Love As We Know It

One word describes how we've grown up thinking about love: Bollywood. Most of us don't want to admit it, but our idea of love is undoubtedly influenced by Indian cinema. What do people in love do? Well, according to Bollywood:

• They break into song and dance at unexpected times and locations. Complete with an orchestra, back-up dancers and costumes. In a white chiffon sari - in the rain or in the snow. Running between trees. 
• They don't realize they are in love through the entire three hours of the movie. Unless the heroine is getting married to another man and the hero decides to show up at the wedding with a 30 minute speech on how he has loved her since they were kids, playing cricket in their diapers. All the guests at the wedding get off their seats and start clapping; the groom is totally ignored. 
• They leave their families and elope. And then the heroine's dad sends gangsters after them, who beat the crap out of the hero and take the heroine with them. Dad then gets dear daughter married to his best friend's son. Dad's best friend turns out to be mafia boss at the end.
• They have several lives at their disposal. If god forbid the hero is killed during the first half of the movie, he will return after the interval - in another corner of the world, with a new name and a new hairdo. The heroine will find him in that corner of the world, without any issues.
• They break all boundaries of social status. Girl is rich; boy is poor. Girl drives around in Daddy's Mercedes with her girlfriends; boy works at a car workshop. Girl goes to get her Merc fixed; boy stands there in his shabby overalls. Their eyes meet. It is love at first sight. Girl leaves boy to marry rich guy to fulfill Daddy's wishes. Boy drinks his life away and becomes Devdas.

Is this really what people in love do? Or do they sit around listening to mushy music all day and watching lovey-dovey movies all night?

Like me.