In love with the idea of being in love!

Was watching 'Jab tak hai Jaan'. In fact watched the movie twice. Something that I heard from my English teacher in school, came back to my mind and made me think. Can't recollect in what context she had said that, "people are in love just with the idea of being in love". I guess there was a story in our English textbook  while explaining it she had said that. I have thought about it quite often but was never able to really understand what it was. While I saw this movie I kind of get what it meant.

As young girls, I think we were in the 8th standard then, we used to have a library hour every week, where the entire class would go to the library and read books, look at the magazines and newspapers. We got our hands on a few Barbara Cartland books.  

Dame Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland,(9 July 1901 – 21 May 2000), was an English author, one of the most prolific authors of the 20th century. As Barbara Cartland she is known for her numerous fictional romantic novels, but she also wrote under her married name Barbara McCorquodale. 

We used to read the last few pages of the book and all of us would be in love with her hero, the character in the novel. Our library had about six of her books and we had read all of them. It was a group activity!

Then was the time for Mills and Boon, 10th standard vacation reading. We had a long vacation after the 10th standard and the Mills and Boon series was what most of the girls read. Again there was this hero, from each story that we would be in love with. I guess this is true for most of the girls that age. Read quite a few novels, in fact we had taken membership at the local library and could easily finish about two novels each day. Was such a major time pass activity. I guess the boys that age used to be out doors playing cricket, football or tennis. They had their own set of activities and hobbies to manage. Yes that generation didn't have the social networking and no phones. So it was different growing up then, the present generation, Y or Z  can never even imagine that kind of life.

Yes MBs (as we used to call the Mills and Boon) were passe by the time we did our 12th standard and went to college. During that time, we read different books may be the classics by Jane Austen, or the contemporary ones like Danielle Steel, Agatha Christie or Robert Ludlum. The most popular among the girls was Danielle Steel, we just loved her novels. 

Danielle Steel (born August 14, 1947) is an American novelist, currently the bestselling author alive and the fourth bestselling author of all time, with over 800 million copies sold.Based in California for most of her career, Steel has produced several books a year, often juggling up to five projects at once. All her novels have been bestsellers, including those issued in hardback.Her formula is fairly consistent, often involving rich families facing a crisis, threatened by dark elements such as jail, fraud, blackmail and suicide.Steel has also published children's fiction and poetry, as well as raising funds for the treatment of mental illness. Her books have been translated into 28 languages, with 22 adapted for television, including two that have received Golden Globe nominations.

Then this generation of women, got into the career mode followed by family mode. Some of them found their men just out from those novels that we read or pretend that they were those characters with a little difference here and there.

For me, all time favourite has been, Something wonderful by Judith McNaught. This is certainly not the best book that I have read but it somehow remains a favourite. The story is of Jordan and Alexandra. Jordan was my idea of a perfect man. I read that book many times then one fine day gave it away as it was becoming more of a distraction in the house. Going through the nitty gritties of an arranged marriage, at the pre- stage the ideal that I kept looking for was 'Jordan'. I guess that is what,  in love with the idea of being in love is. 

Jab Tak Hai Jaan, again not the best movie that I have watched but it did answer a few questions for me and that's how I liked the movie. Yes my 'Jordan' did watch it with me.

PS

I'll keep with my promise of writing about Abhilash Tomy in my posts till he is back from his historic voyage.

(Abhilash Tomy is attempting to be the first Indian on a solo non stop unassisted circumnavigation of the globe)

Here's a hero, in the real sense and not from the novels who is set out to challenge his own capabilities.

To know more about Lt. Cdr Tomy and his boat the Mhadei, follow the link below.

Check:  www.sagarparikrama2.blogspot.com

             www.Facebook.com/www.mhadei.co.in

The current position of Mhadei