So the time of the year has begun. Cold, murky weather, yet the people tend to “glow†without any electrical terminal connected. The weather seems romantic no matter what; sunny or awfully foggy and cold, everything is connected to romance. It’s like love is in the air and no one could be more right of course; it’s February, the long sacred month of love and romance is one of the trendiest stuff that has been evolving in our society. Of course, first it was Valentine ’s Day and slowly but astonishingly it has transformed to Valentine’s week festival which includes days like rose day, chocolate day, teddy day, hug day and so on which may not be in that particular order. But again, that’s not important. Things change with time, even occasions and festival of love it seems. But how did this day come to be? Who is it named after? And what made this person define this particular day as the day where people in love must celebrate it? Many of us don’t know at all and don’t care. The curious ones like us have slightly lazy attitude about it. And those of us who do know about it simply don’t care at all, about whether others know about it or not (Sad, Sad world that we live in!).
Many historians believe that Valentine’s Day was named after one Saint Valentinus. According to records kept about him, this day was actually about sacrifice and religion however other medieval documents and tales of old suggest that St. Valentinus was a popular figure who used to perform weddings for the soldiers who were forbidden to marry. After his imprisonment it is said that he healed his jailer’s daughter and just before his execution he wrote a letter addressed to her as “Your Valentine†(so this is where the phrase “will u be my Valentine†originated). However many argue that Valentine’s day became associated with love only in the late 17th-early 18th century when the system of courting each other became a when established tradition in western Europe. This day became the defacto day where people expressed love to one another with the help of flowers and gifts and other worldly items to profusely express their love for one another. This is said to symbolise the beginning of tradition where flowers and gifts began to symbolise the confectioneries of love and affection. Similarly Saint Valentine’s keys are given to lovers “as an invitation to unlock one’s heart to another eternally†which can be seen in many places from France to Italy to this day. The story of how greeting cards came into existence is even more astonishing. It is said that people in middle Europe, especially men, used to write the name of the woman who they wanted to court and send it to the woman with a lot of love related greeting for the acceptance of courtship. This triggered a new way of expressing love which continues till this day; love letters; lovely sms; greeting cards, etc. Although historians clash with each other about the origin of this unique day, one thing is for certain; one way or the other, valentine’s day is the festival of love, and its history and origin hold little significance to the lovers of this age who won’t probably give a damn about this either.
No matter what it was called or what it really symbolises), valentine’s day today is one of the most important occasions celebrated widely across the world; this includes even the Orient zone (mainly Indo-Chinese region). Merits and demerits of Valentine’s Day is not for me to decide but we all must be real careful about what our actions symbolise. Other than that, well all of us have heard the saying, “Everything is fair and beautiful when love is concernedâ€. Cheers and kudos to you who have a Valentine for this Valentine’s Day and for those single souls, don’t feel dejected for there is someone still waiting for you to find them. Happy Valentine’s Day to all, Enjoy!
By : Diana Shree Nath
