Recession seems to have hit us really hard. Pink slips, salary cuts, sobered down lifestyles are all the after affects of this phenomenon. In the United States of America we have the Obama Government trying to bail out the major corporates. Here in Bengaluru we had our very own “Social Service” organisation that were out to help the people out by getting them married off on the occasion of Valentine’s Day.
A majority of people, all over the world, profess their love on this particular day and the other few get married. There are mass weddings held across countries on this particular day. So why does this only happen on this particular day? “Love” is something that is universal and for this to be glorified on one particular day of the year seems to be a phenomenon of sorts. Every year, on this day I stop to think about how this phenomenon has been able to spread itself around the world, amongst millions of people.
A section of our society considers this day to be an evil and an immoral occasion. There are extremely rebellious thoughts against this and high-levels of hatred are expressed on the particular day. Greeting card shops are shut down forcefully, gift shops are ransacked, flowers are trampled upon, pubs and restaurants are broken down, and couples are harassed. It seems like everyone has their own way of expressing “love”. These rebels feel that our culture is being hampered by having an occasion like this one. They think that this one day embarked to celebrate love is a taboo to our morals and values. Of course their solution to eliminate this “evil” is hatred. I am amazed that in order to “protect” our culture, these groups end up displaying violence, which according to them is morally right. Even our politicians assist these groups to a large extent across our country. The concept of democracy somehow seems to have been erased from their dictionary.
Similarly there are several organisations that also support this particular day. They stand by the couples and help in spreading and celebrating love. These organisations are willing to brave the rebels and ensure a peaceful environment. So why do these organisations stand up against the rebels on this day? Some do it because they genuinely are considerate about this occasion. They are the ones who truly believe in love and peace to be spread all over the world and believe that violence is not an answer for anything. The others in this category are the ones who play political games, just to gain publicity and support. They really are not too concerned about this day or love and peace flourishing.
An occasion like this also happens to be a boon for the marketers. When else will they get to commercialize an event to such an extent that there is a mad rush of people at the greeting cards’ stores? How else do you expect the highest sales of flowers on a single day to happen? How do you think rolls of gift wraps and gifts vanish on a single day? On what other day will all the tables be booked and the dance floors be jam packed? This day just happens to be one of those days which turns out to be extremely beneficial to all the marketers. They see their revenues sky-rocketing.
I must say that I too have been a victim of Valentine’s Day on several occasions. These were of course days, when my pockets went dry and my thinking ability came to a stand-still. Those prior weeks of tension, wondering what I need to do on Valentine’s. Is it going to go well or is it going to be disastrous? Is it going to make or is it going to break? Am I going to end up doing something over the top or am I going to do something too little? Is the place too sober or is it too fancy? Is it too cheap or is it too expensive? Is the shirt I am wearing too bright or is it too plain? One spray of perfume or many more? Is the gel too much or is it too less? Do I wear formals or semi-formals? The clean-shaven look or the stubble look? Do I take my car out or borrow my friends? Will she prefer chocolates or will flowers do the job? Complementing her dress first or her hair-do? Should we hit the movies or do we do dinner? Or both?
One day and so many questions. This is one occasion that every man dreads. So why does the man have to do everything? Is it a law? All the questions a man asks himself is evidence enough to prove that it’s a day where a woman just smiles and the man does too, but at his cost. All the expectations are on him and not on her. Well, there are a few expectations on her too, from the man, but see that’s just where it ends, at a thought. The concept of equality certainly doesn’t hold good, on this particular day.
This has been a day that was popularised in the west, but has slowly spread to the other regions of the world garnering increasing attention and popularity. In India, the concept of Valentines seems to have spread all over with both positive and negative attention. This seems to have caught up with the youth all over and is being celebrated by couples much older too. We have all read in the papers and also watched on our televisions how much of a weightage this occasion carries in increasing readership and viewership. Numerous contests and theme based programmes have all of us glued. Well, with all this attention also invites a lot of controversies.
So after a month filled with controveries I must say that pink chaddies certainly did a good job of covering up some “unhygienic outlets”. Looks like this Valenties Cupid’s arrows actually did hurt instead of spreading love.
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