Why is love a positive emotion as well as a negative force? A new book attempts some answers

In the 1960s and 1970s, lyricists, musicians and singers created some of the most beautiful love songs for Hindi movies. Besides the enchanting play of melody, romance and erotic feelings, in which the whole universe seemed to participate, the most endearing aspect about some of these songs was the sense of wonder and mystery they expressed about love. The wonderment about love sometimes included wonderment about the whole of life in general. In effect, it often took the form of questions that went something like this: What is this life all about? Until yesterday, I did not know you, yet I feel today that I cannot live without you. Who are you? Who am I? What is this irresistible attraction between the two of us? Is this what they call love?

What’s more, some of these love songs took the form of bhakti, or devotional songs, that sounded like the cry of the soul seeking union with the beloved to dissolve into oneness. And it comes as no surprise that these love songs expressing romance were filmed in the lap of nature, with flowers blooming across a lush green landscape, or in pouring rain, drenching the lovers and the earth.

Nowadays, love...

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