I notice that no matter how we dream – travel, fame, career – our happiness all boils down to possessing love. To know it, to put it out there, to take it to bed with us as a shield against nightmares. I know successful entrepreneurs who are making such tremendous impacts on the world, I know ladies who’ve beaten the odds and have fought for their right to make a difference, I know people with such talent to make these black and white characters come to life and move you like your breathing depended on it.

They all cry themselves to sleep at night.

And when they wake up in the morning, it’s another long march, another glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe the next one that walks through the bar with kind eyes and dimpled smiles, the next one who keeps you awake at night with intellectual texts, the next one who bumps into you at the bank would be this “The One” character everyone seems to be in search of.

When we see something breathtaking, there’s always this thought of “Oh, someday I will bring my special someone here to witness this with me!” Never mind the two Masters degree. Never mind that in a few months there would be the opportunity to be the youngest partner yet. Never mind the chance to travel the world and pump fists with leading activists from around the world. Everything they ever teach you about in school, everything you ever pick up in life – we’d give it all away to find this other half of our split soul.

If unconsciously this is our life aim, why not teach it to us at school – how to respect someone, how to cherish, how to make a house a home, how to hold someone with just the right amount of space so you don’t suffocate them, how to let yourself go and be and in being, become. These are not easy to learn. It may take years to get a hang of this but imagine if we were all taught how to love, instead of how to make money because given the choice between the two, most people would pick the former.

And imagine going to a school like that? We’d never have wars. We’d learn how to be gentle and how there is no North India/South India, no India/Pakistan, no Black/White. No borders and most importantly, no boundaries. We’d be better prepared to grow up and listen for heart-songs. Better prepared to deal with this mess of living. All our lives, we’ve been taught the wrong things!

Giving and Receiving love in our day and age? THAT is the real Life Skill we ought to be learning.