Why Romeo and Juliet should have learnt Chess

It's rather intriguing-we are all in here to do business.

Each one of us are solving this eternally long debit and credit problem where at the end of every period, we look back and check if the debit column and credit column match. If there is a mismatch we try to console ourselves telling that surely credit will catch up with the debit and finally for every penny spent, for every moment utilised, for every contact made and for every hand shaken- there will be a pot of gold that is waiting to be realised sometime later.

Consider this. I am talking on the phone with somebody. That somebody is doing something utterly noisy in the kitchen. The conversation is going on great. Suddenly the noise subsides, and it does not take a Sherlock Holmes to deduce that the kitchen session is now officially over. After a few seconds, you realise something odd. You realise that the somebody has grown reticent. Withdrawn. And you feel on the telephone the same kind of unease that might grip you if you would have unknowingly swallowed something poisonous. The sense of something not being right. And all of a sudden, there are a few strategic things said; a few deft techniques, some pauses, some implied sighs, jabs and within the next couple of minutes, nothing remains of that very interesting call. Hardly surprising. Presumably when you have food sitting in front of you, it would be some sort of a talent contest in self-restraint to mind the call instead of not hogging the food!

So we are all master accountants. Holding onto a call only till we feel it mutually comfortable to do so. Doing a favour thinking of the favour in return. Talking sweetly with someone because it would be sour otherwise. Making an effort because its worth the effort. Meeting someone because we WANT to meet that someone. All for a reason. Give and Take. Nobody's time and company is for charity.
And a ‘best’ friend is simply one who can do all these without making it seem like a business proposition.

And that’s why I am eternally sceptic of this funny thing called love. It’s a high stake game of Debit and Credit. A Casino Royale of all gambling contests. Two people in a fierce war of maximising returns. There can be two equilibria in this game.
Either both are equally selfish and they are in the relationship because they realise that its a fantastic business proposal. So very naturally in this case the relationship falls apart the moment either one finds his or her interests compromised.
Or there is the other extreme when both are selfless, and are ready to stick on regardless of payoffs. That’s rare. The last I saw of it was in Shakespeare’s plays!
But very often there is a third case. Where one is selfless while the other one still at the calculator maximising payoffs. Where one person feels that love is this fantastic moon-light radiated bliss of mind while the other person considers it a household gadget that you should handle carefully once the warranty period is over and throw to the dustbin once it’s stopped working.
And that’s when you have a ‘heart’ attack which no amount of 999 dialing can avert.

So that's why before you fall in love; learn how to play chess. That’s most of what we do in the world; play chess. The good players win. The bad players lose.

The challenge is not in finding the soul-mate.
Its all about avoiding the check-mate!