The Commercialization of Love

It is not that I am against the whole idea of love. I am just against the cheesy, mushy, over-the-top show-off that people think is love and that is the reason why I am against the Valentine Culture. They say February is the month of love and the fourteenth of February, the Valentine's Day is the day of love; what I fail to understand is how love can be a calendarized event. It has been like the kind of things that you either love or hate but just cannot stay away from it. All in all this whole Valentine Culture has done more harm than good. 

 First of all let's about the individuals that have been termed as the singles. There are different categories of the singles. There are some singles ones who are indifferent to this day. Their only connection to this day is helping their friends who are in a relationship, those termed as the couples, to pick out gifts for their companions and to give them as much advice as they possibly can about what to buy, what not to buy, where to go and such stuffs which happens to be the biggest dilemma of the couples at the moment. Then there are some singles that have been left with a sense of self-loathing for having nobody to celebrate it with because of this Valentine Culture. They may choose to go out with their other single friends or there is always booze to get them through the day. Then there are some singles who want so badly to jump from being a single to being a couple that they believe that the fourteenth of February is a day to propose their love, regardless of what they feel for the person they are proposing their love to. For instance, a couple of people dating each other and enjoying their company and maybe even in the process of falling in love may feel the pressure of this day and rush into relationships they might not have otherwise been ready for. 

Valentine Culture is not easy for the couples either. It has corrupted some of their minds to such an extent with a certain sense of how it should be that a slight deviation from this mind image, generally the one derived from some movie, is taken as a total failure of the day as a whole. Then there are some couples who have the ever unsolvable problem of what to say to get out of the house on this day and meet their companion. Then there is the problem of finding the perfect gift, the perfect spot, the perfect thing to say or do to make this day super-memorable. They have to emphasize on the spot because they know they are not the only couple in town and being in an over-crowded place with other couples is definitely not a part of their perfect day plan. And a new war ensues if one of the couple cannot get out of their prior engagements to meet their companion on this day. The couples are also supposed to pause their fights with each other if they are having any and go out of their ways just to comfort their companion for this day.

Unlike most anti-Valentine's Day articles, I am not trying to say that the youngsters these days are most interested in the culture of others and are forgetting their own because following another's culture doesn't necessarily make one forget their own. I am just trying to say that Valentine's Day is way over-hyped. And not just a day, there seems to be a whole week built around this day with days as unreasonable as a "Propose Day". The red roses, teddy bears, heart shapes, wine, chocolates and all their combinations scream extravagance and the meaning of love goes much deeper than these materialistic things. The public display of affection that you get to see no matter where you look on the days leading to this day and most particularly on this day; the colour red and the love messages and Valentine's Day wishes in all the newspapers, the heart shaped stickers, the balloons and decorations in every coffee shop and eating places, special discounts and special treatments given to couples on this day make this day seem like a much bigger deal than it really is.

Sharing the day with your loved one and all is fine but is this sort of extravagance really necessary? Aren't we giving way too much time and thought into this day considering it is after all just one day and if in true sense you are celebrating love then isn't it more like a in the moment kind of thing rather than following the trend based on a calendar? And if each love story is supposed to be unique and all then doesn't it seem futile rushing everything to just coincide your day of love with this day?