KARACHI: Different people celebrate Valentine’s Day in different ways. The cute festival of expressing and spreading love and joy among friends has over the years seen both boys and girls, men and women make a dash to the florists, the confectioners, toy shops, the balloons sellers or the bookshop for greeting cards and gifts that would melt the heart and bring a smile to faces.

Misconceptions about Valentine’s Day have also brought frowns to certain foreheads, though they should understand that the day is not just celebrated by couples. Children exchange Valentine’s Day cards with their friends and even teachers in schools. They also make greeting cards with sweet messages scribbled on them for their parents.

It can be the other way round too. At least it is in Syeda Maham Zahra’s case. With her father busy at work, her mother takes the only daughter out to celebrate Valentine’s Day. “We go out, spend quality time together and have cupcakes,” said Maham. “It’s become an annual thing with us on Valentine’s Day, which I look forward to each year,” she smiled.

Zain Hyder Naqvi, who returned with his family from the USA a few years ago, said that Valentine’s Day is still very much about couples. But he felt that gifting chocolates was old school. “My mother decorates our house’s interiors with bright red fairy lights every year and she turns them on at midnight as the date changes to February 14,” he said, adding that he himself used to make greeting cards for his school teachers until he was 14 when he gathered the courage to ask one of his teachers to dance with him during a school Valentine’s Day function. “We danced to George Michael’s ‘Careless Whisper’,” he shared.

Meanwhile, Manave Kumar said that every Valentine’s Day his father surprises his mother with something or the other made of gold. “It is a gift as well as an investment. Besides, there is no woman in the world who doesn’t like gold. My mother is always happy to receive her gift. She cooks biryani for the entire family on Valentine’s Day,” he smiled.

Besides these individual cases, somehow this year there seemed to be few customers at the florists, toy shops, balloon sellers and bookshops. “There were lots and lots of red rose bouquets at the flower shops at DHA’s Gizri on Tuesday, on the eve of Valentine’s Day, but hardly any customers were looking to buy even a single rose for their loved ones. Still, the shopkeepers were hopeful to make sales later, most likely on the day itself. “The customers will come. They usually buy flowers on the day itself,” said one florist, Abu Bakr, at Gizri.

A bouquet of the indigenous or desi variety of red rose cost only Rs1,200 but the English roses, though also locally grown, were costlier. “One locally grown English rose flower costs two hundred rupees but we also have imported roses from Malaysia that are even more expensive. A single imported flower costs around 700 to 800 rupees,” the florist informed. He had used all kinds for making the bouquets so they were reasonably priced as well as very expensive. “The English roses and the imported ones last longer and keep fresh for a week, so our hard work won’t be going to waste even if anyone doesn’t want to buy them for Valentine’s Day. Still, the desi rose is the most fragrant and dries sooner,” he added.

The toy shops kept the teddy bears in the front but not many were interested in purchasing them as the red heart-shaped balloons were far cheaper and looked so pretty. But the person selling the balloons near Nehr-i-Khayyam was selling them at Rs200 a piece, though he admitted to having increased the price as just a day ago he was selling his balloons for Rs150 a piece. There was a reason for him not finding customers as just a few yards ahead near Delawala Shopping Centre, the balloons were selling at Rs100 a piece. “Mostly ladies are buying the red balloons from us,” said the balloon sellers.

Many balloon sellers had also moved from their usual position to other traffic signals and crossings in both Clifton and DHA as they were making better sales there as were the boys selling smaller rose bouquets and single roses.

There were also some Valentine’s Day customers found selecting greeting cards for the occasion after carefully reading what was printed on them. One young man came looking for the cards not for any particular loved one but for placing them inside Valentine’s Day baskets that he was putting together for the restaurant he worked at.

Some ladies were also doing their Valentine’s Day shopping at fruit shops and fruit carts selling strawberries. “It is always strawberry season around Valentine’s Day. Look how much strawberries resemble little hearts. I buy lots of strawberries for decorating desserts for Valentine’s Day as my husband has a sweet tooth. We don’t get to see flowers, balloons or teddy bears on the day. We only enjoy the sweetness of cakes and fruit trifles on the day,” she smiled. Asked what she got in return for her cooking his favourite dishes, she smiled some more. “Appreciation,” she answered.

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2024