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Can you be in love with more than one person?
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From the dawn of thought the concept of "love" or romantic love - the gooey, hallmark hype that makes some of the most practical people gush and coo in malls much to the chagrin of the many less loved and currently less involved, has pre-occupied the minds of many and consumed the soul of all. Thus when the idea of the possibility of loving more than one person romantically is actually formulated, the question seems suddenly irrelevant and obsolete. Or is it just pessimism slowly creeping to the fore and does love and multi-faceted love really exist in today urban labyrinth?
Perhaps a little cynicism may not be so far out of the loop. Let's not tip-toe around the obvious- the concept of love hasn't really snuggled up that close with the all new "globalithic" age and the accompanying techno-gadgets...saying I love you to a video-phone isn't quite as cuddly or as personal no matter how convenient or noveau. Or perhaps the new age gurus would just advise the people over at Websters to update the definition to make it more adaptable to an average person's lifestyle. Love is possible...when it's convenient, cost-effective and trouble-free.
This might throw carefully promoted love doctrine by aggressive ad agencies of the 20th century into a tailspin leaving the door wide open to deeper, more philosophical and whimsical images such as the hope of random love, love at first sight, true love, love that endures trials and tribulations. You know the type written in romantic novels, and plugged into the daily soap on television. This might also put a damper on the possibility of actually loving more than one person. Just look at the economics of it all. However critics of this line of thinking might argue otherwise saying that romantic love doesn't have to only be flowers and candies. It is an inexplicable emotional intangible- and hey you just can't put a price tag on that. There are walks to be taken, hidden glances to be shared, and the unity of hearts to be merged.
But let's get real. How many of us actually have the time, energy or wherewithal to take trouble to work on our personal lives or to make adjustments into our daily working schedule? That is until the weekdays fade into the weekend. Then we scurry trying to make up for lost time.
Flashback to mythological times
Which really brings me back to the beginning. Our Hindu Mythology can trace back the first moist dewdrops of the love potion and equation to the 5th century and the epic Mahabharata to the tales of Draupadi and her husbands, and the Gods- for example the God Vishnu's insane grief over his wife's death with his love carried over into another lifetime where she appears as Parvati. In Western culture and myth you just have to point towards Nottingham where Robin Hood played merry with Marian, or to the romanticism attached to the stories of Camelot and King Arthur's round table and of course Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. History has also seen great love stories some monogamous and other not: From the ancient Persia travelling to India's Akbar's Court, Napoleon and Josephine, Leela Majnu, Henry the Eighth and his many wives, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor to name a few. All of which strongly attest to the existence of the intangible "love" philosophy.
Sociological view
Dr. Vinita Bhatia, Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, at the prestigious St. Xavier's College in Mumbai, believes, "historically monogamous relationships resulted from societal influences and development. For example a person of a greater affluence was more likely to be in more than one relationship simply because he could afford to look after more than one person." She clarifies, " From an anthropological point of view it is definitely possible to love more than one persona simultaneously, and that does not have to be restricted to physical love, but would include the range of emotions attributed to such feelings." According to Bhatia we can see how our culture has developed in tandem to the rest of the world specific to its outlook on the "love concept" by referring to the research of pioneers such as Margaret Mead, Alfred Kinsey and the defining research by Masters and Johnson's in objectively challenging historical prejudices and biases related to human relationships. She adds, " it is possible to love more than one person romantically, but in India society yet does not find it acceptable."
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