UNIT 2：How Deep Is Your Love?|你的爱有多深|Mansi BhatiaLove to some is like a cloudTo some as strong as steelFor some a way of livingFor some a way to feelAnd some say love is holding onAnd some say let it goAnd some say love is everythingSome say they don't know1 有人认为爱如浮云有人认为爱坚强如铁有人认为爱是一种生活方式有人认为爱是一种感觉有人说爱要执着有人说爱不要约束有人说爱是生命的全部有人说不知道爱为何物At some stage or the other in our lives we experience an emotion which defies definition. It's a feeling that can only be felt and not described. An overwhelming joy that comes together with its share of sadness. Love.2 在我们生命中的某个阶段，我们会经历难以名状的情感。
这种情感只能体会，无法用语言描述。
莫大的喜悦伴随着丝丝的伤感一同降临，这就是爱。
Given the busy nature of our lives, it's to be appreciated that we even find the time to indulge in matters of the heart. But at the same time I wonder if we even understand its true depth. I remember having countless crushes while in school. My math teacher, our neighbour's son, my bestfriend's brother and lots of others whom I fancied for the colour of their eyes, the shape of their moustaches or just the way they walked. Harmless puppy loves that are as brief as soap bubbles. I can laugh about all those silly and adventurous thoughts and acts now but at that time nothing could be more serious an affair for me. Then came the stage of real relationships.3 在紧张忙碌的生活中，我们竟能找到时间，沉湎于感情之中，这的确令人感佩。
然而，此时我想知道：我们是否懂得爱到底有多么深刻。
记得上学的时候，我迷恋的对象真是数不清：我的数学老师、邻居的儿子、好朋友的弟弟，还有另外一些因为眼睛的颜色、胡子的形状或走路的姿势而让我倾慕的人。
年少时的爱慕，不会带来伤害，如肥皂泡一样转瞬即逝。
那些稚气、大胆的想法和行为，现在想来大可一笑了之。
但是，在那时，对我来说，没有比恋爱更重要的事了。
接着就进入了真正“谈”情“说”爱的阶段。
Being in an all girls' school I hardly had the opportunity to interact with members of the opposite gender. Socials between our school and the boys' college, therefore, would be awaited anxiously. Those three hours of unhesitant attention by a group of well-groomed young gentlemen provided us with enough content to talk and feel excited about for the next four weeks.4 我在女子学校学习，和男孩子交往的机会寥寥无几，因此，我热切地期待着我们学校和男子学校举办的交谊会。
交谊会上，一群精心打扮的年轻男子毫无顾忌地盯着我们。
这三个小时中的点点滴滴，成了我们在以后四个星期中足够的谈资，我们在议论时，心情澎湃。
And even then there was no real need of having a boyfriend.5 即使是在那个时候，我也没有真正交男朋友的需要。
I somehow grew up believing that love would happen when it had to. And sure enough it did. It came at an age when I had a career, a long-term plan and a more or less settled life (and now I am not yet 25!). I was mature enough to enter a relationship which demands a lot of give and not so much of take.6 在我的成长岁月中，不知何故，我相信爱情该来的时候自然会来。
事实果真如此。
当我有了稳定的工作，有了长期的计划和比较安定的生活（我现在还不到25岁呢！）时，爱情降临了。
我也比较成熟了，能够步入不贪图许多回报而需要大量付出的感情关系。
Love was a magnificent building I built on the foundation of friendship. It took time to blossom. It took a lot of understanding, loads of sharing and caring, and plenty of affection to become what it is today. And it meant a meeting of minds. You might say that I belong to the traditional school of romance. But in my opinion, love needs to be nurtured. And it has to be distinguished from the intense but short-lived love or the pleasures of the flesh.7 我的爱情是在友谊这块地基上建起的高楼大厦。
爱情经过旷日持久的培养才开花。
我和我的恋人相互理解、同甘共苦、相互关心，投入了丰富的感情，才使爱情发展到今天。
爱情意味着情投意合。
你也许会说，我属于浪漫的传统派。
但是，依我看，爱情需要培养。
我们必须把爱情同强烈而短暂的激情或身体的愉悦区别开来。
Our parents' generation was fed lavishly with ideals. It was an era of constraints, restraints, respect, admiration, and plenty of romance. The long skirts, the quiet and unpretentious looks, the curled long hair, the calmness, the shy glance 鈥?these are all so frequently remindful of a bygone era. An age when the distance between the sexes somehow managed to help preserve the holiness of love and relationships.8 我们的父辈，接受了理想爱情的灌输。
那是一个约束、压抑、崇敬、仰慕和十足浪漫的年代。
长裙、娴静质朴的外表、卷曲的长发、恬静的气质、羞怯的目光——这一切常使人想起一个消逝久远的年代。
那个年代，男女之间的距离无论如何都有助于维持爱情以及恋爱关系的神圣性。
The younger generation, with its openness and fading lines of proximity, has jumped on the bandwagon of love with so much haste that it is difficult for them to distinguish between physical attraction and mental compatibilities. What we have been exposed to via the media have fast paced our sensibilities so much that taking things slow requires effort on our parts.9 年轻的一代人，由于观念开放，随着男女之间交往界线的消退，他们便急于赶浪头，匆忙恋爱，以至于难以区分身体的互相吸引与心灵的相投。
我们从媒体中接触到的人和事，使我们的感情历程大大加速，要想慢慢地体会自己的感受，确实需要付出努力。
I am sorry to learn about the kind of emotional baggage school kids are carrying in what are purely unemotional relationships. Some might blamethe current state of affairs on peer pressure. But has anyone ever stopped to figure out where this peer pressure originates? Do any of us try and understand who is responsible for this shift? Does anyone bother to study the state of mind of the teenagers?10 学校里的青少年在全然没有感情的关系中所背负的感情包袱，令我深感难过。