14th February- A special day

Tomorrow is Valentines Day. The festival has caught on like a rage, especially amongst the youth. They may forget their parents’ birth or anniversary dates or even their exam dates, but never February 14, a date etched in their heart – a place storing all their romantic feelings.

In the blog written last year, I had lamented about having grown too early and fast, for my youth was bereft of this beautiful romance sozzled festival- to add jocularly, Rakshabandhan was more prevalent then and we were scared of being tied a rakhi by a girl other than our own sister 😀!

However, jokes apart, your lover need not be your own valentine. Anyone, whom you admire, love, adore or worship can be your Valentine. In fact, Urdu poetry is replete with subtle nuances where lines eulogising one’s lover could in fact be meant for the Supreme Godhead ( much of folklore around Lord Krishna is also built around this particular aspect as who else can be a bigger Valentine than him?) as would be clear from the following lines:

Jhuk jana hi mohabbat hai,

Aur iss baat ka sabse bada saboot

Sajda hai!!

To bow down is the real love,

And the biggest proof of this is prayer!!!

The inspiration for this blog actually came from a thought outside Mahim Church that read:

“One country, one love. Happy Valentines Day.”

The above is another connotation of Valentines Day where the Valentine is country.

In fact, one’s parents, children, teachers, friends – anyone whom one loves and adores can be one’s valentine, which renders an altogether different and beautiful feeling to this day!

Those who oppose this beautiful festival, vandalise gift shops and harass boys and girls just need to open their eyes and minds and they will see beauty in this festival and beauty in this God’s creation called the world.

Happy Valentines Day.