VALENTINE’S DAY 2013

Today is Valentine’s Day …and so it is expected that many people will flock the malls – mostly young lovers, sweethearts, and families wanting to spend the day with their kids…but how and why exactly is it celebrated? According to Wikipedia, the tradition started as a Christian celebration to honor a Saint Valentine for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry under the Roman empire. The use of hearts on Valentine’s Day came about because legend says that St. Valentine cut hearts from parchment and gave them to soldiers and persecuted Christians to remind them of God’s love and encourage them to remain faithful Christians. It was also believed that St. Valentine sent the first ever greeting card to the daughter of his jailer (whom he also miraculously healed from blindness) by sending her a letter on the night before his execution and signing it with ‘your Valentine’, a phrase still widely used in Valentine’s day cards to this day. However, the first recorded association of romantic love for Valentine’s day occurred in the 14th century with a poem by Geoffrey Chaucer entitled Parliament of Foules…there were three other authors who made reference to birds’ mating on St. Valentine’s Day. Many more references on Valentine’s Day appeared in English literature like Paston Letters, Hamlet and Fairie Queen. But it was only in the 19th century that paper cards became popular in England. By mid-19th century, mass-produced greeting cards became the norm rather than handwritten notes. Then in the 20th century, instead of just cards, gifts like roses and chocolates packed in a red heart-shaped box were also given out to their lady loves. In the 1980s, Valentine’s Day was also promoted as a day to give jewelry. But to tell you frankly, I am not an ardent believer in all this hullaballoo that has become of Valentine’s Day. Of late, it has become a highly commercialized holiday that is being taken advantage of by numerous scrupulous establishments like greeting card companies, chocolate factories/makers, flower shops, jewelry stores, restaurants and even, hotels that offer special promos for lovers and families. It is merely a product of too much commercialism and HYPE, all for the benefit of PROFIT. And so on this special day, instead of standing in line to eat at restaurants or watch movies or check-in at a hotel…we would just rather spend a quiet dinner at home…with the kids. We could go out on our own date – either eat out and watch movies after the Valentine frenzy is over…