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LOVE IS IN THE AIR: The moral goondas should try and mouth an experimental 'I Love You' to understand its magic. Lovers enjoying at a park in Bangalore file pic</td></tr></tbody></table>This year, we are going to have a rather interesting Valentine's Day. Apart from an overload of pink in shops, restaurants and on street corners this time we are going to have an extra element to spice up our sweet nothings. The moral police. The funniest thing, though, is Valentine's Day has nothing to do with St. Valentine. Renowned for his chastity, he is in no way connected to this festival that goes back to the Roman era. It was a festival of youth celebrated with a lottery where young people chose their sweethearts through lots. In fact, historians claim that, by naming a pagan festival after a saint, the Church legitimized the hedonism attached to the day. Valentine's Day in the past consisted of divination games and sentimental meanderings. Young girls placed bay leaves under their pillows on the eve of Valentine's Day to dream of their husbands. That was all there was to Valentine's Day. Till some marketing brain in the west thought of souping it up to push for sales in the rather lean month of February. In a month when the skies resemble unwashed bedding and the ground is knee deep in snow or slush, anything will cheer people who are in the throes of winter blues. And what better place than the heart to aim darts at? Think about it. If there was no Valentine's Day, would anyone consider wearing a frothy satin and lace confection to bed instead of flannel paijamas? Would anyone splash money on colognes chocolates and teddy bears instead of meatballs, new shoes and blankets? Over the years Valentine's Day has come to be part of our life as have all those other days imported from the west u00c3u00a2u00c2u0080u00c2u0093 Mothers Days, Fathers Day, Secretary's Day, Doctor's Day. The truth is in the midst of our frantic days, we perhaps forget to be nice to the various people in our lives. Hence the institution of such days is to merely mark a moment for us to take time out to remember them. To be nice to them and perhaps make up for not being as nice for the rest of the year. So shouldn't love deserve a day too just as we have a day for celebrating our independence from imperial powers or for seeking the blessings of Saraswati, Ganesha and Lakshmi? In fact, it is one day of the year when despite the sophisticated veneer most of us have cultivated and the 'can't be bothered with such mush' attitude, even the most hardened hearts turn into gooey marshmallows. As for the moral police who are planningu00a0 to stalk the streets, it seems to me that they in their stupidity and ignorance rival the Ayatolla and his goons who declared a fatura on Salman rushdie without even having read the satanic verses. In fact I would like to suggest to the moral goondas that they try and mouth an experimental 'I Love You' to understand its magic. They will discover for themselves how it is guaranteed to mend hearts, healed bruised egos, seal cracks in crumbling relationships and forge new ones. As a healing proposition it's yet to be equalled.

Healing powers

This year, we are going to have a rather interesting Valentine's Day.

Love, love me too

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Love, love me too

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