Celebration Of Love

Dixya Poudel

There are rarely other festivals that divide people as Valentine’s Day. It is a day for lovers while the singles are relegated to the periphery. In fact, most singles dread this day as lovebirds rejoice in each other’s company. Roses are gifted, chocolates are savoured, candy hearts are shared and paper and plastic hearts are decorated in shops, as the general ambience is that of romance. As is seen, love is in the air once Valentine’s Day nears. The social media is flooded with romantic themes, songs are sung about love, and even movies are released that cater to rom-com fans. 

Globally, Valentine’s Day is synonymous with love and romance. It isn’t thus surprising that this highly saturated ambience can be quite a dread to the singles. Romantic love has been largely idealised in popular culture that leads people to believe in one true love or the notion of a soul mate. It is widely believed that there exists one perfect person i.e. a soul mate for everyone. Movies, books and music perpetuate this ideology. But what if the term love didn’t exist? Would people fall in love then? According to the classical author, Francois La Rochefoucauld, “There are some people who would never have fallen in love if they had not heard there was such a thing.” 

However, it can be argued that language is just one way of stating the concept of ‘falling in love.’ People would still fall in love as it is inherent to human nature, even if they wouldn’t give it the name ‘love’. Love, amor, prem and maya are words in different languages that carry the significant notion of affection towards another person. As such, romantic love is just an aspect of love. There are also familial love and platonic love. But interestingly, romance is idealised above all else. Gazing into each other’s eyes over a cosy date, lovers share a secret language that only they can understand. The surroundings tend to vanish as they exist only for one another.

And yet, often times, heartbreaks are inevitable either due to incompatibility or simply because they are wrong for each other. In the heat of attraction, red flags are ignored. Relationships, particularly romantic ones are difficult to navigate. One’s hormones tend to be heightened in the initial stage of a relationship but they tend to falter as time passes. While falling in love is easy, sustaining it is more difficult. 

In an age of internet, there are online dating sites which lure people with the promise of a perfect partner. However, it is important for people to be the kind of person they would desire in their partner. Self-love is paramount here, and so is self-improvement. While perfection may not be achievable, the effort on self-growth certainly shows which is quite attractive. 

Saint Valentine is revered in Christian religion as a saviour of love who married couples in secret as the law banned marriages in the third century. Today, he is remembered and eulogised in the day of love i.e. Valentine’s Day. However, each day can be a day to express one’s love towards families, spouse, children and friends. Lucky are those who find enduring romantic love but it is vital to know that love can present itself in many different forms.