It was a time when cable TV stormed into every middle class household in town. A time when most kids gave up playing outdoors in favor of getting glued to TV after school. A time when Indian VJs picked up Hinglish, Tinglish and many other anglicized versions of Indian languages and spewed it all over the country through cable TV. One evening during that era, I came home from school and promptly turned the TV on. That's when I heard that phrase for the very first time- "Volunteer's Day". I had no idea what that meant for it was only year#2 of my English language education. Based on what that VJ said, I gathered it was some special day for college-age kids and that everyone is supposed to be excited about it.
Excited I was as I turned to my intermediate (12th grade) classmate during recess the next day, and, with as much excitement as suggested by the TV anchor, said- "Happy Volunteer's Day". My friend first laughed at me and then went to the trouble of correcting me. "It is Valentine's Day, Valentine, not Volunteer". I felt like I was breaking up with the concept of Valentine's Day before I even could pronounce the word!
I dare say that I have come a long way. In the 21 years since then, I feel like I have embraced the idea of Valentine's day enough to make my 12th grade friend proud. I wholeheartedly wished my husband on this day for many years now and I never referred to it as Volunteer's Day again. Today we even hosted a play date for our daughter to celebrate Valentine's Day with her friends. They all wrote sweet little notes about people, things, activities they love. "I love my little sister because she is sometimes fun to play with". "I love painting because even if you make mistakes, you can still turn into something pretty". "I love cheese puffs because they taste delicious and eating them makes me happy". "I love soccer because I get to wear a team jersey while playing games". There were many other sincere, thoughtful and witty love notes. These unvarnished expressions of love by a bunch of six year old girls totally made my day. They made me think about my own loves in life: my daughter's kisses, my husband- especially when he gets the cleaning bug, jogging with my dad, eating my mom's gongura pachadi, my sister- especially when we both go shopping, my brother-in-law for being my best brother ever, my nieces when they let me do their hair, my happy family, my friends that make me smile, my music and dance teachers, my purple bike, the raisins and nuts in my pantry that my husband buys for me from Costco, and, in summary- my home, this whole world, and this LIFE. I love it all.
I know there's plenty of us that believe Valentine's day to be a complete BS and that the expression of love should not be confined to a single day. There are enough sad spins of the history behind this holiday to make its celebration questionable. There are even political and religious groups back in India that feel entitled to take law in their hands and punish those that openly celebrate this day. Valentine's Day doesn't need to be the only day to express our love. I know we don't have to wait till thanksgiving to feel thankful. We don't sit around till Christmas to be jolly. But there's still thanksgiving and there's still Christmas. Here's Valentine's Day. I heart the heart day and I enjoy every bit of it.
Happy Valentine's Day!
Excited I was as I turned to my intermediate (12th grade) classmate during recess the next day, and, with as much excitement as suggested by the TV anchor, said- "Happy Volunteer's Day". My friend first laughed at me and then went to the trouble of correcting me. "It is Valentine's Day, Valentine, not Volunteer". I felt like I was breaking up with the concept of Valentine's Day before I even could pronounce the word!
I dare say that I have come a long way. In the 21 years since then, I feel like I have embraced the idea of Valentine's day enough to make my 12th grade friend proud. I wholeheartedly wished my husband on this day for many years now and I never referred to it as Volunteer's Day again. Today we even hosted a play date for our daughter to celebrate Valentine's Day with her friends. They all wrote sweet little notes about people, things, activities they love. "I love my little sister because she is sometimes fun to play with". "I love painting because even if you make mistakes, you can still turn into something pretty". "I love cheese puffs because they taste delicious and eating them makes me happy". "I love soccer because I get to wear a team jersey while playing games". There were many other sincere, thoughtful and witty love notes. These unvarnished expressions of love by a bunch of six year old girls totally made my day. They made me think about my own loves in life: my daughter's kisses, my husband- especially when he gets the cleaning bug, jogging with my dad, eating my mom's gongura pachadi, my sister- especially when we both go shopping, my brother-in-law for being my best brother ever, my nieces when they let me do their hair, my happy family, my friends that make me smile, my music and dance teachers, my purple bike, the raisins and nuts in my pantry that my husband buys for me from Costco, and, in summary- my home, this whole world, and this LIFE. I love it all.
I know there's plenty of us that believe Valentine's day to be a complete BS and that the expression of love should not be confined to a single day. There are enough sad spins of the history behind this holiday to make its celebration questionable. There are even political and religious groups back in India that feel entitled to take law in their hands and punish those that openly celebrate this day. Valentine's Day doesn't need to be the only day to express our love. I know we don't have to wait till thanksgiving to feel thankful. We don't sit around till Christmas to be jolly. But there's still thanksgiving and there's still Christmas. Here's Valentine's Day. I heart the heart day and I enjoy every bit of it.
Happy Valentine's Day!
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| My love tree. |
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