Valentine's Day is not just for Lovers

By Aatif Hussain

In our planet earth numerous events are celebrated throughout the calendar year some of them are celebrated since ages and have become a tradition rather than an event and few have developed across the years. Many events are celebrated with extreme passion, energy and motivation, people start preparing themselves for the particular day or event spending hours and hours and energy in planning and preparation. These events not only compile different people of different ages all across the globe but also leave an influence which remains till the next year and the search of doing better than the last time also starts. Events are divided into two categories one are celebrated in regions and in different countries only but few events are celebrated all over the world and are recognised internationally on the same day, in the same manner, in the same passion and the subject behind the event is also the very same. With the help of these different events lots of people from all over the world come closer to each other by celebrating the event together, sharing gifts, exchanging notes and letters and in many other ways.

Our homeland Islamic Republic of Pakistan is also deeply influenced by events like Valentine’s Day which were unknown in the sub continent before but now after so many years of celebrating it, it seems like it has merged with our culture. If such days are celebrated uncontrolled they can damage the growth of our children. This day is very much renowned and gleefully celebrated in different age groups but youngsters and teenagers are the one who are most influenced by this day and they wait for the whole calendar year to celebrate it again, and some even start waiting for it for months to celebrate the day of Valentines with their loved ones.

Valentines’ Day is an annual holiday held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The holiday is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Valentine and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards. The holiday first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

February has long been called the month of romance and many experts recognised the day of 14th February as the most celebrated and enjoyed among the participants. The way of commemorating this day has developed over the years since it was used to be celebrated in early ages. Mostly everyone knows the history behind celebrating this day, about St Valentine and the secret marriages he performed for soldiers, when the King of England had forbidden his soldiers from marrying. And as the month of February starts, people start finishing and finalising their plans for it. To show their love ones how much they love, how much they care, promises are made between the couples, and may be it helps them to increase the love and need for each other by wishing each other. Over the past decade or so the ways of marking this day has also been developing rapidly. Every year in Pakistan people are getting more enthusiastic, energetic and more passionate to celebrate Valentine’s Day. If we talk about the outcome of celebrating this day we will get to know that there are two possible outcomes of this day, one is enjoyed by the participants while the other is enjoyed by the businesses and owner of different businesses.

Valentine’s Day is not just for lovers! Every holiday gives you a chance to be unique and creative in showing appreciation to your clients, customers, colleagues and employees. In Pakistan the day is celebrated equally to many different countries of the world our youth celebrates it with more intensity and passion than our Independence Day, or any of our historic day which means so much for the whole Nation but our youth and our teenagers seems to have been so captivated by the Western ways and laws that they actually give more preference to celebrating these holidays then our own. Obviously it’s not just the youth which is to be blamed, but our society has created an image which is identical to the West.

Our businessmen and shop owners are just aiming for higher revenues without considering the facts that they might be influencing our youth in a negative way. Companies are offering exciting packages to attract the customers and to get the high profit share. Shopkeepers sell greeting cards, gifts items, attractive red color wrapped gifts and with a very high price, these are easily available in the market before Valentine’s Day or at any time during the first 14 days of February. They charge their customers a very high price, earning double and triple profit margins on what seem to be much cheaper items.

Jewelers make their products especially designed in heart shapes, or other symbols of love and many other antique designs they also charge higher for them then they would normally cost.

Food and restaurant businesses also play an important part in generating higher revenues for the business owners, they offer dinner and lunch deals for the couples with extra activities like live bands and extra servings, decorate their restaurants with a romantic atmosphere according to the theme of Valentines, and food is garnished in a manner that it represents love and the cost is much higher than the normal. Cakes and deserts plays an important role on generating a higher profit margin for the owners, they offer heart shaped cakes and different deserts especially designed for Valentine’s Day and charge it heavily form the customers, chocolates are wrapped in the theme of Valentines and special Valentines pack are prepared for the costumers and in return charging them a heavy amount which is of course much cheaper in the normal days.

One important revenue generator business is the garment industry, clothes like T shirts with catchy love slogans are printed specially for the day. Shirts, t-shirts & trousers are printed with love symbols, red colour is used more in the fabrics, a large number of our young generation buys and wear them. Designers make special Valentine’s Day outfits, using the colours of passion, Red, Maroons and Pinks, and display their creations before the Big day comes around. Women and men flock to these stores to purchase their special clothes to wear for that special someone.

Another major revenue contributor is the flower business. There are people selling roses and other flowers seen all over, at traffic signals, road sides and especially the imported flowers from Holland and the rest of Europe. This business thrives on Valentines’ Day. Bouquets of red roses are sold the most and as the 14th of February approaches, the prices of roses soar. The amount goes higher and higher also according to the locations the vendors are located. In the Posher areas of the city and restaurant districts, just a single rose stem can cost as much as a bouquet thus charging the costumers a hefty amount. The prices of Perfumes and other creams and cosmetics also increase considerably.

Last but not the least the main revenue generator during the month of February is the telecom sector. Cellular companies offer free nights charging a cheaper amount and more than 90% of the youth utilises these offers and one cannot imagine the amount of revenue they get covering these sort of events. Unfortunately, the school and collage going students can get more affected as their studies may suffer due to late night chatting, and they get more and more sleep deprived. Text messages also increase immensely.

As such events get closer, companies and restaurants make attractive offers to attract more and more people to their businesses. It is the responsibility of the parents, the teachers, the caretakers and above all it is also the responsibility of our authorities and the government to ensure that the youth is not getting involved in any of the negative acts or in any act which is not against the laws and regulation of our Islamic Republic of Pakistan and above all it is the responsibility of our youth itself to make sure that what they are doing is right and not harming their strength and Pakistan’s strength because as our father of the nation, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah said “Pakistan is proud of her youth”. Valentine’s Day is a day of love and the celebration of love, this Valentine’s, be responsible and above all enjoy the day with your loved ones in the fullest and safest manner. *

.................................................................................................