Valentine showers are not for the beloved alone

‘Love’ is very strong force that works when all other powers – money, muscle or political power fails. Why to restrict its multifarious benefits to beloved alone? In this stress-laden age and era torn with turmoil and conflicts, let none be deprived of the Valentine showers.

With flowers beginning to sprout, weather pleasant and ambience tickling with romantic hue in spring season, it is natural for the young and also the others young at heart to get excited and seek proximity to close one. Arrows from the bow of God Cupid set one in musing mode irrespective of age, opening vistas unimagined earlier. “Love unlocks doors and opens windows that were not even there before” said Mignon McLaughlin. The thought of hugging the loved one is enough to usher in sense of ‘feel good’. “A kiss makes the heart young again and wipes out the years,” said Rupert Brooke.

Each day of the Valentine week 7 to 14 is associated with a savoury item: Rose Day, Propose Day, Chocolate Day, Teddy Day, Promise Day, Hug Day, Kiss Day and finally the Valentine’s Day. Initiated by St Augustine and celebrated by the youth and other votaries of love, Valentine day owes its origin to the Middle age belief that the birds begin to pair in second month of the year. The love instinct becomes particularly dominant around this day, or perhaps the youth act like that. Those in love can accommodate in small places, do with little. It is only force, said Martin Luther King Jr, capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.

Bracketed with supernatural powers, the theory and practice of love defies any rationale. Imbued with a tinge of madness, player of the love game proceeds at the pinnacle of one’s strength, verve and stamina to get over the formidable barriers and challenges. In the process, one on giving side acquires courage and the recipient, strength. History is replete with numerous examples of lovers flaunting all norms and courtesies, often risking their lives to seek what they think they cannot do without. The likes of Romeo & Juliet; Paris & Helen; Shah Jehan & Mumtaz Mahal; Napoleon & Josephine; Bonnie & Clyde and so on continue to be witnessed in all communities today. The agony and the unease of separation of lovers continue to be staple theme in literature of most languages, both classical and modern. The intensity and immensity of lover’s enthusiasm is exemplified by a fakir who visits the court of king Bahadurshah Zafar, a ruler in British time when protests against foreign dominion were brewing all around. Pleased at the hospitality of the ruler, the Fakir thus blessed him, “May you love the native soil as a lover does with his beloved.” The king quipped, “Why not like a mother?” The Fakir said: “One does not go mad when in love with his mother as is the case with beloved; and today this country direly needs people with such madness to rout the Britishers.” The king ordained, “We shall discharge tomorrow’s Namaj with you.”

Reason of all unreasonable actions, one imbued with enormous poise and good sense is not impervious to the onslaughts of the instinct of love. Admittedly, no words are capable of truly expressing the variegated emotions: anguish, anger, love or whatever. “Words like nature half reveal and half conceal the soul within,” said Alfred Tennyson. Words always elude what heart seeks to bring to fore. A hug or kiss comes as handy relief to fulfill the need. “A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous” said Ingrid Bergman. When the chemistry of the duo is in unison, the two together amalgamate in a composite entity like a circle, and either of them alone has no meaning; a half circle is an incomplete being, says John Donne in his poems.

The healing touch of love is what each of us needs in hectic, stress-loaded life. This two-and-half letter (Prem in Hindi) is known to reverse the course of rivers, change the drift of governments and history. Further, there is all the more need of love when it is not there! Alas, the magical powers love wields often remain confined to the flirtations with a lone lady or two. This precisely was the intent when Antoine de Saint-Exupery said, “Loving is not just looking at each other but looking in the same direction.” Rather than becoming a stumbling block in career building by distracting the lovers, this power must serve as inspiration to further individual and broader social interests.

Let the ambit of Valentine Day extend beyond serving business interests. As the E-Commerce firms, mobile, electronics and other industries are busy with alluring offers, let us relieve the suffering hearts by listening and attending to them.

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First published in Edit page of Orissa Post on 14 February 2021.

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