Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Have a heart
|
Commercialisation notwithstanding, this Valentine's Day Hyderabadis will wear their hearts on their sleeve, writes DEEPA ALEXANDER
|
Photo:Satish H. Graphics:D.Vijay Anand
MUCH ADO about love, and why not? As the heart thumps its way to yet another Valentine's day, it's raining men at all mega shopping malls. Massive discounts and end-of-season-sales to give those who have not loved well a chance to love more. Lit up shops with painted shop girls, styrofoam hearts and Cupids, red buntings, roses, trinkets and crowds flushed with money. The city has a buoyant and bubbly feel and the whole world takes on a rosy tint.
The mood was set a week ago, when lifestyle chains, retail outlets, bookstores and hotels dressed their exteriors in splashes of red. There is an eruption of love all around. T.V. channels, newspapers and hoardings scream the idea - Valentine's Day is here. The personal columns in newspapers bulge with messages -- Faisal declaring his love for Fatima, Sandeep overwhelmed with his feelings for Suchitra and so on.
Love over the years has been immortalised in poetry, literature, theatre and films. For most Indians, however, this celebration has nothing to do with the hoary traditions of St. Valentine, a priest who was martyred by the Roman emperor, Claudius II for joining in holy matrimony, forbidden lovers. But many feel that love is the only thing that can solve the problems of the world. Yet how often do we listen to contemptuous references to this noble feeling?
What! Is this thing called love?
Jeevan, 24, a civil services aspirant says, "Images of young lovers holding hands, exchanging heart shaped boxes of candy... It is enough to make a free-thinking individual have a fit. Every year I am disgusted when my eyes fall on the centre of the February calendar and see these ignorant fools who buy into the money-making-scheme of a day disguised to show a loved one just how much you care while those who pass the occasion unheeded meet with scorn from their partners." Phew! Some strong sentiment that!
But Jeevan is among the few with that line of thought in Hyderabad, which has morphed from a staid city to a love-struck one.
What is this thing called love?
Hang around any of the malls around the city and you'll know. Teens lounging in groups at the car park and sprawled all over the steps. Singles sending out messages loud and clear while others swear eternal love. "I had taken my girlfriend to Bangalore for the Bryan Adams concert and on D-day will propose to her on bended knee", says Amit working for a software company. He will not be the only one in the twin cities who will be clenching a rose between his teeth that day. Many are hoping to get engaged, married or simply chill out. Since it falls on a Saturday there is an epidemic of theme and weekend parties. And then there are those in contests ready to try out anything crazy. At one hosted by a music channel, a young man even rode a donkey to claim his lady-love.
Presenting a single rose is passé. Now you order by the dozen and Dutch roses at that. And the red tinged ones cost three times the price. No money? No honey, either. Valentine's Day gifts are at prices that border on the insane. Mala loves carnations that cost Rs. 10 any other day of the year. Last year, Sharan, her husband gifted her 50 to celebrate their first Valentine's Day together. "It cost a cool one grand," she sighs.
When the Beatles sang Can't Buy Me Love they sure had not factored in card companies. Puerile worded cards jostle for space on the racks with sentimental and mushy ones. Sizes of cards feature from those that fit into the palm of your hand to those that can shelter you in a thunderstorm. Gifts range from diamonds to crystal ware to key chains and other baubles. But when it comes to gifts, don't be fooled any more by the clichéd "it is the thought that counts." Money, taste and brand also matter as Anup, college student, discovered. "I gave my girl a yoga mat last year. She was so miffed. She first accused me of suggesting that she was plump and then was irritated because it was not a branded one," he laughs.
What is this thing called? Love?
But whoever said that Valentine's Day is only for the young or for lovers? The Wadias have been married 40 years. Says Shirin, "Adi and I knew each other before we were married. I don't think we celebrated it but yes, we were always in love." And then there is Roli who is planning a trip to the Araku Valley with her terminally ill sister this Valentine weekend. "Love is like the measles," said humorist, Jerome K. Jerome. "We all have to go through it." The day evokes powerful emotions despite the `guardians of Indian culture' being on the prowl. The intensity of it leaves you bewildered. So do the hype and activity - shopping, parties, dinners, cards that hardly express what you mean and yet you buy them and movies and ads that are nowhere near reality.
But celebrate love in whatever form or whomever it may be with. As Irving Berlin once sang, true love is a many splendoured thing.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
|
