KARACHI: Faryal at a high-end florist’s shop on Khayaban-i-Shahbaz seemed undecided between the bouquets and boxes of chocolates. Then the pretty Valentine’s Day greeting cards caught her eye. Reaching for each, she carefully read the messages inside.

“I can’t decide what to get for Farooq,” she shared with Dawn. “It is our first Valentine’s Day after getting married,” she added.

Asked if her husband, too, was looking for an appropriate gift for her, she smiled and said that he’d better. “Otherwise I’ll kill him!”

Saira Saigal, the florist smiled in the background.

“It’s been like this the entire day. Customers haven’t stopped or even slowed down. We took care to prepare bouquets and hampers for every pocket as everyone possesses a loving heart. Customers can make a purchase from us for as little as Rs250 and Rs500 to even as high as Rs50,000,” she said. “But the most popular colour today is red as red roses are selling the most,” she added. There were cuddly red teddy bears too of all sizes in the shop.

Asked if anyone with issues about celebrating Valentine’s Day had also visited them, the lady shook her head. “Frankly, we haven’t had time from customers to worry about other things,” she said looking surprised that this kind of thing was also going around.

Earlier, the social media was abuzz with fake news in the form of notifications on the letterheads of various educational institutions in Punjab, telling their male students to wear prayer caps and female students to keep themselves covered inburqa or abaya and also maintain several metres’ distance on the day.

Some people also announced observing ‘Haya Day’ or ‘Haya Week’ to counter Valentine’s Day.

“Red roses, chocolates, cards, teddy bears and balloons. That is not what St Valentine’s Day is all about. It is more than romance, it is about spreading the love and not just among couples, but the love and respect that children feel for their parents or which students feel for their teachers and vice versa. Boys can exchange Valentine’s Day greetings among boys and girls among girls, too, along with gifts and chocolates,” said Steve Watson at a chocolate shop and patisserie right next to the florist.

“For Valentine’s Day, we put together all these gift hampers with our handmade Belgian chocolates and other snack-able items along with cute gifts such as the small teddy bears and mugs with pink and red hearts,” he said. “They cost from Rs6,000 to Rs15,000 and they are selling online also. We have had to restock the shop several times since yesterday,” he added.

Obviously, both shops were doing roaring business but then one also ran into Ali and Moiz selling single roses for Rs150 each near the traffic signal. “Please, buy one rose at least. We have not sold anything today, which is surprising. Everyone is ignoring us and going to flower shops,” said Ali.

At Schon Circle in Clifton, where one is used to the presence of a few balloon vendors, especially the shiny foil balloons in the shape of stars as well as hearts, one could only find red and silver heart shape ones. And they were on both sides of the main road. “How many do you want? People are buying bunches of 30 to 50,” they informed. At Rs100 for each, they are making a fortune. “What to do, this day comes only once in one year. We are not even increasing the price for a balloon, but God is being kind,” smiled one of them.

Up ahead there were also the roadside flower shops at Gizri, displaying bunches of local as well as English roses, mostly red, in buckets. A man in long shorts with a big bouquet of red roses could be seen hurrying to his car, another who looked like his twin was entering one of the shops from another direction. But despite selling well, the shopkeepers did not seem too glad.

Abbas, a young shopkeeper’s assistant, said that he was against celebrating Valentine’s Day. “It is a strange occasion that is celebrated by shameless people. Why display one’s love openly like this? It is so embarrassing,” the youngster opined.

“Still, we are silent and selling flowers to these shameless folks because it is good for business,” said Abbas’s boss Mohammed Rashid. “We make a living selling flowers and it is true that they sell the most on this silly occasion,” he added.

He was then informed about the day that it was not particularly dedicated to lovers, but to friends as well in foreign cultures. But he only shrugged and turned his attention elsewhere.

“You know, I have been married for 20 years now but I have yet to present my wife with even a single flower despite being a florist,” he said.

When asked to take some flowers to her just this once after closing shop, he only chuckled. “No, believe me, she will be aghast. She expects me to place the day’s earnings in her hand, which I do without fail every day, not flowers. If I did that, she would cook the flowers and feed them to me. So don’t tell me about culture. I know our culture and the duty of a loving husband better than any superficial idiot around here,” he concluded.

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2022