
Really taking it to heart
Have you been seeing red lately? Well, what else would you see with Valentine’s Day upon us floating on a crimson tide? In great Indian assimilation mode, we have taken to this day of romance in the unique manner in which we have taken to all sorts of days like Halloween’s Day, Friendship Day, Groundhog’s Day and so on. And in direct proportion to our desire to revel in Valentine’s Day comes the ire of our friendly neighbourhood Shiv Sena moral police who are lurking behind bushes to snuff out any attempts by couples to canoodle.
Indeed, the valiant Sena vows each year to smash shops selling Valentine’s Day cards and gifts. But will all this stop us from plunging into Valentine’s Day festivities with gusto? Not on your love life. But while we will defend to our death the right to celebrate love and take on the Sena on the beaches in trenches and in shopping malls, many of us seem to have forgotten exactly what the day is all about.
So you can imagine how disconcerting it is to receive tender Valentine’s Day messages from one’s female friends and male friends, please note those one is not romantically attached to.
While reading a few such messages, I happen to mention to the spouse how peculiar it sounded to me. Fearing that I was fishing for gifts, and seeing a heart-shaped hole in his bank balance, he denounced the whole thing as a clever marketing gimmick of which he would have no part.
While the messages come thick and fast from odd quarters, I could not help but think of the origins of Valentine’s Day. Though there are differing versions, St. Valentine as he later become known, was put to death by the Romans in 269 AD for refusing to give up Christianity. Before he pegged off, he apparently wrote a letter to his jailer’s daughter with whom he had become friendly and signed it ‘from your Valentine.’ Now here we really take all this to heart. So for those who do not wish to stop at roses and candlelight, a spa experience may be in order. Or, a meal at an upmarket restaurant. Very much like the shakahari burger at McDonald’s, we have added our own bells and whistles to this day.
Be sure, that come Valentine’s Day next year, we will have added further embellishments to it. Just as we celebrate Halloween’s Day, an occasion where once the dead were thought to come back to earth. So the message is clear, the Sena has little chance to cast a dampener on our spirits when even the living dead cannot pull it off. But let us remember that Valentine’s Day messages are not for your buddies, whether male or female. So let a thousand romances blossom, and steer clear of the enthusiastic Shiv Sena spoiler.

Batla House: Ariz Khan held guilty of killing inspector
- Additional sessions judge Sandeep Yadav convicted 35-year-old Khan, also known as Junaid, Salim and Anna

National farmers’ database on anvil
- The database uses Aadhaar-based data generated from key farm sector programmes such as PM-KISAN.

Prominent warnings at IGI against carrying bullets soon
- Police data shows that some of the 522 passengers nabbed in last 5 years while carrying live bullets in their bags claimed they had done so unknowingly

Is the Haryana Act legal?
- Private firms will likely claim that the law interferes with their constitutional rights to carry on trade freely

Why reservation may fail in levelling the field
- From SC-ST social groups, reservations have expanded to OBCs, economically weaker sections

Record GST collections expected in March
- The revenue in March may cross the record Rs.1,19,875 crore collected in January by at least Rs.10,000 crore.

Report on probe against DU V-C Tyagi likely today
- Officials said that an inquiry committee, constituted by the Visitor of Delhi University (DU), the President of India, held its final meeting.

MP assembly nod to anti-conversion bill
- BJP MLAs supported the bill and called it a gift for women on the occasion of Women’s Day

Anti-spam tech halts OTP texts for some
- The technology requires telecoms companies to scrub messages to verify if the text being sent has been approved and it is only being sent to someone who has consented to receive such a message.

On their day, women farmers helm the stir at all sites on Delhi borders
- Throughout the day, women protesters organised marches at the sites while wearing yellow, green scarves

Activists flag concerns over debris dumping on Yamuna floodplains
- Responding to HT on Monday, CPWD denied all allegations that the waste from the Central Vista construction site was being dumped on the floodplains.

After almost 25 years, women deployed aboard Indian warships
- Two women officers each have been assigned duties aboard INS Vikramaditya and INS Shakti.

9 killed in blaze at multi-storeyed building in Kolkata
- The fire had broken out at the 13th floor of the Eastern Railway’s office in the evening.

Best role played by anyone during pandemic that of mothers: Education Minister

'Does 50% reservation limit need a relook?' SC asks states after 29 years
- The apex court framed this as one among the several questions to be decided while considering the constitutional validity of a 2018 Maharashtra law.