Long kiss goodbye

They say you do not ever forget the first kiss. Chances are, you do not forget the most disappointing ones either. Isn’t it strange that we attach so much of a premium to the art of kissing and intimacy, when we actually don’t remember most of them. Unless of course there is a story around it.

Which is why, break-up sex has assumed the kind of importance that it has. Or so I am told. On a slightly more romantic note, the last kiss, like the last waltz does assume a certain misty significance. When we are in love, we imagine our lives to be at the centre of the universe. We believe the world wants to know how quickly our hearts beat when our lovers draw close. Or if we are getting identical tattoos at naughty places. We become poets overnight, philosophers and singers, songwriters and great companions in bed, the morning after. Once it ends, our castles come crashing down. And we are left clutching on to the illusion that perhaps we did save the best for the last. Or maybe, whoever follows us, will have a tough act to follow. And we go harbouring such delusions of sexual grandeur.

As students of literature, we spent hours sighing over Robert Browning’s The Last Ride Together. Which is essentially a long monologue of a rejected lover, who is talking about how the great love affair ends.

In hindsight, it is like James Cameron’s Titanic. Cameron made a 195 minute film about a fateful night when the ship that sank, putting an end to a day-old love affair. Browning wrote 10 stanzas about rejection as he rode alongside a lover, who apparently has been silent during the ride.

If you ask me, both are equally bad.

Think about it. If you know that you are going to die, or about to split up with your gorgeous girlfriend, how would you spend your last few minutes together?

Make memories that last longer than your affair?

Or would you rather end it all in a dignified way and travel light, travel far?

Because god forbid, if that last ride together (pun intended in this case), the last kiss and the last waltz turns out to be better than what you had intended, it will simply mess up with your mind. And if it turns out to be a disaster, you will never, ever forget it. So why risk it at all?

If you ask me, it is better if you just go with the flow. Live in the moment. Do not look for a place in the Legendary Lovers’ Hall of Fame. When you go in with absolutely no expectations, you may just be pleasantly surprised.

SPEAK UP

Did you like this? Write to us at sexualitydna@gmail.com