Love needs no scriptures

Karanji is the last refuge for lovelorn couples facing caste and religious barriers, reports Jaideep Hardikar from DNA newspaper.

“We are slowly gaining popularity as the place of love,” quips the chieftain of Karanji., “There is no place for caste here.”
The trend began nearly six years ago, when an inter-caste romance stoked tension and bad blood between people of the two castes. The village elders came together and convinced the couple’s parents into getting them married. A huge wedding and reception followed. Says a gram sabha member: “For us, it’s always a reason for celebration. It brings all of us together and keeps the spirit alive.”
Villagers contribute to the expenditure, make the arrangements collectively and join the party without fail.
This is an unusual incident in the country divided by caste and class; where love is still a taboo and a legal marriage is celebrated with great pomp and show.

Osho has raised his voice against this, “ If two people want to live together, they don't need any permission from any priest or any government. They need the permission of their hearts. And the day they feel that the time has come to part, again they don't need anybody's permission. They can part as friends, with beautiful memories of their loving days. Love should be the only way for men and women to live together. No other ritual is needed.”

The obvious question would be, ‘ What about the children? Who will look after them?’

Osho goes a step further and says, “The only problem in the past was what would happen to the children; that was the argument for marriage. There are other alternatives, far better. Children should be accepted not as their parents' property -- they belong to the whole humanity. From the very beginning it should be made clear to them: "The whole humanity is going to protect you, is your shelter. We may be together -- we will look after you. We may not be together; still we look after you. You are our blood, our bones, our souls."
“In fact, this possession by the parents of the children is one of the most dangerous things that humanity goes on carrying. This is the root of the idea of possessiveness. You should not possess your children. You can love them, you can bless them, but you cannot possess. They belong to the whole humanity. They come from beyond; you have been just a passage. Don't think more than that about yourself. Whatever you can do, do.
Every commune, every village should take care of the children. Once the commune starts taking care of the children, marriage becomes absolutely obsolete. And marriage is destroying your basic right to love.”
“If man's love is free, there will not be blacks and whites, and there will not be these ugly discriminations, because love knows no boundaries. You can fall in love with a black man, you can fall in love with a white man. Love knows no religious scriptures. It knows only the heartbeat, and it knows it with absolute certainty. Once love is free, it will prepare the ground for other fundamental rights.”
Sermons in Stones