When I grew big enough to understand love and Valentine’s Day...

Love is not the dying moan of a distant violin – it’s the triumphant twang of a bedspring. B.J. Perelman

When I grew big enough to understand love and Valentine’s Day, it somehow kept eluding me. Some sparks flew a few times in school and college but didn’t last long enough to catch a fire. I tried to woo girls on Valentine’s Day, but didn’t succeed. I ran behind them with flowers, read horribly written poems to them, cracked jokes… but it all fell on deaf ears. And the ones who tried to see me woo so hard, my blind eyes perhaps could not see. They for their share, dropped big enough hints, passed messages, held on eye contact long enough, but failed. My friends told me this later.

Then I got married – Arranged, Indian istyle. Clueless what to do on the first Valentine’s Day, I did the same mistakes again. But, hey, no failure this time. And thankfully no one else to deal with. So I bought her watches, jewelry, perfumes, cards, dresses… all these years and the love held. It has been fourteen years since we have been married – happily – and life seems to be promising enough for many more. People say life is full of compromises. I don’t believe in it. I feel life rocks if you believe in loving and giving. Someone always comes around the corner who will bounce back with equal force. So, guys, hop across to the nearest florist, buy a dozen roses, pick up a bottle of good wine and some chocolates and reach there at her doorstep. Then say it. The day might have just gone. But the truth is, everyday is a Valentine’s Day, if you are willing to see it that way.