Md Ahtesham Ahmad
Come February! Love will blossom everywhere in the air and almost every heart will throb with love and affection as the much-awaited Valentine’s Day – the D-day for lovebirds – falls on 14th of this very month. It’s the day when people show their love and affection for their loved ones by sending flowers, cards, chocolates, goodies, gifts with colourful messages of love and love emotions are, as though, on an all-time high. A proposal in the garb of a question – “Will you be my Valentine? ” resounds through every lover’s lips. But how many of us know who Valentine was and why his name is so synonymous with love ?
Well, this special day owes its name to a famous saint called St. Valentine, a Catholic clergyman, who lived in Rome in the third century but stories regarding its birth and origin abound. These stories evolved into the legend that we know today. At the time of St. Valentine’s life, many a Roman was converting to Christianity but Emperor Claudius II being a pagan framed strict laws about what Christians were permitted to do. One legend has it that when Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with spouses and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, the priest, came to realise the injustice of the torturous decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in a hushed-up affair. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius commanded that he be sentenced to death. Still others insist that it was Saint Valentine of Terni, a bishop, who was his true namesake. He, too, was beheaded by Claudius II outside Rome.
Yet there are other stories as well which suggest that Valentine may have been killed for helping Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured. A legend goes like – an imprisoned Valentine sent the first ‘Valentine’ greeting himself after he fell for a young girl – possibly his jailor’s daughter – who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine, ” an expression that is still in use today. Others claim that the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February in an effort to ‘Christianize’ the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. It’s worth mentioning here that English poet Geoffrey Chaucer was the first to record St. Valentine’s Day was a day of romantic celebration in his 1375 poem “Parliament of Foules, ” writing, “ For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne’s day / When every foul cometh there to choose his mate. ”
Cupid, a prominent child-like figure, is often portrayed on Valentine’s Day cards as a naked cherub with a bow drawn and arrows of love shooting at unsuspecting lovers. But the Roman God Cupid has his roots in Greek mythology as the Greek god of love, Eros. Lores of his birth vary; some say he is the son of Nyx and Erebus; others, of Aphrodite and Ares; still others claim he is the son of Iris and Zephyrus or even Aphrodite and Zeus. This Cupid has a special meaning in the diction of Valentine’s Day. When Cupid strikes someone’s heart, it comes to mean that the heart falls in love.
Unquestionably, Valentine’s Day celebrations were originally religious in nature but they have now assumed a status of broader popular culture. And the V-day is not just about one day’s affair – now there is a whole Valentine’s Week which involves something like events from February 7 to 14, with each day having a different significance, starting from Rose Day on February 7 and ending with Valentine’s Day on February 14. All one needs to do in a February romantic week is start with a rose and culminate into a Valentine.
Rose Day: On February 7, the celebration of Valentine’s week kick-starts with the fragrance and beauty of roses. On this day, people pour their hearts out to their loved ones by offering roses to each other. The colour of the rose also conveys the emotion behind it. For example, a red rose signifies the emotion of love whereas a yellow rose symbolises friendship.
Propose Day: The second day of Valentine’s week is celebrated as Propose Day. After celebrating rose day, people let the rose do its duty to convey the feeling hitherto hidden. Hence, they celebrate proposal day by coughing up their feelings to their loved ones or their crush in a race to form a meaningful relationship.
Chocolate Day: Once a proposal happens, it’s time to relish the upcoming relationship with chocolate on the third day of the week. So to have a chocolaty feeling this day is celebrated with all the chocolate flavours. On this day, people forget about all the bitterness in their lives and instead exchange sweet delicious chocolates to come close to each other.
Teddy Day: This is the fourth day in a row of Valentine’s week. On this day, people love to pamper their loved ones with the gift of cuddly teddy bears to express their love for the special person and to make them happy like a teddy. A cute teddy bear can change a dejected mood and bring a smile to their faces in times of modern stressful life.
Promise Day: This is the most significant day of Valentine’s week as it plays a pivotal role to take out a promise and pledge from each other to carry forward their relationship to a lifelong front. In other words, on this day, people make commitments to their loved ones for an everlasting love and relationship. This promise can pave the path to the success of their love as not having been a waste of time.
Hug Day: The sixth day of Valentine’s week is celebrated as Hug Day. On this day, people having been through all previous formalities, comfort their loved ones by giving them a hug in a win-win situation. Sometimes when words fail to explain an emotion or complicated situation, a hug can do wonders by addressing all issues.
Kiss Day: This penultimate day is celebrated just before Valentine’s Day, on February 13. As Valentine’s week is celebrated to express feelings of affection towards the loved ones, a kiss can be the best way to show love to the partner. This close gesture is the ultimate stroke of love to lock the relationship in an everlasting affair.
Valentine’s Day: Finally, the day of victorious love is here for celebration on February 14 every year. Through several stages of courting before, couples find themselves triumphant in love in this final stage, plan for a celebration with their loved ones and spend their precious time with each other on this day.
Valentine’s week is such a time of the year when love and romance is celebrated everywhere and when love rides high on every emotion across the world. While popular culture makes us believe that Valentine’s Day is only for couples in love, in modern context anyone we love, can be wished on this day. It’s a day of love and that love can be for anyone we have a soft corner for. All kinds of love must be celebrated whether it is for our friends, our parents, our siblings, our children or the like. St. Valentine, as we know, stood for true love, his day must be dedicated to the promotion of true love as well to spread the very message of true love to the entire humanity.
