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“Perhaps it’s the only way to retain it. Love. To never let it happen. To love, otherwise, is always to lose.”
- The Nine Chambered Heart, Janice Pariat
I always say that love is an act of courage — as if it were a battle to be won. As if we were always negotiating, always walking on eggshells. A friend once told me, “If it’s not the easiest thing you do, is it even love?” But what about fear? As we change and evolve as people, does our love change and evolve too? What if we lack on velocity? What if we fall behind or what if our priorities change? Where does the love go then?
If there’s any artist in contemporary India who can make the toughest of choices we make in love look easy, perhaps the way it should be, it’s Prateek Kuhad. A little while ago, Kuhad had launched his song ‘Pause’ for Netflix’s ‘Little Things’. Written and sung by Kuhad, the song was picturised on the show’s protagonists as they tried to find balance in their relationship whilst trying to keep their love alive. The song was recently launched across all major streaming platforms like YouTube, Spotify, Apple, Soundcloud, Saavn, Youtube Music, Resso, Amazon music, Hungama, Gaana, Wynk, Tik Tok, and iTunes Store.
Straying aside from the waterworks-inducing video (if you cry as easily as I do), the latest launch gives us the chance to listen to and internalise the beautiful lyrics that are all about love as it evolves. ‘Pause’ is about love that’s all-giving. It’s about both people making the effort to evolve together, even if one is slower or a little out of tune.
“I could never speak in tunes before
But for you, I could write a symphony
If only you would sing along
Doesn’t even need to be in key”
The song implores one to put all the external fears and worries aside for a while. In not diminishing their inevitability, however, it asks one to do very little — to pause for a moment. To take a breath together and find each other again, breath by breath.
“Can we pause this moment, keep it open
Close dance alone”
Even though the song is set amidst a whirlwind, a desperate situation, there is no urgency to its mellifluous lyrics. The tune flows freely, pensively, filling every bit of the listener with thought, imploring them to stop and remember why was it important in the first place.
Brimming with a sense of longing even in belonging, the song assimilates all the broken pieces of divergent thoughts with utter care, love, and a deep sense of humility.
Even though I am not one to profess about it, love, after all, should feel like home. It should probably feel like coming back to ourselves after a distracted day. It should probably feel like hot tea right before bed on a cold winter night.
And, so maybe, I will also pause and maybe, I will listen to my aforementioned friend, to Prateek Kuhad, and to Anaïs Nin who says, “It is easy to love.”
And this time, as Kuhad says, “ We’ll keep our hearts wide open.”
Listen to the Official Audio here:
On Soundcloud:
Find it on Prateek Kuhad’s Instagram here:
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