"What's Love Got To Do With It?" Response

Anjula Razdan's article "What's Love Got To Do With It,"is an essay that expresses the authors thoughts on the meaning of true love, and finding love the right way. Razdan, throughout the entire essay, explains how true love is thought to be found, but how it all ends up in a divorce, especially in the western society, as he describes it. Razdan's own parents were joined together through an arranged marriage while they were young people in India. Razdan explains why his parents seem to not even know each other, and then goes on to talk about how this is relevant to many marriages in the U.S., most ending up in divorces. A brief plot summary, the overall theme as I see it, and my personal opinion to this essay will reveal a role that the essay can play in the lives of many ordinary people.
Razdan begins his essay by telling the story of how he and his family formulate different opinions on love and life. His parents, being put together through an arranged marriage, hardly even know each other, says Razdan. They did not even go on a date that was just the two of them, they were accompanied. Razdan then goes on to tell of how the society we think we live in today gives us the chance to pick our partners, in which it does, but we do not choose wisely. Razdan also puts into thought the fact that most of us wish we had a matchmaker, where we would not have to sit through a bad date, or a blind date, or anything of that sort. Razdan then goes on to tell of how we expect to live "happily ever after", but in fact Razdan gives a stat that states half of marriages in this country ends in divorce.
 He then goes on to tell of how an experiment was done about how a love contract could work, but for a certain couple who experimented with the contract, they had to go to therapy and other types of helpful sessions to learn how to communicate well with each other, something that many ordinary Americans should do in a way. Razdan then goes on to tell of how there is an increase in professional matchmakers, and how T.V. shows and movies persuade the public to try out matchmakers, thinking that the perfect match will be made. But, as a Stanford scientist has found, there is more of a risk for failure, due to no interaction and no social talking. There would be no face to face talking or anything of the sort if someone used an online aid, so there would be no chance of know what the person would look like or really act like. All that could be gone by would be a survey on the internet, which is not very reliable. Razdan then includes a poem by Emily Dickinson, which explains how love is like a bird, and how if you tear the bird apart, you silence the song. Razdan winds up the entire essay by telling how you cannot look into love too much, because you might end up hating it more than for what it really is, and taking it too seriously.
The theme, as I read it, and take the entire essay in, is that take your love seriously, but do not try too hard to find it. Let it come natural to you and find a natural person for you. If you need an aid that is fine, but there is a chance that it will not work out, as is the case for fifty percent of all marriages in the United States. Razdan, by including the arranged marriage of his parents, helps his case, by saying that their marriage was natural and was forced, and they do not really know each other to this day. They do not see the point in naturally finding your partner on your own, and enjoying the love that can take place if you find your own love. But, with the end of the essay, Razdan makes sure to get the point across that we cannot keep it in our minds that we will ever find a "happy ever after" partner,but we can eventually find a person who we adore and love, and can build a love over time, and give each other a chance to build eternal love.
My personal opinion of this essay is that it carries a strong message, and a reality-check in mind. We must take love seriously, but not to the point where love is not fun or needed. We need that extra person in our lives, who cares for us and loves us no matter what we do. Every person needs to feel that acceptance and have their emotional needs taken care of. If a person does not have these needs, then they will be miserable. We need to also be able to find true love the natural way. Not all of us are made to be married and have children. We all do have the ability to have strong relationships, and this is what gets us through life. I am at a stage in my life where I am exploring the world of love, not trying to find the perfect girl right of the bat, but looking at the different options that I can choose from and see. I am not worried about finding true love this early in my life. That time will come. For now, I am going to enjoy my life in college without the worrying of finding the perfect girl.