Thought

So earlier today, while driving down to my office, I put in a CD that I'd never really listened to before. It happened to be a compilations of old Bangla songs. The words of the song went something like this:

"Hoito kichui nahi pabo
Tobu o tomai ami duur hote bhalo beshe jabo
Hoito kichui nahi pabo"...

This literally means,
"Perhaps I will get nothing in return
But I will continue to love you from afar"

While I understand love is an ephemeral feeling, one that cannot be explained really. However, is unrequited love possible, forever? In the world we live in, especially here in the West, psychologists, friends and anyone else one might care to listen to when faced with such a situation would be to "get over it", heal and move on quickly. Opining and thinking about someone, and expressing those feelings, especially after the other party has decided to move on with their lives, would almost verge on psychotic behavior, from a societal stand-point. Yet, in the way our traditional South Asian culture works (or at least used to work), one would almost believe that it is possible to martyr one-self, and selflessly continue to want somebody even after they no longer would seem to care about you. Bollywood movies are filled with stories of people who continue to stymie themselves and their lives, just to be with the person they feel they love even though they may never get anything in return. Would this mean, that today we have just become more self-obsessed, more about instant gratification? Can one truly love somebody else even when doing so would be seemingly detrimental?