Editorial: Love doesn't cost a thing

CHENNAI: German director Werner Herzog, feted as a brilliant documentarian, had in 2019, made a film called Family Romance LLC, which critiqued the rental family service popularised in Japan. It’s a professional stand-in service that provides clients with actor(s) portraying friends, family members, or co-workers for social events such as weddings, or to provide platonic companionship. The phenomenon has inspired debates around the world, calling out the culture of disconnection that has become so emblematic of our screen-dependent times.

On the occasion of Valentine’s Day, which has now transformed into a billion-dollar industry, it might be pertinent to touch upon the manner in which our ideas of romance, love and sweet nothings have undergone a significant evolution. The Black Friday-esque spillover of roses, greeting cards, stuffed toys, jewellery, chocolates, electronics, apparel and holiday packages aside, the notion of love is throwing up a smorgasbord of indulgences — not just for those in love, but even for those who aren’t quite sure of ‘where this is headed’, and for jilted survivors too.

This week, we had the privilege of reading up on a news report that said a fundraiser was being held at the San Antonio zoo that will symbolically name a roach or rodent after an individual’s ex and feed it to one of the zoo’s animals. An American chocolatier has also come up with a line of confectionery, where the messages on the sweets are ‘as blurry as your relationship.’ The chocolates are part of a special ‘situationship’ edition. For those of us who missed out on acquainting ourselves with this Gen Z concoction, a situation implies a romantic or sexual relationship that is not considered to be formal or established.

You’d be mistaken if you’re under the impression that Indian politicians were not up to speed with these newfangled love-boats or ships, as the case may be. In fact, the Uttarakhand government popped a bubble when it introduced its fully-loaded Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill in the assembly last week and got it passed, with just a presidential nod stopping it short of turning into a legislation. The UCC requires couples in live-in relationships to register themselves with the registrar. There’s also a provision to de-register a live-in relationship. Good luck explaining to the man or woman behind that desk, that you’re not quite in a relationship, but a situationship.

India seems to have a rather Orwellian equation with romance — some romances being more equal than others. Our Supreme Court tut-tutted the rights of same-sex couples to be married, even as scholars waxed eloquent about the economic fallout of excluding queer individuals from the social institution of marriage. The country seemingly parts with more than 1% of its GDP through the systematic exclusion of LGBT+ persons from the labour market.

For well-heeled queer folks who couldn’t wait for old geezers to kick the bucket before ‘affirmative action’ on LGBT inclusion became a reality in India, the only option was to jump ship (pardon the pun). Our brain drain is not just in pursuit of big bucks, but on account of individual liberties too. But it seems pointless harping on the notion of love in a country, where the biggest blockbuster of the year featured an anti-hero smashing everything in sight to pulp and demanding the leading lady to lick his boots to prove her loyalty to him. That’s love for you, right there.