet
has written of love with such genius, such beauty, and such sincerity,
as the two who gave the most beautiful example of it in their own
lives."


The Brownings lived in Italy for the next 15 years of their lives,
until Elizabeth died in Robert's arms on June 29, 1861. It was while
they were living there in Italy that they both wrote some of their most
memorable poems.

Dante and Beatrice

2008-10-22T14:57:00.000+05:30

The story of Dante and Beatrice is one of the greatest of unrequited, distant love.

Durante degli Alighieri, better known as Dante, (c. June 1, 1265 – September 13/14, 1321) was an Italian Florentine poet. His greatest work, La divina commedia (The Divine Comedy), is considered the greatest literary statement produced in Europe in the medieval period, and the basis of the modern Italian language.

Dante was nearly nine years old when he first set eyes on Beatrice Portinari, in a gathering at her father's palazzo in Florence. She was a few months younger than Dante and dressed in a crimson dress. She captivated him completely. As he later wrote, "From that time forward love fully ruled my soul." For the next nine years he remained absolutely besotted with her but only from a distance and it was only in 1283, when he was 18, that she spoke to him as they passed each other in the street.

In 13th century Florence arranged marriages were the norm, especially amongst the uppers classes, to which both Dante and Beatrice belonged. So, at the age of 21 Dante was married off to Gemma Donati, to whom he had been betroted since the age of 12 and Beatrice married a year later too, only to die three years after that, at the tender age of 24. Dante was devastated. He remained devoted to Beatrice for the rest of his life and she was his principal inspiration for much of his well known work, such as La Vita Nuova (The New Life) and La Divina Commedia (The Divine Comedy).

When Dante first saw Beatrice, he tells us she was dressed in soft crimson and wore a girdle about her waist. He fell in love with her at first sight and thought of her as angelic with divine and noble qualities. He frequented places where he could catch a glimpse of her, but she never spoke to him until nine years later. Then one afternoon he saw her dressed in white, walking down a street in Florence. Accompanied by two older women, Beatrice turned and greeted him. Her greeting filled him with such joy that he retreated to his room to think about her. Falling asleep, he had a dream that became the subject of the first sonnet in his La Vita Nuova, one of the world's greatest romantic poems. Two chapters from La Vita Nuova are quoted below:

When exactly nine years had passed since this gracious being appeared to me, as I have described, it happened that on the last day of this intervening period this marvel appeared before me again, dressed in purest white, walking between two other women of distinguished bearing, both older than herself. As they walked down the street she turned her eyes toward me where I stood in fear and trembling, and with her ineffable courtesy, which is now rewarded in eternal life, she greeted me; and such was the virtue of her greeting that I seemed to experience the height of bliss. It was exactly the ninth hour of day when she gave me her sweet greeting. As this was the first time she had ever spoken to me, I was filled with such joy that, my senses reeling, I had to withdraw from the sight of others. So I returned to the loneliness of my room and began to think about this gracious person. (La Vita Nuova III)
Whenever and wherever she appeared, in the hope of receiving her miraculous salutation I felt I had not an enemy in the world. Indeed, I glowed with a flame of charity which moved me to forgive all who had ever injured me; and if at that moment someone had asked me a question, about anything, my only reply would have been: ‘Love’, with a countenance clothed with humility. When she was on the point of bestowing her greeting, a spirit of love, destroying all the other spirits of the senses, drove away the frail spirits of vision and said: ‘Go and pay homage to your lady’; and Love himself remained in their place. Anyone wanting to behold Love could have done so then by watching the quivering of my eyes. And when this most gracious being actually bestowed the saving power of her salutation, I do not say that Love as an intermediary could dim for me such unendurable bliss but, almost by excess of sweetness, his influence was such that my body, which was then utterly given over to his governance, often moved like a heavy, inanimate object. So it is plain that in her greeting resided all my joy, which often exceeded and overflowed my capacity. (La Vita Nuova XI)

Cupid and Psyche

2008-10-22T14:49:00.000+05:30

Once upon a time there was a king with three daughters. They were all beautiful, but by far the most beautiful was the youngest, Psyche. She was so beautiful that people began to neglect the worship of Venus, the goddess of love and beauty. Venus was very jealous, and asked her son Cupid (the boy with the arrows) to make Psyche fall in love with a horrible monster. When he saw how beautiful she was, Cupid dropped the arrow meant for her and pricked himself, and fell in love with her.

Despite her great beauty no-one wanted to marry Psyche. Her parents consulted an oracle, and were told that she was destined to marry a monster, and they were to take her to the top of a mountain and leave her there. The west wind took her and wafted her away to a palace, where she was waited on by invisible servants. When night came her new husband visited her, and told her that he would always visit her by night and she must never try to see him.

Although her invisible husband was kind and gentle with her, and the invisible servants attended to her every desire, Psyche grew homesick. She persuaded her husband to allow her sisters to visit her. When they saw how she lived they became very jealous and talked Psyche into peeking at her husband, saying that he was a monster who was fattening her up to be eaten and that her only chance of safety was to kill him. Psyche took a lamp and a knife, but when she saw her beautiful husband, Cupid, she was so surprised she dripped some hot wax onto his shoulder, waking him. He took in the situation at a glance and immediately left Psyche and the magnificent palace she had been living in disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Psyche roamed about looking for her husband, and eventually in desperation approached his mother, Venus. Still angry, the goddess set various tasks for Psyche, all of which she passed, with a bit of help from ants and river gods. At last Cupid found out what was going on, and he persuaded Jupiter to order Venus to stop her persecution of Psyche. Then they were married and lived happily ever after - and it really was ever after since Psyche was made a goddess.

Isis and Osiris

2008-10-22T14:42:00.000+05:30

The Love Story of Isis and Osiris

The myth of Isis and Osiris illustrates the power of love and how it can transform us irrevocably. For over three thousand years—before 3000 b.c. to the second century a.d.—Isis was worshipped in Egypt as the mother goddess of the universe. She had two brothers, Osiris and Set. Osiris was responsible for the fertile soil and Set ruled the barren desert.

When they were old enough, the sun god Ra married Isis to Osiris. Isis and Osiris were blissful in their love for each other. No moon or star could outshine their passion. Because they were happy in their union, Isis and Osiris were generous and just. Their days were spent nourishing the world: Isis’s powers combined with Osiris’s brought forth abundant food from the rich Egyptian soil and the fertile Nile. Accordingly, they were adored by many and granted honors greater than their brother Set.

Set observed this. Jealousy ate at his soul, granting him no rest. His regard for his brother soon turned to hate. To be freed of it, he trapped Osiris in a coffin and heaved him into the swirling waters of the Nile.

Griefstricken, Isis transformed herself into a dark bird and flew everywhere looking for her beloved Osiris. Finally she found the coffin embedded inside a tree, which had grown around it over time. Isis hid the coffin from Set. But Set learned all. He stole Osiris from Isis, and cut his brother’s body into fourteen pieces, which he scattered over Egypt.

Isis was undeterred. Strengthened by her devotion to Osiris, she traveled up and down the Nile in a papyrus boat, searching for the lost pieces of her husband’s body. Years passed before she found each and every one. When she did, Isis placed each piece of Osiris next to the other, and joined them with wax and gold. Then, using the power of her love, the goddess brought Osiris back to life for a final embrace.

That act of love resulted in Isis conceiving a child of Osiris. Their son, the falcon-headed god Horus, grew and thrived—a potent reminder of how love can create life even when faced with overwhelming adversity.

Marie and Pierre Curie

2008-10-22T14:34:00.000+05:30

Partners in love and science

Born in Poland during a time of Russian domination, Marie Sklodowska (1867-1934) had no real opportunity for an education after high school. She saved her hard-earned money to help pay for her older sisterís medical studies in Paris, then followed her to France in 1891, studying at the Sorbonne. In 1894, she met the French chemist Pierre Curie (1859-1906), and they were married a year later. Although Pierre had already made a name for himself, their collaboration proved far more fruitful than his solo career.

They spent much of their careers studying radioactivity (a term coined by Marie), examining the particles and energy produced as radioactive atoms decayed, and in the process learned about the building blocks of matter. They established that the heavy element thorium was radioactive and discovered two new elements: polonium and radium. They refined techniques for extracting radium from ores.

Marie won Nobel Prizes in both physics and chemistry for their work. (Pierre failed to share in the second simply because he was dead.) Yet despite living in near povertyóthey spent most of their money on further researchóthey were idealistic enough to refuse to patent any of their potentially lucrative discoveries. Pierre was killed when he was run down by a horse-drawn carriage. Marie died of leukemia, almost certainly the result of a lifetime of exposure to high levels of radiation. Ironically, one of the enduring applications of their work has been in the treatment of cancer with radiation.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

2008-10-21T17:22:00.001+05:30

English royalty who mourned her husband's death for 40 years

Victoria was a lively, cheerful girl, fond of drawing and painting. She ascended the throne of England in 1837 after the death of her uncle, King William IV. In 1840, she married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

While at first Prince Albert was unpopular in some circles because he was German, he came to be admired for his honesty, diligence, and his devotion to his family. The couple had nine children. Victoria loved her husband deeply. She relied on his advice in matters of state, especially in diplomacy.

When Albert died in 1861, Victoria was devastated. She did not appear in public for three years. Her extended seclusion generated considerable public criticism. Several attempts were made on Victoria's life. However, under the influence of Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, Victoria resumed public life, opening Parliament in 1866.

But Victoria never stopped mourning her beloved prince, wearing black until her death in 1901. During her reign, the longest in English history, Britain became a world power on which "the sun never set."

Shah Jahan and Mumtaz

2008-10-21T17:11:00.000+05:30

Long long ago, in a land called Hindustan, reigned a dynasty of Kings as cultured as they were courageous... It isn't that they were without fault – they could be cruel and cunning warriors – but they were also men of exceptionally good taste, and blessed with the bountiful means to express their vision, they built a splendid empire of beauty, knowledge and grace beyond any known before. Now there was one among them, known as "King of the World," whose heart's passion burned like fire, and who built a monument for the sake of love that would capture the imagination of the world...

At the age of fifteen, the prince who would be called King of the World met a refined and highborn young girl at a bazaar within the walls of the royal palace in Agra. Court poets celebrated the girl's extraordinary beauty. "The moon," they said, "hid its face in shame before her." For both, it was love at first sight. Five years would pass before the auspicious day chosen for their wedding, and from that moment, they became inseparable companions.
In 1631, in the fourth year of his reign, Shah Jahan set out for Burhanpur with his armies to subdue a rebellion. Even though Mumtaz Mahal was in the ninth month of a pregnancy, she accompanied him as she had done many times before. On a warm evening of April in 1631, the queen gave birth to their fourteenth child, but soon afterwards suffered complications and took a turn for the worse. According to legend, with her dying breath, she secured a promise from her husband on the strength of their love: to build for her a mausoleum more beautiful than any the world had ever seen before.
The King cried out with grief, like an ocean raging with storm... He put aside his royal robes and for the whole week afterward, His Majesty did not appear in public, nor transact any affairs of state... From constant weeping he was forced to use spectacles, and his hair turned gray...
Shah Jahan grieved for two years. By official opinion, he never again showed enthusiasm for administering the realm. His only solace would be found in the world of art and architecture, and an obsession with perfection that would last his lifetime. Six months after the death of his wife, he laid the foundation for her memorial across the Jamuna River near his palace in Agra... the jewel of India, the far-famed Taj Mahal.
Shah Jahan was never able to complete a black marble mausoleum he planned for himself. Deposed by his son, Shah Jahan was imprisoned in the Red Fort of Agra, and spent lonely hours staring across the Jamuna River at the monument to his beloved queen. He was eventually buried beside her in the Taj Mahal.

Abelard and Heloise

2008-10-21T17:08:00.000+05:30

A monk and a nun whose love letters became world famous

The tragic story of Abelard and Heloise has resonated through the ages. Around 1100, Peter Abelard went to Paris to study at the school of Notre Dame. He gained a reputation as an outstanding philosopher.

Fulbert, the canon of Notre Dame, hired Abelard to tutor his niece, Heloise. Abelard and the scholarly Heloise fell deeply in love, conceived a child, and were secretly married. But Fulbert was furious, so Abelard sent Heloise to safety in a convent.

Thinking that he intended to abandon Heloise, Fulbert had his servants castrate Abelard while he slept. Abelard became a monk and devoted his life to learning. The heartbroken Heloise became a nun. Despite their separations and tribulations, Abelard and Heloise remained in love.

Their poignant love letters were later published.

Anthony and Cleopatra

2008-10-21T16:48:00.000+05:30

The last Pharaon of Egypt and the dashing Roman general

One of the most famous love stories by William Shakespeare, the love story of Antony and Cleopatra is a true test of love. Read on to know about the famous Anthony & Cleopatra love affair.

Some love stories are immortal. And the true love story of Antony and Cleopatra is one of the most memorable, intriguing and moving of all times. The true story of these two historical characters had later been dramatized by the maestro William Shakespeare and is still staged all over the world. The relationship of Antony and Cleopatra is a true test of love.

One of the most famous women in history, Cleopatra VII was the brilliant and beautiful last Pharaoh of Egypt. The woman was legendary, not only for her breathtaking beauty but also for her great intellect. She was proficient in nine languages and was also a skilled mathematician. She is often considered to be a stunning seductress though she was studying to be a nun. She became the mistress of the famous emperor Julius Caesar. After he was slain, she was accused of having been a party to Ceaser's assassination, for there was a rumor in Rome that Cleopatra had given help to Cassius, one of the assassins of Caesar.

Matters came to such a head that Caesar's successor and best friend Mark Anthony, the present emperor of Rome, summoned Cleopatra to explain herself at his headquarters in Anatolia. In the spring of the year 41 BC. she crossed the Mediterranean to see him.

But as she saw Marc Antony, she fell in love with him, and he with her, almost instantly. Sometime later the emperor accepted her invitation to visit her in Egypt and arrived in Alexandria in time to spend a winter of pleasure.

The relationship between these two powerful people put the country of Egypt in a powerful position. But their love affair outraged the Romans who were wary of the growing powers of the Egyptians. Despite all the threats, Anthony and Cleopatra got married at Antioch(in Syria) in 36 BC.

Together, Antony and Cleopatra, formed a formidable ruling power. They were now openly together; and openly a team against Octavian, Antony's rival for power in Rome. As a Roman general, with a powerful army in the eastern provinces, Antony gave his new wife a spectacular wedding present - much of the Middle East. In 34 BC, he declared Cleopatra to be the Queen of Kings and Caesarion the King of Kings, jointly ruling over Egypt and Cyprus and joint overlords of the kingdoms of the other children.

In the tradition of many eastern monarchies, Cleopatra and Antony now began presenting themselves as divine. To Greeks they appeared as Dionysus and Aphrodite; to Egyptians as Osiris and Isis.

But Octavian, Antony's rival in power, had had enough of it. He was a blood-relative of Ceaser. how could he bear to see Antony taking his uncle's place? In 31 BC, he declared a war against Antony. The battle between the forces of Octavian and of Antony and Cleopatra took place at Actium, in Greece, on 2 September 31.

The exact course of the battle is not known, but it is said that while fighting a battle in Actium, Antony got false news of Cleopatra's death. Shattered, he fell on his sword. It is also said that Antony escaped to Egypt with Cleopatra when their fortunes in war turned against them. But the royal couple couldn't escape misfortune. The following year, when Octavian arrived in Egypt with his army, Antony had to commit suicide to escape imprisonment. When Cleopatra learned about Antony 's death, she was shocked. She was taken a prisoner of Octavian, restricted by his guards to part of her own palace. Shattered by her husband's death and her captivity, with the help of some loyal subjects, she arranged for a small poisonous snake, an asp, to be smuggled into her quarters in a basket of figs.

Then, Cleopatra ordered her chambermaids to leave her. She put on her royal robes, lied on a couch of gold, and applied the asp to her breast. A little later she was found dead.

Great love demands great sacrifices. The love of Antony and Cleopatra epitomize that love is another name for sacrifice.

A Silent Love

2008-10-18T14:52:00.000+05:30

by smilez_22

From the very Begining, the girl's family objected strongly on her dating this guy. Saying that it has got to do with family background & that the girl will have to suffer for the rest of her life if she were to be with him.

Due to family's pressure, the couple quarrel very often. Though the girl love the guy deeply, but she always ask him: "How deep is your love for me?"

As the guy is not good with his words, this often cause the girl to be very upset. With that & the family's pressure, the girl often vent her anger on him. As for him, he only endure it in silence.

After a couple of years, the guy finally graduated & decided to further his studies in overseas. Before leaving, he proposed to the girl: "I'm not very good with words. But all I know is that I love you. If you allow me, I will take care of you for the rest of my life. As for your family, I'll try my best to talk them round. Will you marry me?"

The girl agreed, & with the guy's determination, the family finally gave in & agreed to let them get married. So before he leave, they got engaged.

The girl went out to the working society, whereas the guy was overseas, continuing his studies. They sent their love through emails & phone calls. Though it's hard, but both never thought of giving up.

One day, while the girl was on her way to work, she was knocked down by a car that lost control. When she woke up, she saw her parents beside her bed. She realised that she was badly injured. Seeing her mum crying, she wanted to comfort her. But she realized that all that could come out of her mouth was just a sigh. She has lost her voice......

The doctors says that the impact on her brain has caused her to lose her voice. Listening to her parents' comfort, but with nothing coming out from her, she broke down.

During the stay in hospital, besides silence cry,.....it's still just silence cry that companied her. Upon reaching home, everything seems to be the same. Except for the ringing tone of the phone. Which pierced into her heart everytime it rang. She does not wish to let the guy know. & not wanting to be a burden to him, she wrote a letter to him saying that she does not wish to wait any longer.

With that, she sent the ring back to him. In return, the guy sent millions & millions of reply, and countless of phonecalls,.. all the girl could do, besides crying, is still crying....

The parents decided to move away, hoping that she could eventually forget everything & be happy.

With a new environment, the girl learn sign language & started a new life. Telling herself everyday that she must forget the guy. One day, her friend came & told her that he's back. She asked her friend not to let him know what happened to her. Since then, there wasn't anymore news of him.

A year has passed & her friend came with an envelope, containing an invitation card for the guy's wedding. The girl was shattered. When she open the letter, she saw her name in it instead.

When she was about to ask her friend what's going on, she saw the guy standing in front of her. He used sign language telling her "I've spent a year's time to learn sign language. Just to let you know that I've not forgotten our promise. Let me have the chance to be your voice. I Love You. With that, he slipped the ring back into her finger. The girl finally smiled.

A red Rose as a symbol of love

2008-10-18T14:35:00.000+05:30

A Red Rose is a symbol of Love.
It’s silky softness resembles my heart
when I think of you.
The petals, multiple layers of beauty
symbolize the many layers
my love for you enfolds.
The leaves caress the rose
allowing it to grow fuller and stronger.
The stem supports the rose,
allowing it to hold fast, grow tall, and sturdy.
The thorns protect the rose,
preventing harm from outside unsafe forces.
If you cherish, nurture, and caress this rose,
it will last a lifetime.
Just as my love for you will last an eternity

BY SAN MILLER

Red roses, as we think of them today, are the traditional symbol for love and romance. The modern red rose we are now familiar with was introduced to Europe from China in the 1800's. However, the meanings associated with them can be traced back many centuries, even to some of the earliest societies. The color red itself evolved from an early primal symbol for life into a metaphor for deep emotion. In Greek and Roman mythology the red rose was closely tied to the goddess of love. Many early cultures used red roses to decorate marriage ceremonies and they were often a part of traditional wedding attire. Through this practice, the red rose became known as a symbol for love and fidelity. As the tradition of exchanging roses and other flowers as gifts of affection came into prevalence, the red rose naturally became the flower of choice for sending the strongest message of love. This is a tradition that has endured to the present day.

Red roses continue to be the most popular way to say "I love you" to someone special. The rich heritage of the red rose has culminated in its modern day image as the lover's rose. They are the definitive symbol for romantic sentiments, representing true love, stronger than thorns. Red roses are a meaningful gift, perfect for expressing feelings for a loved one on Valentine's Day, an anniversary or simply "just because." For the budding relationship, a red rose bouquet can also signal the beginning of romantic intentions. They can send a message of commitment and an invitation to take the next step. Even the simplicity of a single red rose can elicit a powerful response. Whatever the occasion, red roses have an allure that is hard to resist!

The Shape Of Love

2008-10-17T14:48:00.000+05:30

The heart (♥) has long been used as a symbol to refer to the spiritual, emotional, moral, and in the past also intellectual core of a human being. As the heart was once widely believed to be the seat of the human mind, the word heart continues to be used poetically to refer to the soul, and stylized depictions of hearts are extremely prevalent symbols representing love.

In European traditional art and folklore, the heart symbol is drawn in a stylized shape. This shape is typically colored red, suggesting both blood and, in many cultures, passion and strong emotion. The hearts have constituted, since the 15th century, one of the red suits in most playing card decks. The shape is particularly associated with romantic love; it is often seen on St. Valentine's Day cards, candy boxes, and similar popular culture artifacts as a symbol of romantic love.

The heart symbol (♥) is used in slang expressions to indicate love or affection, sometimes with a
connotation that the feeling is superficial or juvenile. It is a play upon Milton Glaser's classic I Love New York logo (typeset "I ♥ NY"). In the U.S., it can be used to show that one has a crush on someone or is in love with someone (i.e. "I ♥ [someone's name]" or "[Someone] ♥s [Someone else]"). It is also present in some recent titles, e.g. the film I ♥ Huckabees, the video game We ♥ Katamari, or the Naoki Maeda songs, CANDY♥ and LOVE ♥ SHINE.

The widespread use of this expression has inspired many parodies. Originally pronounced "I love", hipsters have taken to facetiously verbalizing it as "I heart".A universal symbol of love, the heart has held meaning for centuries. In pagan and early Christian eras, it was thought to be the center of emotion. To the Victorians, the heart symbolized love, courage, and intelligence. Now when one bestows a heart to another, the message of "I give my heart to you" is unmistakable.

Some emphasis on evidences that say that the valentine heart originated from a particular species of plant, called Silphium, found in North Africa during the seventh century B.C. This extinct plant is said to have had heart-shaped seed pods or fruits.The unique shape of the valentine heart got recognition when coins were minted, with clear depictions of the shape on them, in the commercial city-state of Cyrene. These silver coins were increasingly used for
economic benefits and at the same time spread the awareness about the love shape among the people.

But, the Catholic Church acknowledges that the universally known shape of the valentine heart did not originate prior to the seventeenth century. It was during this time that this symbol came to be known as the Sacred heart of Jesus and was, for the first time, said to have some association with the feelings of love and devotion.

The shape became popular with valentine hearts being displayed on glass windows and even as
iconography in the church. This is when the romantic ideology related to the red colored heart developed. The heart has since been referred to have a spiritual, emotional, moral and intellectual connection to the human life.

However, some scholars dismiss all romantic ideologies associated to the valentine heart. They state that the shape had been evolved as to merely describe the appearance of the human heart, an organ which is said to be containing all human emotions and sentiments. Hence the symbol also got to be inter-linked with the concept of love.

The red color of the valentine heart signifies passion and strong emotions. The heart shape is often found in the form of the joined wings of the Dove, which is associated to the Greek Goddess of Love, Aphrodite and is also found as the arrow head of Cupid, the Roman God of Love.

Pretty Woman

2008-10-16T22:09:00.000+05:30

Pretty Woman is a 1990 romantic comedy film. The film centers around the titular character, down-on-her-luck prostitute Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts) who is hired by a wealthy businessman and corporate raider, Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) to be his escort for several business functions, and their developing relationship.

Corporate raider Edward Lewis (Gere) is having trouble driving the Lotus Esprit he has borrowed and stops to ask for directions on Hollywood Boulevard. Vivian Ward (Roberts), a hooker with a heart of gold, thinks he is trying to find "a date" and walks over to his car. A lost Edward agrees to pay Vivian for directions. Rather than giving him the directions he wants, Vivian jumps in the car and offers to show him personally. On the way to the Beverly Wilshire Hotel (Beverly Hills), Vivian comments on his bad driving. Much to her surprise and delight, Edward asks her to drive the rest of the way. Despite the Lotus's famously stiff clutch, she demonstrates driving skill and takes him to his hotel without mishap. Vivian, who thinks she has charmed Edward, is at first rejected and says she will return to her corner by taxi. When Edward sees her a few minutes later waiting at the bus stop, he offers to hire her for an hour, which after some awkward conversation (on his part), becomes a night.

Edward explains his business to Vivian--he buys large companies, breaks them up and sells them in smaller parts for profit. Vivian compares it to a chop shop, where stolen cars are cut up for parts and usually sold for more than the whole car is worth. Edward acknowledges the validity of the comparison for the first time. He later reveals the origin of his business methods to Vivian: when he was a boy, his father divorced his mother to be with another woman, and emptied his wife's bank account as well as taking his own money. Consequently, his mother died of poverty, and Edward grew angry and bitter over time. He told Vivian that his father was the president of the third company he took over, broke up and sold off. His revenge was taken, but his appetite for more still lives on.

The next day, Edward's lawyer Phil calls Edward and tells him businessman James Morse and his grandson David wish to meet with him to discuss Edward's plans to buy their business. Edward decides to bring a date in order to keep the meeting social, and hires Vivian to spend the week with him, offering to pay her $3,000. He gives money for a dinner dress, but when she attempts to shop on Rodeo Dr., the saleswomen snub her and are rude to her (apparently because of her streetwalker's clothing). Vivian returns to the hotel distraught; Barnard, the manager of the hotel at first asks her to dress more appropriately, then after hearing her story, befriends her and directs her to a store where they help her buy a beautiful cocktail dress. He also gives her a lesson in using silverware and table manners, so that she will not be intimidated at the dinner with Edward.

That night, Vivian and Edward meet James and David Morse. During the meal, Vivian brings out the enlightened gentleman in the elderly Morse, but the business discussion with Edward grows colder and colder. Everything about James Morse shames Edward and exposes his lack of real quality in spite of his financial status. The Morses express their anger over Edward's impending takeover of their company and finally walk out of the restaurant.

The next morning, Vivian tells Edward "the saleswomen wouldn't help me, they were mean to me." Edward accompanies her for the first part of a shopping spree, culminating in her returning to the store who salesladies were rude to her at the end of her excursion to tell them what a huge mistake they made in not helping her, since they work on commission, and Vivian had obviously spent a very considerable amount of money. Vivian and Edward's business relationship quickly develops into friendship, and Edward and Vivian go on several dates and spend several evenings trading deep emotional insights they cannot share with anyone else. In an attempt to persuade Edward to abandon his self-discipline and understand "lower class" people she invites him to "veg out" in front of the TV. Despite her experience as a prostitute, Vivan finds herself falling in love with Edward.

Edward and Vivian attend a corporate polo match, where Vivian meets Phil and his wife Elizabeth. They also see David Morse, and Vivian has a friendly conversation with him about his polo horse. Curious to know more about Vivian, and suggesting she might be a spy for the Morses, Phil pesters Edward until he reveals that Vivian is actually a common prostitute he picked up the night he borrowed Phil's car. Greatly amused at this revelation, Phil approaches Vivian and suggests that he hire her as a whore after Edward is done with her. She is hurt at what she perceives as Edward's betrayal and cheap treatment of her. On the way back to the hotel she ignores him, and when she gets back to the penthouse she tells him she is upset with how he treated her at the match, revealing her "secret" to Phil. She then proceeds to tell Edward she's leaving and that she wants her money; he throws the money on the bed and walks away. She gathers her clothes and leaves, but doesn't take the money because of the callous way he threw it down. When he realizes she did not take his money, he goes after her. Vivian is waiting for the elevator when Edward comes out and apologizes. The elevator doors open after he apologizes and admits he was jealous to see her with David Morse at the Polo match. Vivian decides to stay. After the elevator doors shut, she informs Edward: "You hurt me; don't do it again."

An idyllic few days ensue, during which time Edward flies Vivian by private jet to San Francisco for a performance of Verdi's La Traviata. The opera (which is not named in the film) is the story of a Parisian courtesan who falls in love with a wealthy young man, paralleling the growing relationship between Edward and Vivian. The story makes a tremendous impression on Vivian, as Edward had predicted. For the occasion, Edward dresses Vivian in a skin-tight bright red haute couture gown, with a diamond necklace and earring set valued at $250,000 lent to him by a famous jeweler (FRED Paris Joaillier). That night after the opera Vivian wakes Edward with a kiss, symbolic of the change in the relationship of the pair (she had previously stated that she never kisses her clients as it is just "business").

As the week starts to end and Edward prepares to return to New York. Edward tells Vivian he wants to see her again and offers to supply her with an apartment, a car, and as much money as she needs, including credit cards so she can shop. Vivian refuses and says she wants the whole thing--commitment, or nothing at all. She describes a fantasy from her childhood--rescue from a tower by a knight on a white horse- "the fairy tale". Before he leaves he says, "I've never treated you like a prostitute." After he's gone, she whispers to herself, "You just did."

As the time draws near for Edward to finalize his buyout of Morse Industries, he loses his bitter lust for vengeance against his father, and decides to partner with Morse instead--to build warships, rather than breaking up a shipyard and selling it for scrap. Phil is shocked and upset to hear this, and goes to Edward's hotel to confront him. He finds Vivian alone in the penthouse, and after blaming her for Edward's backing out of the takeover, attempts to rape her. He slaps her and calls her a whore. Edward arrives and pulls Phil off Vivian; he punches Phil and kicks him out.

While easing each others injuries Vivian and Edward have conversation about what each other wants, and Vivian states she wants "the fairy tale." Edward says he's not capable of offering that. He asks Vivian to stay the night, not because he's paying her but because she wants to, but she declines the offer. Vivian leaves, but first says good-bye to Barnard and thanks him for his kindness.

The next day, Edward checks out of the hotel. Barnard notices his pensiveness and remarks how difficult it must be to give up something so beautiful, supposedly referring to the diamond necklace. He also notes that Darryl, Edward's usual driver, had dropped Vivian off at her apartment the day before. Edward asks Darryl to drive him to Vivian's apartment in a white limousine; he arrives as Vivian is packing to move to San Francisco. Edward has flowers, and opera music is blaring from the car. Although nervous, Edward controls his fear of heights and climbs the fire escape to Vivian's apartment. Vivian meets him on the landing, and he asks what happens in her fantasy after the knight on the white horse rescues her. "She rescues him right back", says Vivian, and they kiss warmly. They apparently live happily ever after, in modern day terms.

HOW TO FIND YOUR SOUL MATE

2008-10-16T17:18:00.000+05:30

Some believe that your destiny will bring you to your soul mate like a magnet pulls metal. Your life will create a series of experiences that will lead you almost innocently to that vital part that will make your life complete. Unfortunately, there is no formula for finding your soul mate. We can only prepare ourselves to recognize that special person when we meet him or her. The preparation is really the key to how soon you can find that person.

For this, one must prepare to give oneself away to others and develop a never ending steam of trust within yourself so that you can accept everyone you meet without judgments or fear. Some believe that if one looks deep inside the eyes of another person with complete acceptance and love, one can create new levels of intimacy and spiritual bonding. It is during this quest, where we treat every individual as a potential soul mate, that we will eventually find the one that we are looking for.

Some people confuse this discovery as an endeavor to look for the ultimate romantic partner. Finding your soul mate is a search for wholeness or completion. It may lead to a physical union but it is much beyond mere physical desire. You can feel attracted to many others, but there could only be one person who will fit in perfectly to complete the puzzle of your life.

If you can learn to love unconditionally, abandon yourself to your spiritual desires and accept wholeheartedly the people that God sends in our lives everyday, you will find your soul mate without any doubt.

Unconditional love-A true love's letter

2008-10-16T17:04:00.000+05:30

John Keats (1795 - 1821) led a short but brilliant life. At the age of 23 he met and fell in love with Fanny Brawne, literally the girl next door. Tragically, doctors had already diagnosed the tuberculosis which would eventually kill him, so their marriage became an impossibility. This letter, written from Rome less than one year before his death, displays Keats' intense and unwavering love for her.

March 1820

Sweetest Fanny,

You fear, sometimes, I do not love you so much as you wish? My dear Girl I love you ever and ever and without reserve. The more I have known you the more have I lov'd. In every way - even my jealousies have been agonies of Love, in the hottest fit I ever had I would have died for you. I have vex'd you too much. But for Love! Can I help it? You are always new. The last of your kisses was ever the sweetest; the last smile the brightest; the last movement the gracefullest. When you pass'd my window home yesterday, I was fill'd with as much admiration as if I had then seen you for the first time. You uttered a half complaint once that I only lov'd your Beauty. Have I nothing else then to love in you but that? Do not I see a heart naturally furnish'd with wings imprison itself with me? No ill prospect has been able to turn your thoughts a moment from me. This perhaps should be as much a subject of sorrow as joy - but I will not talk of that. Even if you did not love me I could not help an entire devotion to you: how much more deeply then must I feel for you knowing you love me. My Mind has been the most discontented and restless one that ever was put into a body too small for it. I never felt my Mind repose upon anything with complete and undistracted enjoyment - upon no person but you. When you are in the room my thoughts never fly out of window: you always concentrate my whole senses. The anxiety shown about our Love in your last note is an immense pleasure to me; however you must not suffer such speculations to molest you any more: not will I any more believe you can have the least pique against me. Brown is gone out -- but here is Mrs Wylie -- when she is gone I shall be awake for you. -- Remembrances to your Mother.

Your affectionate, J. Keats

Life Together

2008-10-16T15:09:00.000+05:30

One fine day, an old couple around the age of 70, walks into a lawyer's office.
Apparently, they are there to file a divorce.

Lawyer was very puzzled, after having a chat with them, he got their story....
This couple had been quarreling all their 40 over yrs of marriage nothing ever seems to go right.

They hang on because of their children, afraid that it might affect their up-bringing. Now, all their children have already grown up, have their own family, there's nothing else the old couple have to worry about, all they wanted is to lead their own life free from all these years of unhappiness from their marriage, so both agree on a divorce....

Lawyer was having a hard time trying to get the papers done, because he felt that after 40 yrs of marriage at the age of 70, he couldnt understand why the old couple would still want a divorce..

While they were signing the papers, the wife told the husband..
"I really love u, but i really cant carry on anymore, I'm sorry.."
"Its o.k, i understand.." said the husband. Lookin at this, the lawyer suggested a dinner together, just 3 of them,wife thought, why not, since they are still gonna be friends..

At the dining table, there was a silence of awkardness.
The first dish was roasted chicken, immediately, the old man took the drumstick for the old lady.."take this, its your favourite.."

Looking at this, the lawyer thought maybe theres still a chance, but the wife was frowning when she answer.."
This is always the problem, you always think so highly of yourself, never thought about how I feel, dont you know that i hate drumsticks?"

Little did she know that, over the years, the husband have been trying all ways to please her, little did she know that drumsticks was the husband's favourite. Little did he know that she never thought he understand her at all, little did he know that she hates drummsticks even though all he wants is the best for her.

That night, both of them couldnt sleep, toss and turn, toss and turn...after hours, the old man couldnt take it anymore, he knows that he still loves her, and he cant carry on life without her, he wants her back, he wants to tell her, he is sorry, he wanted to tell her "i love you"...

He picks up the phone, starting dialing her number....ringing never stops..he never stop dialing....

On the other side, she was sad, she couldn’t understand how come after all these years, he still doesnt understand her at all, she loves him a lot, but she just cant take it anymore....phone's ringing, she refuses to answer knowing that its him..."whats the point of talking now that its over...i have ask for it and now i wanna keep it this way, if not i will lose face.."she thought...still ringing...she have decided to pull out the cord...

Little did she remember, he have heart problems...

The next day, she received news that he had passed away...she rushed down to his apartment, saw his body, lying on the couch still holding on to the phone...he had a heart attack when he was still trying to get through her phone line....

As sad as she could be...she will have to clear his belongings...when she was looking thru the drawers, she saw this insurance policy, dated from the day they got married, with the beneficiary being her... And together in those file, there was this note...

"To my dearest wife, by the time you're reading this, I'm sure I'm no longer around, I bought this policy for you, though the amount is only $100k, I hope it will be able to help me continue my promise that i have made when we got married, I might not be around anymore, I want this amount of money to continue taking care of you, just like the way I will if I could have live longer. I want you to know Iwill always be around, by your side... I love you"

Tears flowed like river......

"When you love someone, let them know... You never know what will happen the next minute.... Learn to build a life together.. Learn to love each other. For who they are.. not what they are..."

Helen Of Troy And Paris

2008-10-15T22:23:00.000+05:30

Eternal stories of love

Love in the historical times always had an element of chivalry to add to the story. Mydearvalentine offers a detailed account of the romantic love story between the historical characters of Helen of Troy and Paris. If you have a passion for the adventurous and chivalrous experiences then your valentine day celebration can be a success with your lover by your side coupled with the romantic love story of Helen of Troy and Paris.

Helen of Troy "the face that launched a thousand ships" was known as the most beautiful woman in the Greek mythology. The daughter of Zeus by Leda, she was the wife of Menelaus.

Her abduction by Paris brought the Trojan War in effect. Helen as a child was abducted by Theseus and Pirithous as the former intended to marry her. They kidnapped her and decided to hold her until she was old enough to marry, but in the mean time Helen was rescued by her brothers and brought back to Sparta. When Helen reached the marriageable age many kings and princes from around the world came to seek her hand or sent emissaries for the same purpose. From among a lot of eligible competitors Menelaus emerged to be the favorite one. But unfortunately Menelaus was in exile and was represented by his brother. Menelaus was married to Helen and following the death of Tyndareus, Menelaus became the king of Sparta.

Some years later the Trojan prince, Paris, came to Sparta intending to marry Helen as she had been promised to him by Aphrodite after he selected the later as the most beautiful of the goddesses. According to the promise of the goddesses to Paris, Helen fell in love with him and left behind her Menelaus and their nine year old daughter Hermione. Helen's relation with Paris varies greatly according to different sources. Some show her as the lover of Paris due to the enchantment of goddess as she had promised him and simultaneously in some she is portrayed as the unwilling prisoner of Paris or more so as a cruel selfish woman who brought destruction and sorrow in the lives of every body around her. In Euripides' play Helen, Hermes designed a likeness of her out of the clouds at Zeus's request, and Helen never resorted to Troy, she spent the entire war in Egypt. On the whole she has been described as a splendid beauty.

Menelaus on the other hand when discovered that his wife was not around, he called upon all the suitors to do their duty of protecting the king and the queen. Thus the Trojan War commenced with the whole of Greece participated in it, either attacking troy or defending it from Menelaus. Later in Trojan War Paris was killed by Philoctetes. With the death of Paris his brother, Deiphobus married Helen, but finally he was also killed by Menelaus. Menelaus intended to kill his faithless wife and so he raised his sword. But the very sight of her impeccable beauty forced him to drop his sword and to lead her safely to the Greek ships.

The logic of love probably still remains a mystery enshrouded in the garb of a myth or a historical truth as various sources claim differently about Helens affair with Paris or her abduction by Paris.

CRUSHED

2008-10-15T17:11:00.000+05:30

Real Life Love Stories

By unknown

It was last year when I met him during a school carnival. I was walking with my friend into the school of business when she bumped into her classmates. I didn't know what actually happened but I remembered I was staring at this particular guy in the group. From that day onwards, he never left my mind.

After months of consideration, I finally took the first step. I wrote a letter to him confessing I actually was attracted by him and if we could be friends. I got my friend to pass him the letter and we started being friends.

At first, he didn't know what I looked like as he didn't remember seeing me. One day, my friend tricked me into going to her computer lab. He was there. It was then we first met and spoke. He shook my hand and introduced himself. Ever since then, I started seeing more of him.

I started sending him messages to his cell phone daily. It could be a daily good-night message or just to tell him to take care. He would usually reply to my messages. One day, after the exams, I finally asked him out. We went to eat dinner and after that, we went back to school at night and sat at the exit staircase staring at the stars, drinking and chatting. It was then I felt that I was really in love with this guy. He sent me home later. From that day on, I could not get him out of my mind.

Somehow, I started seeing him quite often. He works at Starbucks so I would go there to study and hang out. Hanging out was just an excuse for me to see him. We would bump into each other in school daily and smile and say Hi. Sometimes, we would joke around and just chat.

During Christmas, I bought a gift for him. It took me some time to actually pass it to him. He was appreciative. In return, he gave me a wallet. At first, I was joyful. Then, I found out he gave my friend a Christmas present too when she hadn't bought him anything. But that didn't mean anything to me. Receiving a gift from him was all I could think of.

Months later, after our second trip to the movies we started seeing each other less and the messages became less. After 4 months, I finally got my friend to ask whether he liked me or he knew my feelings for him. All the while, she wanted to ask him that but I wasn't ready to face the truth. Deep down in my heart, I actually knew the answer but I couldn't face up to reality. After 4 months, I felt I was ready.

I got my answer. He rejected me. He didn't like me. However, my friend didn't tell me that. Instead, she got another friend to tell me the answer over the phone. I kept silent and tears started falling from my eyes. The tears just kept falling. It didn't stop.

My heart was shattered. It left a scar behind. I no longer can love. I no longer can face him. To me, love was a mistake. But I would never regret ever loving him.

Forever And For Always lyrics

2008-10-09T15:33:00.000+05:30

Shania Twain

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eSnips Social DNA

In your arms I can still feel the way you
want me when you hold me
I can still hear the words you whispered
when you told me
I can stay right here forever in your arms

And there ain't no way--
I'm lettin' you go now
And there ain't no way--
and there ain't not how
I'll never see that day....

'Cause I'm keeping you
forever and for always
We will be together all of our day
Wanna wake up every
morning to your sweet face--always

Mmmm, baby
In your heart--I can still hear
a beat for every time you kiss me
And when we're apart,
I know how much you miss me
I can feel your love for me in your heart

And there ain't no way--
I'm lettin' you go now
And there ain't now way--
and there ain't no how
I'll never see that day....

(I wanna wake up every morning)

In your eyes--(I can still see
the look of the one) I can still see
the look of the one who really loves me
(I can still feel the way that you want)
The one who wouldn't put anything
else in the world above me
(I can still see love for me) I can
still see love for me in your eyes
(I still see the love)

And there ain't no way--
I'm lettin' you go now
And there ain't no way--
and there ain't no how
I'll never see that day....

I'm keeping you forever and for always
I'm in your arms

Love Is..........

2008-10-02T22:12:00.000+05:30

Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within the reach of every hand.
Mother Theres

Love is the seed of all hope.
It is the enticement to trust, to risk, to try, to go on.
Gloria Gaither

Love is the great miracle cure. Loving ourselves works miracles in our lives.
Louise Hay

True love is eternal, infinite, and always like itself. It is equal and pure, without violent demonstrations: it is seen with white hairs and is always young in the heart.
Honore de Balzac

Love is the greatest refreshment in life.
Pablo Picasso

Love is energy of life.
Robert Browning

Love is but the discovery of ourselves in others, and the delight in the recognition.
Alexander Smith

Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.
H.L.Mencken

Love is much like a wild rose, beautiful and calm, but willing to draw blood in its defense.
Mark A. Overby

Love's Philosophy

2008-10-02T21:59:00.000+05:30

Percy Bysshe Shelley

The fountains mingle with the river,
And the rivers with the ocean;
The winds of heaven mix forever,
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single;
All things by a law divine
In one another's being mingle;--
Why not I with thine?

See! the mountains kiss high heaven,
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister flower would be forgiven,
If it disdained it's brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea;--
What are all these kissings worth,
If thou kiss not me?

Book Of Love

2008-10-02T21:49:00.000+05:30

Shine for Me!

2008-10-02T21:48:00.000+05:30

Life is You

2008-10-02T21:46:00.000+05:30

Can't help falling in love

2008-10-02T21:37:00.000+05:30

Elvis Presley

Cant Help Falling in Love wit - UB40

Wise men say only fools rush in
But I cant help falling in love with you
Shall I stay
Would it be a sin
If I cant help falling in love with you

Like a river flows surely to the sea
Darling so it goes
Some things are meant to be
Take my hand, take my whole life too
For I cant help falling in love with you

Like a river flows surely to the sea
Darling so it goes
Some things are meant to be
Take my hand, take my whole life too
For I cant help falling in love with you
For I cant help falling in love with you

I just call to say......I LOVE YOU!

2008-10-01T23:10:00.000+05:30

Artist:Stevie Wonder

No new years's day
to celebrate
no chocolate covered candy hearts to give away
no first of spring
no song to sing
in fact here's just another ordinary day
No April rain
no flowers bloom
no wedding saturday within the month of June
But what it is
Is something true
Made up of these three words that I must say to you

I just called to say I love you
I just called to say how much I care
I just called to say I love you
And I mean it from the bottom of my heart

No summer's high
No warm July
No harvest moon to light one tender August night
No autumn breeze
No falling leaves
Not even time for birds to fly to southern skies
No libra sun
No Halloween
No giving thanks to all the Christmas joy you bring
But what it is
Though old so new
To fill your heart like no three words Could ever do.

I just called to say I love you
I just called to say how much I care
I just called to say I love you
And I mean it from the bottom of my heart.

I just called to say I love you
I just called to say how much I care
I just called to say I love you
And I mean it from the bottom of my heart

Of my heart
Of my heart

A kiss!!!!!!

2008-09-30T15:11:00.000+05:30

The decision to kiss for the first time is the
most crucial in any love story. It changes the
relationship of two people much more strongly
than even the final surrender; because this kiss
already has within it that surrender.
~ Emil Ludwig

"A kiss is a lovely trick, designed by nature, to stop words when speech becomes superfluous."

Give me a kisse, and to that kisse a score;
Then to that twenty, adde a hundred more;
A thousand to that hundred; so kisse on,
To make that thousand up a million;
Treble that million, and when that is done,
Let's kisse afresh, as when we first begun.
~Robert Herrick, "To Anthea (III)"
--Ingrid Bergmen

“A kiss is a pleasant reminder that two heads are better than one.”

“Ancient lovers believed a kiss would literally unite their souls, because the spirit was said to be carried in one's breath.”

Eve Glicksman

A kiss is something you cannot
give without taking and cannot
take without giving.
~ Anonymous-

I never thought that love could feel like this - then you changed my world with just one kiss.
~ N Sync

Never a lip is curved with pain
That can't be kissed into smile again.
~ Brete Harte