Markets are the biggest reality in the world today. They decide the demand and supply of commodities. Even a personal matter like love is at its feet and you can’t court without heeding to it. The young generation is dependent on the market to woo his lover. This is a new tradition, one that can prove harmful

Our country is the country of the young, for they make the biggest part of our population. No wonder hopes and dreams are all young. It is also riding on the horses of globalization and markets are the biggest truth today for they are not only our providers but controllers, too. Thus, even though love may not have increased all that much in the society, confessing your feelings have touched new heights. Print media, internet, TV, radio and cinema have opened up newer avenues of courtship. Where on the one hand we have women send pink panties to the Shri Ram Sena leader to show our anger against the enemies of love, we are still unable to put an end to the khap panchayats around us, because they have political undertones. When political thinking clouds our thinking and intentions, it becomes tough for a human being to behave like one. I too have grown up listening to Carpenters, Boney M and Cliff Richard, and also fell in love for the first time when I was in school. I too have bought gifts and cards for Valentine’s Day, but haven’t waited for Mother’s Day to tell my mom I love her. I was small when my father passed away. Since I was the youngest among all my brothers and sisters, I was babuji’s pet. I never waited for Father’s Day to show him my love. Then one day, he suddenly left us but his memories in our hearts live on. These memories survive with the passing of time and me and my family don’t wait for his death anniversary to pay him homage.
There are a lot of stories on how Valentine’s Day (February 14) started. The one I find most credible is the one that proves the omnipotence of love. In the third century was a Christian saint St Valentine in the Roman times. February 14 is connected with his life. That time Rome was rules by Claudius Second, who wanted to rule the world and was amassing a huge army for the same. He felt a bachelor is a better soldier and so put a stop to weddings in Rome. Father Valentine openly spoke against the law and would secretly get couples married off. Gradually he became famous among the youth. He was later arrested for getting men married against the law and was imprisoned. There, too, his take on love impressed the jailor and his 14-year-old daughter fell in love with the padre. Valentine loved her in equal measure. It is said that before his death, on the eve of February 14, he confessed his love to the jailer’s daughter in a letter and said, “Don’t blame anyone for my death. From, your Valentine.” It is said that before his death, he played all night for the girl’s eye sight to be restored and the miracle happened and she could see.
Things are not the same today. Wait for “Rose day” if you have to give flowers to your girl friend. Wait for “Valentine’s day” if you want to confess your feelings to that special someone. The marketers wait for the day more than the love-struck young. Because it has not become the day when maximum profits are registered. If statistics are to be believed, Valentine’s Day is the next most important day after Christmas, when greeting cards have a record-breaking sales. Last year, as many as one billion cards were sold in the US. Gifts worth Rs 3,000 crore were bought back home in India. Archies, the Indian company that sells maximum cards was struggling to sell cards until a decade ago. But with the effects of globalization and Valentine’s Day, February 14 has become the day when they make maximum sales. The feelings confessed are incomplete without red roses and so they are sold the most and their demand goes up by 25 per cent for the occasion. Chocolate companies have a field day, too. If statistics are to believed, chocolate sales have seen a growth of 20 per cent since 2009 and is set to increase by 35-40 per cent in the next couple of years. Diamond companies, wellness companies, luxury brands and travel companies have all decided to share the pie. Online stores earn over Rs 200 crore in the month of February and there are special offers on for spa lovers. Now you even have a “Love week”. Starting from February 7, there’s rose day, chocolate day, hug day, promise day, propose day, teddy day, kiss day and then comes Valentine’s Day. But the youth of today has to ask whether love, which is an extremely spiritual feeling, be sold off to the marketers like this.