February, the month of love, the month of Valentines Day, the month to paint the whole town red, truly lived up to that stereotype! Considering the kind of cheesy and love obsessed person I am, I just had to blog about it! As interested as I was in going ahead and celebrating it, I was equally keen on finding out where its roots lay. Dear Reader, do join me in traversing across the timeline of this ode to love!
There are several stories associated with Valentines Day! Wikipedia’s page made too boring a read and so I switched over to the vast expanse of google that had quite a few interesting suggestions! One version that I picked up from nearly everywhere was this- Three hundred years after the death of Jesus Christ, the Roman emperors still demanded that everyone believe in the Roman gods. Valentine, a Christian priest, had been thrown in prison for his teachings. On February 14, Valentine was beheaded, not only because he was a Christian, but also because he had performed a miracle. He supposedly cured the jailer's daughter of her blindness. The night before he was executed, he wrote the jailer's daughter a farewell letter, signing it "From Your Valentine." Another legend tells us that this same Valentine, well-loved by all, received notes to his jail cell from children and friends who missed him. (Aww how cute) Another legend goes as follows- Another Valentine was an Italian bishop who lived at about the same time, AD 200. He was imprisoned because he secretly married couples, contrary to the laws of the Roman emperor. Some legends say he was burned at the stake. Yet another says that the ancient Romans celebrated the feast of Lupercalia, a spring festival, on the 15th of February, held in honor of a goddess. Young men randomly chose the name of a young girl to escort to the festivities. With the introduction of Christianity, the holiday moved to the 14th of February. The Christians had come to celebrate February 14 as the saint day that celebrated the several early Christian martyrs named Valentine. (We learnt about the whole holiday lifting thing in history- no offense to anyone). 
So many theories and still I stand with no clue on how the day actually came about. Anyway, apart from all the theoretical confusion this day holds, practically its one that no one would mind celebrating… As early as 7.30 in the morning, couples walking around, hands tightly held together, or duos on bikes, with the girl clutching the guy tight greeted me. Despite having a psychology exam that day, my eyes only drifted to all those people happy to have found partners to spend the day with.. And me? Well I guess psychology was my date! :PPleasantries, wishes and hugs flew around everywhere in school. Who cares about the strict rules? It’s the day of love anyway! Love and bonding was everywhere apart from few people who preferred to consider Valentines Day as an eyesore (they don’t know what they are missing out on now do they?). Consider the happy mood of the post, I don’t want to ruin it by announcing and describing the sad demise of m psychology paper… So getting back, the mood was a euphoric one after the tests. The school lane was characterized by an oddly large number of people walking in twos.! I’m happy I had a person to walk with- my bestest (such a word doesn’t exist I’m aware, but another friends as unique as mine doesn’t either) friend :D Its while deciding what I could get my valentine for the day that I realized what an amazing day this actually is. Flipping through every cupboard at home for a nice gift (mainly to save me the trouble of going and getting one), scanning the world of internet for easy gift ideas, digging through the plethora of cheesy ideas in our heads, all makes one memorable experience. Thinking of his tastes, distastes, the colors he/she might or might not like, thinking of making his/her gift the best even though we aren’t dating and are just friends are all amazing things to go through. It’s the whole urge to make this the best V-Day for your valentine that makes this day extra special.
However said that age doesn’t protect you from love, but love, to some extent, does protect you from age, must have been lucky to catch glimpses of undying love, as I have. Youngsters in jeans, and married couples walking around with the fruits of their love by them weren’t the only ones I spotted. Old people, probably in their 60s or 70s didn’t leave any stone unturned in impressing their better halves. The man, being more robust than any youngster around, and the woman, blushing like a bride, newly wed, brought a smile to every watcher’s face. Its not just us humans who celebrate valentines day! The male dogs in my area used the day to woo their favourite bitches :p. The girls were left in a dilemma as they has such a range of dogs to choose from, as their valentine! At the end of the day, several canine couples could be seen, sharing their lives and love, with the setting sun providing the best romantic ambience. It is delight, sheer delight that one gets in seeing such sweet love being celebrated.
For those in love, every day in Valentines Day! J Truly so. And just in case one thinks that Valentines Day is only for couples, then you’re so wrong, my friend. Valentines Day finds itself in the list of fav days even among siblings, friends, parents and their children. It’s a day of love, irrespective of who the concerned parties are. At this point I must confess that my valentines day was so much about my valentine for the day, that I sorta neglected that woman, who has been my valentine through the previous 16 yrs of my life- my mother. (sincere apologies ma, just wait for next year). You’ll always be my first and best Valentine Ma J
Love is like wine, tastes better with age, if taken care of properly. Valentines day is a day to make that vow, to your better halves, to your parents/siblings/loved ones or even hose friends who you know you are going to be stuck with( :p with pleasure) forever, that you will take care to make this seed of love grow into a fine tree whose fruits can be enjoyed by all. Love too like everything else needs work my friends. The moment you have in your heart this extraordinary thing called love and feel the depth, the delight, the ecstasy of it, you will discover that for you the world is transformed. Life has taught me that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction.
For all those who hate or prefer to stay away from Valentines Day, I have just one thing to say- you are missing out on one hell of an experience! See how it feels to love and to be loved as well…! It will change the way you look at stuff forever..!
As Lucretius said- “We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another. “
Wishing everyone a Happy Valentines Day! (Belated, sorry I’m late )
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