Valentine's Day!
Leena Kamath

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I was appalled when the Time magazine carried a small column on Valentine's day statistics. It said:

35,000 hits on google for Valentine's day
18,500 hits on google for Valentine sucks day

I saw an interesting advertisement in India, years ago on Valentine's day. It went something like this: "Show your love on February 14th by buying this "something something," and watch the results exactly 9 months afterwards. (November 14th Children's day, you see!) Well, I did think this was an interesting ad and silently applauded the copywriter. 

Well, for those of us who live in the US of A, February is that month that lies in nullity. Most of us are still getting over the Christmas shopping and are still buried in bills left over from the Christmas. Just when you thought it was safe to relax, the commercial powers that be slap Valentine's Day smack in the middle of the month. All of a sudden, we have to find something to buy for our friends and loved ones. 

FACT: Valentine's Day is a manufactured holiday brought to you by Hallmark, chocolate makers, florists and others in order to suck the general public dry. Does any one of us know why Valentine's day is celebrated? I usually do some sort of research before writing an article, but this time, I did not bother to check in google (they have enough hits already!) for a Saint Valentine. I walked into my office this week and the topic of conversation (of course) was what to buy for their spouse for V-day! And they all left with the same comment, "There are only seven shopping days left until Valentine's Day, I better come up with an interesting else I will have to face the wrath of my wife for the next couple of months." A lot was said in that one statement. 

More often than not, mass advertising campaigns try to beguile us into believing we need to show our love only by buying the perfect gift. We show our love to our "significant other" by buying them flowers, cards, and gifts or else, we will be dead in a week! Was Valentine's day meant to be celebrated in this fashion? Well, I think not. And I am sure, most of you agree with me that Valentine's day is nothing but media hype. Why does everything we buy in the month of February have a heart on it? Frankly, I am sick of it!

When did it become necessary to be completely materialistic in order to show each other how we feel about one another? 

It is totally this writer's opinion that men definitely get the raw deal during this time of the month. Oh well! I am known not to be too kind to the men-folk, but what the heck, let's face it, the men-folk are getting a raw deal in this. While men are expected to shower their girlfriends/wives/sisters/mothers with gifts, which range from a diamond to dinner to flowers to cards, women get away with a card and an "I love you." Well, I know this for a fact because even I did it. 

While I am on this topic, Yes, I did ask my husband to buy me a Tigger Stuff toy/book. As a rule, I hate soft toys, but I love the Disney character, and I want to buy one. So, I thought Valentine's day was prefect. Maybe I shouldn't have…

A colleague/friend told me that she would be more thrilled to receive a hand-written poem on a napkin than to get $70 worth of flowers. That made me feel a little guilty, but let's face it, my husband's not good at poetry!

Make no mistake; ad executives know exactly how to appeal the public's emotions. They shoot for the pocket book via the heart. If Valentine's Day really meant that much to people, we would find a way to put more heart into it and less money.

-LKS