In love, actions speak out loud
When the BeeGees sang How Deep is Your Love, little did they know that women would be asking men the same question, and demanding rather concrete proof. From the days when Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal to the current age when an Aamir Khan or Mahesh Bhupathi produces a film expressly for their better halves, men are being called upon to show their passion in ever more innovative ways. Many-a-times, these grand romantic gestures also end up being expensive.
A case in point is TV actor Giriraj Kabra. “I didn’t have time to take my wife on a honeymoon after our wedding,” Kabra says. “I compensated by gifting her an iPad and then a car on Valentine’s Day.” Luxury cars in fact, are de rigueur love tokens among the filmi set. While Sanjay Dutt recently made news by gifting wife Manyata a Rolls Royce after the birth of their twins, Suneil Shetty surprised Mana with a BMW when she accepted his proposal years ago.
But lest their gestures be mistaken as simply an attempt to buy affection, men are quick to assert that they do make smaller, more meaningful gestures as well. Actor Arif Zakaria says, “Grand gestures of love are the creations of romance novels and Shakespearean sonnets. In real life, small, meaningful gestures go a long way in creating solid bonds over time. I’ve indulged in flowers and gifts to impress, but my silences, my quiet submissions are perhaps my grandest gestures of love.”
Writer Deven Kanal says the O’Henry short story Gift of the Magi is perhaps the gold standard in the making of grand gestures. “The couple depicted in the story are as poor as they are in love. The woman buys her husband a watch chain for his treasured watch by selling off her long hair. What she later finds out is that the husband has sold his watch to buy her a lovely comb. The reciprocity makes the gestures immensely moving,” says Kanal.
Kabra adds, “My wife makes chocolates and I help out with her business as much as I can. No matter how late my shoot ends, I share dinner with her. It’s ultimately these smaller gestures that make your beloved happy.”
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