I once had the misfortune of coming across an insanely mushy couple who had bought for themselves an intolerably cute and fluffy bunny rabbit, terming it to be their ‘baby.’ Their respective friends were referred to as ‘aunt’ or ‘uncle’ when talking about the bunny in question, and since they lived a bit far apart from each other, the bunny was carried to and fro to each other’s places so as it could get to spend equal time with both its parents. Incidentally, the poor thing did not survive as it was too young to endure that amount of travelling, and it makes one shudder to think that with this new advent of mandatorily doing something as a couple on Valentine’s Day will subject so many other baby rabbits (or for that matter even other animals) to the exact same plight. To top it all, in addition to Valentine’s Day, now there’s a whole series of days leading up to that day like Hug Day, Kiss Day, and equally other silly days, turning it into the dreaded ‘week of mush’, which surely didn’t exist back in my younger days and is seemingly hard to place when and how they actually came to be. February used to be a perfectly lovable time, the last month of pleasant weather, which has been successfully turned into a cringe worthy odyssey. 

Suddenly one gets to see lovers emerging from all around who weren’t seen before, professing their love in exultation that isn’t witnessed anymore in the rest 360 or so days of the year, and in some cases, the couple itself is not seen together again! 

It is only if you pass the Valentine’s week without trouble have you tested and proved your mettle as a potential couple, and touch wood, you’re set to stay (at least for some time) together. This week, however, is a blooming time for business, as the couples seem to be under some sort of inexplicable compulsion to go out and spend time with their significant other ‘meaningfully’- now we have exorbitantly priced coffees, pastries and other food items, ‘couple discounts’ at lounges, restaurants, and things in general tend to shoot off to a ridiculous amount making it difficult for those who treat it as a normal day, which is sadly, a pitiable minority. Earlier, this price hike happened only once, during the period of Durga Puja till Diwali, but now this is a bi-annual affair to deal with. 

It is quite difficult to discern what joy one derives by spending a whole lot of money, for a social construct, that too for something which may or may not last, not to forget the amount of time and energy invested as well, to come up with innovative, out of the box ideas each year to spend V-day. It makes one think, is this entire ruckus which lasts for such a brief period really worth it year after year? 

After all, isn’t Love supposed to be celebrated every day, instead of having just a single day devoted to itself? And why must we conform to a certain way of expressing our love that has intricately associated itself with Valentine’s week – can’t one just spend this time in their own way, and not drink pricey coffees or buy dramatic gifts or unwittingly slaughter innocent bunnies in the process? One could keep it particularly low key and not upload a million soppy pictures of themselves and how they spent their V-day on social media, instead sit home, do whatever they love to do together as they do for the rest of the year, and it could make an equally incredible and ‘meaningful’ way to spend the fated day. 

Not necessarily demeaning anyone through this platform, but under the circumstances that this ‘Day of Love’ came to be, it is a pity how it has been turned into a laughing stock and the very ideals on which St. Valentine started this, has turned into a farce. Although, there still are some out there who manage to uphold the true meaning of Valentine’s Day, it is only when it will be a collective sentiment that comes from within, will we be able to properly pay homage to love, and needless to say that is something the world needs dearly at the moment. 

Coordinator, ex- Gokhale Memorial Girls’ School