We have it all. And this leap year, with an added day, well, Amen! I am talking about the special days. Three more days to go and you have one of the most awaited days of the year: Valentine’s Day ke din main, keh doon unkaheen..!
Two days ago, the florists were on a high. Rose day and then there you go! Friends, Lovers, Countrymen and yes, you too, bought roses for the near and the dear ones. Roses, roses, roses everywhere and not a petal to smell (ah! for me), but it was a delight again to observe people walking with a stemmed rose, red mostly, yellow and white as the pockets permitted. You could almost sense that the V-day was near. Then let’s take yesterday. Jodi-makers’ and breakers’ day perhaps. And they called it “A Proposal Day”. Many of you must have proposed: to your lovers for the handcuffs to be tied this year, to your bosses for a raise, to your maids for adding that extra pinch of salt to your food, to your parents to let you grow up finally, to your government for letting you be more vocal on Facebook and awaiting with an unending list of several other proposals.
Today. Beat it if you can, it’s a “Teddy Bear” day! Looking at those steeply priced soft toys at a ‘mall nearest to you’, you might wonder how to spend the ‘mehnat ki kamai’ on your beloved and your loved, buying them teddies. The teddy would make them fall for you, your love won’t!
Oh come on, how cynical is this, isn’t it? Let it be, we only need an occasion to celebrate, one more reason to show we care, one more moment to feel yes, am alive. It’s only when the morning newspapers show that a widow with a kid by her side has been shut out by her in-laws and shunned by police, has spent the entire night in an open, you might wonder that the little boy might deserve a teddy or a rose and the mother, a decent acceptance by the society and her loved ones. One incident alone can question your civilization, and what’s the point if we do not consider these things and only announce days like your-most-loved day or your-most-despised-people day or say, or as gross as a no-potty day?
Celebrate, Spend but think! Exchange shoes and re-think!
