My Affair with Rãdhã

by Kunal Desai

“Loneliness is not felt only when we are alone at a desolate place. It can be felt amongst the masses or when with few but relatively close ones or even with friends and relatives. It can be felt whenever we are forced to do what we do not want to do; when we have to act in ways that go against our wishes or when we have to stay quiet and allow the unacceptable deeds and behavior of others.

Mainly, when someone very close to us shoots down our enthusiasm and hurts our emotions, discouraged and dejected in such moments, we feel vacuum-minded. Such feeling of emptiness and non-existence is real ‘loneliness’.

am never separated from Rãdhã. Isolation is my favorite because of the privacy I get, during which I can be with Rãdhã. She is always with me even when I am alone. In challenging times, she reinforces me, in frightful conditions, she holds me back from crippling. She is my life force, always re-fueling energy in me. How can I be alone, when in all circumstances she walks with me, holding my hand?”

“Along with emotional attachment to someone, our expectations also increase to a large extent. These predominant expectations raise perplexity in our mind. And in the state of perplexity, when we face unfavorable and undesirable results, we experience conflict. Conflict between anxiety and affection, between greed and love. Rãdhã was also anxious because of the same reason.

Love is not about domination and control, but to surrender oneself. Love is not to restrict or restrain but to give liberty.