An article I wrote for The Hans India - a reputed daily in Telangana
When Shakespeare wrote ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’ he probably envisaged the day when ‘Love Locks’ on the bridge ‘Pont des Arts’ in France would forcibly be removed, causing agony to many a love bird. However, he wrote ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’ as a comedy, but, this one, is a tragedy of sorts for the love stricken.
For years, tourists across the world have been attaching ‘Love Locks’ with emotional messages to bridges in France as symbolic acts of love. A few cupid-stricken lovers even went a step ahead and threw the key afterwards into the river below sealing the deal. The sentiment, though a ban on Love Locks on ‘Ponts de Arts’ stands good, still remains rife and the practice isn’t easy to stifle overnight.
In fact, a few allege that there are in excess of million ‘Love Locks’ on 11 other heritage sites in Paris, including a few on reputed Eiffel Tower itself. If ever a drive to clean up the city takes place, it needs to get to the bottom of the issue – like the bottom of river Seine too, where alone exist more than a million keys.
But how did this all begin?! Well, it all simmers down to a movie. A 2006 Italian adult novel-turned-movie created this practice in Rome. A couple of die-hard lovers hit the road to France and fanned the flames of this ritual in 2008. The trend spread like wildfire. Today, it is believed that most of France’s sites have ‘Love Locks’.
However, there are many who oppose this practice as it possess a genuine threat. in 2014, there was even a bid to discourage visitors and lovers (mostly they are one and the same) from indulging in this practice. Instead of attaching ‘Love Locks’ to bridges and other sites, they were asked to take selfies. But the attempt miserably flopped. Ironically, ‘Love Locks’ proved a huge hit. Since then, the practice became more rampant with a threat of it spreading to other European countries too.
Till recently, ‘Pont des Arts’ has had over 700,000 locks which is roughly the weight of 20 elephants. Phew! Pretty hard on the bridge, right?. Owing to this burgeoning weight, a section of the ‘Pont Des Arts’ gave away. Raising eyebrows and serious concerns over safety of tourists. That was the last straw! The city of Paris too had enough of these love birds being a burden on their heritage sites. The authorities decided to take prompt action to replace ‘Love Locks’ on ‘Pont Des Arts’.
These ‘memoirs of love’ will finally be replaced with something less harmful and more appealing to tourists, ensuring safety for everyone. Of course, this also brings to mind another of Shakespeare’s play: ‘All’s well that ends well’.
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