My friend Meha Dhondiyal asked her trademark ‘random weekend question’:
‘What is your romantic advice for young people?’
As a practitioner, here’s my answer:
Have lots of (safe) sex. Don’t give a damn about what society thinks. Hold hands. Kiss. Go away together. Show PDA. Shout your love from rooftops. Be vocal about love. Remember, if you’ve to hide a relationship, you shouldn’t be in it. Duniya gayi tel lene. Jo bhi karna hai, khullam khulla. Jalne wale jalaa jalaa karein, humein unse kya? Don’t worry about what anyone else thinks. They’re just jealous.
Oh, and by the way, when it ends, as it will, don’t fret. Move on. Remain friends. Once again, don’t give a fuck for what anyone else expects or wants you to do. Look ahead, not back. Find more love. Nothing lasts. But that shouldn’t stop you from (a) trying to make it, and (b) enjoying it while it does.
And lastly, remember, giving and receiving love is the same thing. You can’t have one without the other. Being in love is like a boxing bout. Both have to agree on the rules of engagement. If one of the two (or three, or four, or whatever number, depending on your and their inclination) doesn’t, it ceases to be a boxing match and becomes a beating.
So, consent, fearlessness, and safety are the keywords. Be yourself. Enjoy yourself. And when you aren’t doing either, call it off and exit gracefully.
‘Nuff said. Now, go exchange some bodily fluids. Or hold hands. Whatever.
![Mr Baba: 'Would you like to take off the backpack now that you've been downstairs for like 30 minutes?'
Ms Kym-Kym: 'I like it like this. You should try it. It's very comfortable.'
Mr Baba: [Pulling on his backpack] 'Hmmm, you're right. That's rather snug.'
Ms Kym-Kym: 'Twinning! Yay!'
#LuckiestManAlive #BearFamily](https://scontent-lax3-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.29350-15/416920031_3373151642830342_6696851954454537274_n.webp?stp=dst-jpg&_nc_cat=105&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=18de74&_nc_ohc=ZMLmjPdSAEUAX8nnJex&_nc_ht=scontent-lax3-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&oh=00_AfB0olvUVmnenPKd2wCllMDehg5gzDgAbc4BDsGLqIm6pA&oe=65BA4561)
![Kym: 'Mr Baba, can I tell you something wierd? You can actually get tired from doing nothing!!'
Me: 'It is called boredom.'
Kym: 'Noooo. I mean, like physically tired.'
Me: 'One can get tired and sleepy due to boredom. I remember reading about it somewhere. Let's find out.'
[Some Googling later]
Me: 'It says here that "A new paper published in the journal Nature Communications finds that a part of the brain that is associated with motivation and pleasure - the nucleus accumbens - also can produce sleep. The new findings may explain why we have the tendency to fall asleep in the absence of motivating stimuli, i.e., when bored." Isnt it interesting?'
Kym: 'I already knew that. Why do you need to research things we already know?'
Me: [Finding a subject worth talking about now]: ' Ah well, that's what we'll talk of tomorrow on your morning run. It's very interesting the way science is done and our understanding of the universe is expanded.'
Kym: 'Can we talk of unicorns instead?'
Me: 'Sure. How do you know they exist? That's an interesting question too that you can use the scientific method to answer.'
Kym: 'Do they have to exist for us to talk about them? We can just pretend they do for an hour and have fun.'
Me: [Laughing] 'Yes, sure. We can do that too.'
#BabaBabyConversations #BearFamily #KymAndI](https://scontent-lax3-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.29350-15/416410840_383105434396466_2267910263456009774_n.webp?stp=dst-jpg&_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=18de74&_nc_ohc=LIozs445JFcAX_48wGC&_nc_ht=scontent-lax3-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&oh=00_AfDQ2qbb0yO_wUmLj_L0ZxF61eDdwlIN-vyrd8GZe_pBMQ&oe=65BAFA57)
