Is romance dead?

Remember the time we swooned over SRK dialogues. He always got the most romantic dialogues.

Remember his monologue in veer-zaara?

Remember the way he looked at Manisha Koirala in Dil se?

Remember him saying "agar Ganga ki iffazat karna Pyaar hai, toh hai"

Remember how as teen agers,  the idea of perfect romance was someone,  somewhere, who would say the perfect things,  look at you the same way.

That was all a decade back.

Today, remember the moment we read some one expressing their feelings on Facebook and cringe?

What happened between then and now to turn us into such cynics?

The thought entered by mind as I got a recent article published and cringed at the editor's change of the title.  I literally hid my face and tagged a few less people on Facebook as I felt it was too cheesy.

And then I remembered the mushroom-cut Tomboy of a decade back who daydreamed of the perfect man,  blushed at every word SRK uttered, listened to Enrique, watched Notting Hill, When Harry met Sally,  Serendipity endless times.

And we played a game, wherein the next song on radio was what our crush thought about us.  It was a way to please ourselves.  (cheesy I know)

I refuse to believe that this is what growing up is.  Being practical isn't being cynical. Somewhere the innocence is lost,  but the idea remains.  Makes me question is romance really dead?

Agreed that being romantic doesn't necessarily mean being vocal about our feelings. That actions speak louder than words.  That not every relationship can be as intense as Heathcliff-Catherine romance in Wuthering Heights.( wish it could)
we live in an age of over-sharing where posting on FB  has replaced the private talks we shared with our best friends.
Where clicking that "in a relationship" button on FB is equivalent to commitment.  But does this not also mean that we should replace the word cheesy with sweet.  Maybe it's ok to express your love on FB.  Let the whole friend list know how you feel about your partner. It really is okay. All judgements aside. ( all this coming from a person: Me; whose partner is not even on FB)

What I mean is,  agreed that actions speak louder ( I already said that! ) so while on a personal level you feel the love in the cup of tea your partner makes for you every Sunday morning (not forgetting to put the cream of milk in the tea, coz he knows you like it), remembering to order your burger without onions each single time,  singing "kaho na kaho" with all the Arabic lyrics for you while alone in car.
Once in a while you also need the intensity,  the public display of affection, the right words said by the right person and doing that without calling it cheesy!
So next time someone does that,  please say sweet, coz it is sweet, it takes courage to wear your heart on your sleeve.  And hearing cute, lovey- dovey stuff really brings one closer and keeps us young. SRK maybe old,  the idea isn't!
so here's to keeping romance alive-
-Say what you feel! 
-write poetry for your partner.
-tell him/her how important he/she is ( on a social site may be or just sms)
- take a bottle of wine home with a dozen red roses.
- better still cook dinner together.
- rent your favourite romantic movie together (for guys)
or sit through star wars with your partner(for gals)

point is- do something to keep it alive.