Dil to pagal hai as Valentine Day spirit grips romantics in city

Messages, from 15-plus to 50-plus, ranged from mushy to mundane, intelligent to inane and good to verse. Some were celebrating their past, others raising a toast for the present. Some proposed with diabetic sweetness — daring to leave their name, pager numbers, mobile and telephone number.

One chap, calling himself the `the new age chivalrous man’, wrote: “My day is just not the same if I don’t speak to you atleast 20 times. I am glad you have bought this mobile. Will you please allow me to pay the bills?!”

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) — a “vital link” for lovers — issued an ad inSaturday’s paper wishing a happy Valentine’s Day.

There were `Vail-entines’, too, ruing their broken fate and broken arrows. A crest-fallen fan had a message for Sreedevi Kapoor, another wished Lymaraina (Miss India 1998) good luck for the Miss Universe contest, and one female asked Bill Clinton and Saddam Hussein to be her Valentine.

Remember the famous song “My heart is beating, keeps on repeating…” from the yesteryear love story Julie ? One was reminded of that by Sandy, who proclaimed his unalloyed love for Darloo with a mindboggling 20 inserts in the four-page Valentine special supplement of the The Indian Express.

And talking of Bollywood, there was a message in syrupy Hindi in one of the English tabloids. The from and to names in the message seemed to indicate that it was from a popular hero, who was recently in the news for beating his ex-actress wife.

It’s the Internet era and lovers spoke in the language of the age. One girl told her guy: “I’ve created a webpage in the Internet of myheart, accessible only to you. Just click lov.me.com. Enter a world of never-ending passion…”

And another wrote: “Read the message on the monitor of my heat which needs you as a software to boot my system.”

It’s election time and a `Vel-on-time’ wrote: “Nobody knows who will be the next Prime Minister, but I know who will be my next Home Minister.”Commitment has not gone out of fashion. One guy enquired: “…do you believe in love or arranged marriage ? Because, if you love me, I’d like to arrange our marriage soon.”

Another was willing to wait patiently with dignity: “…there’s nothing better I like doing than sharing a sunset with you. One day we’ll share a sunrise too…”

And then there was one who was willing to be a Valentine “but only if you just open you wallet-in-time.” Cupid or stupid?

The Valentine Day Award winners need special mention:
The Bill Clinton Award for a clear conscience: To the guy who wrote: “…You are the only love in my life. And I would be luckiestperson to have you as my wife. You will be a special person and be treated as a begum and you will always be besides me and not between my other girls in harem.”The Kamalahaasan Award for the best Indian lover: “Sweetheart (American), the joy of complete wedding is made up of four m’s: mehandi, music, marriage and memories. Not C.M. (Court Marriage). Forever your’s, Vande Mataram (Indian). The Post & Telegraph Award: To the one who wrote, “You are the envelope, I’m the stamp. Stick with me and we’ll go places.”

The Einstein Award for the best application of physics in love: To the one who wrote, “…the mass of my lonely heart multiplying with the velocity, increasing due to acceleration of my feelings for you is producing a momentum of love which is overpowering and overwhelming my senses. The memory of your beautiful face, you simplicity and your lovely eyes is causing a static interference in the wavelengths of my mind, keeping me aware all night. There’s dance, there’s music and there’s dry, redwine. We can study physics later. Today, sweetheart, be my Valentine.”

The Jiggs Kalra Award for the best recipe for love: To the `chef’ who professed, “…Just take a pound of thoughtfulness and mix a pound of care. Allow to simmer for a while. Then add consideration before it boils. From top, remove all anger and vexation. Add a pinch of sympathy, flavoured with sunny smiles. Place it in a loving heart to cheer some weary miles. Wait ill it sets, then sprinkle seeds of kindly thought and kindly deeds. Result , a complete success of human joy and happiness.” The Shahnaz Hussain Award for the ever-so-young looks: To the guy who thanked “all my ex-flames for keeping me young all these years.”