It is February 13 and the buzz is all around, all about the next day. What we are talking is just not another date it is February 14. ‘Excuse me’ gushes Manisha from Hissar it is ‘February the 14th’, as she goes on. “Well the day may not mean much to me personally but certainly it is very much there”.“But I can vow if it were not were for that harrowing advertisements, V- day would not have been there in India,” she generalises. “It is just a marketing pushover from the corporate sector.”Poonam from Bhubneshwar avers Manisha, as she believes that Valentine is the baby of globalisation and is nothing more than an import from the west. When asked how about celebrating it as a day for someone special she says, “You need not wait for 14th of a particular month to celebrate your feelings of heart.”For Sonal Dubey it is an occasion to be with the loved ones. “It brings charm, what else.” Though this is something new in her life, as she confided that it was only when she reached the 7th standard during her schooling that the word Valentine first poured on her innocent ears.Poonam says Valentine in India is all about Archies gift shop and its sales, as she quips, “It is so stupid to break into that gallery on a certain day in the name of love”.Parvinder Singh Sandhu from Amritsar, who is pursuing research in Organic Chemistry, declares he has no time for any such day, more so because he has no special girlfriend. “We are professionals striving to find a leg for ourselves in a highly competitive field. Once I marry then I wonder of using my day to take my wife to swanky restaurant.”He also opined that Valentine is not for the opposite sex, as it is popularly made out to be.Shiv Ram from Tamil Nadu says it is an occasion to shake a leg with some special, for me my girl. But we in Chennai always prefer to do in groups. That makes the moments more jovial. Ram feels that Valentine is only for lovers and it has not much place in the family. “My parents are not even aware of what all the fuss around Valentine is all about, but to me it is a chance opportunity to impress the girls.”Sonika from Noida says she has not an iota of belief in this day. “It is so artificial that out of the blue comes this day and you are compelled to showcase your soul mate via the MNC way.”Aalap from Raipur (Chhatisgarh) feels strong about love but to him it does not seem necessary to expose the same on any particular day.Harjot from Chandigarh calls the celebration of Valentines Day a hullabaloo good for nothing. “It is a sheer wastage of time, energy and money.”When Kartik was asked to disclose his plans for Valentines Day his immediate response to the query was, “Oh really, is it tomorrow. That’s strange. Seriously I had no idea about such a hugely publicised day”. Gayatri from Kadapa (Andhra Pradesh) says Valentines is not ours. Celebrating it simply means getting dragged to a glitzy idea and nothing else.Kiran from East Godavari Andhra Pradesh similarly feels that it is just the fascination of the west, which is creeping in the laidback lifestyle of the neo rich Indians.Deepak Veerwaal from Ghaziabad calls it a very absurd fest. He states that it is only for the promotion of the big restaurants and big hotels that a mountain is made out a molehill. “I am in relationship with a girl but will not meet her tomorrow just because it is a Valentines Day. We may even escape that if chance have it so.”Vikram a collegiate from Karnal, who boasts of a pretty girlfriend, says, “I am not going to initiate anything on my own. If she calls me then it is fine, as I will do whatever she asks me to do.”Rishi from Deoghar speaks reluctantly that he has no reason to be overjoyed about the day. “Since I have no girlfriend, Valentines personally means very little to me. If I had one (a girlfriend), things would have been quite different and enjoyable,” he said with much regret.He also adds that whatever the hype and hoopla about the Valentines Day it is never going to be assimilated in Indian culture. And once the euphoria in the newly westernised section of the Indian society is over, it will wither like an autumn leaf in a deciduous wood.
