a little gem ...

In general I hate the kind of "tear jerker" tv shows, or those shows which delve too deeply into the personal life of others ... they are personal, why the heck do you want a whole country to know all your dirty little secrets?! Anyhooo, a couple of days back I was watching tv and for want of better things to see, I watched a few minutes of this particular program on Italian tv. From what I gathered they were trying to find the "perfect" companion for a guy, and they would interview a girl (or maybe girls? dunno) and after the interview the guy would have 10 seconds to decide whether he is interested in having a relationship with the girl in question or not.

This particular girl stated that after a decade of failed relationships, she has finally put her finger on what the problem was. She didn't want yet another relationship where she has to change herself, her thoughts, her personality and her ways because of the guy she's in a relationship with. She wants to have someone who accepts her as she is (mind you, she wasn't a fat and ugly lass as those who say this usually are ... she was in her early 30s and very beautiful), while she won't pin any expectations on the guy or the relationship. She seemed very fond of an Arabic poem which puts this perfectly into words:

Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,

Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

This is an excerpt from the poem "On Marriage" by Gibran Khalil Gibran. [via: Adab.com]

I suggest that you read it all, it's nicely put and good fodder for the brain.