On Valentine’s with Love!

It seems foolish, at times, when teenagers blindly follow the norms set by someone under an unknown pretext. Many of them set out for the day in search of someone or in search of a  date, both out of peer pressure. (One has heard of lines like: My friend is giving his girlfriend a ring, or My friend went out on a date to the Hyatt), writes Tashi Dolma Thinley

Scene 1: At a corner of a restaurant in Kathmandu is a teenage couple, both simply dressed and equally shy, facing each other yet for an hour or so they hardly share a word or a wink. They sit as if they are meeting for the first time and hate the very moment. After a while, a sizzling meal is brought and served to them. They neither eat nor drink a sip of coke all the while. And they have come to celebrate the Valentine’s Day!

Scene 2: On the other table of the same restaurant sits another couple, both fashionably dressed and sporting dark glasses. They talk mushy things (well, it appears so...) and behave cuddly all the while. The guy carries a huge bag and every time the girl speaks a word, he presents her with a rose and plants a kiss on her. The couple seems blindly excited and uneasily mushy just because the occasion is Valentine’s Day!

What we call Valentine’s day was at one time the feast of St Valentine in the west. It was a religious holiday. For Christians, it was a day to remember and celebrate the life and death of a Christian martyr. They (the Christians of past centuries) would be shocked at the use of Cupid on the day now since, Cupid is a character from Pagan mythology.

The story behind the day goes like this: St Valentine, a priest near Rome, at around 270 AD, was imprisoned along with his fellow Christians for not worshiping the Roman Gods. When the then emperor heard that Valentine continued to minister and convert people even in prison, he had him beheaded. In his memory Valentine’s day is celebrated by people all over the world to acknowledge and confer the love one has for a person by giving chocolates, flowers or other gifts.

In Nepal, the trend of celebrating this day – thanks to the ever-increasing FM channels – is flourishing especially among the teenyboppers. For them it is a day to express the romantic love you have for someone, to say how much you love your beau or simply just to find out if they click with each other. Whereas the day, as it started, is actually meant for expressing love to anyone, be it your parents, kids or to that one person whom you have a romantic interest. (And haven’t we heard of Valentine sister or brother?).

It seems foolish, at times, when teenagers blindly follow the norms set by someone under an unknown pretext. Many of them set out for the day in search of someone or in search of a date, both out of peer pressure. (One has heard of lines like: My friend is giving his girlfriend a ring, or My friend went out on a date to the Hyatt)

Most of them who fail to go on a date on the day end up thinking that they are "uncool". Such a perspective leads them to frustration, losing self-confidence and eventually leading up to loss in the strength to face the society. They think they are "abnormal" if they do not follow or catch up with these ‘international festivals’. Celebrating festivals like the Valentine’s have today become more of a fad and less a duty of the faith, more of passion and less of compassion.

And when we talk of our own valley, the Cat-man-do, where most of the teens like to call themselves MTV generation, we seem to have lost our way just a wee bit. Young girls, under the influence of satellite television channels, are ready to mould themselves into look-alikes of Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez and whosoever is hot in MTV while boys try to dress up like rappers (or Rappaz), hip-hoppers or in few cases, hippies.

While the ‘Generation next’ seems to be getting acquainted with the fresh trends in the world, they hardly seem to be well prepared to get themselves immersed in what is new to their culture. Most of the youngsters in town seem confused about the whole concept of the Day or even when they do, they do not have means to express themselves on it. We have here people aplenty here who have to lie their parents if they have to go on a date or meet their friends of opposite sex.

Many a times we have seen that when they fail to express themselves and are scared to confess mistakes, they often end up taking to drugs and alcohol. Though not everyone takes drugs for the same reason, this kind of suppression of expression can often lead to depression.

However, all this might not be possible without the ‘Generation past’ (the way youngsters like to call elders) give the young voice the opportunity to be themselves. What the youth wants is not something unnatural, only that they should be heard and that too with a bit of understanding.

These types of festivals and events can well be a platform on which the adolescents can express themselves. These occasions can be made a breeding ground for open minds and hearts.

While such days or events (the likes of Valentine’s) can be creatively designed for the teenagers, the significance of such days are again manipulated by the grown ups too. While the teenagers are the ones who celebrate the day and wait with a baited breath, the event organisers, the hoteliers and the rest, plan events like dance, music and food festivals suitable for the adults and something which only the teens can hardly afford. There hasn’t been a graceful event to date in the capital which was meant only for the teenagers, in which they could feel comfortable and meet new friends.

Most of the parents and adults, in an attempt to get their child in the right track, spend a lot of time criticising their child’s get up, manners and attitude hardly ever realising that their constant taunting and pressing often leads the child to frustration.

Many parents tend to forget that teenage is just a phase that every one passes through but each one takes their own time in growing out of it. We can see that many children who have understanding parents often come out of the cocoon faster and take on life in a more reasonable stride.

We don’t need to go as far as the west but our next door neighbours can be taken as the example. All the Indian children are not intelligent but nearly all of them are smart (and this observation is not based on the TV ads!!). They can be seen expressing themselves at almost every opportune moment, ask questions and take any challenges. They possess "I Can Do it", which is precisely the reason that has got them recognition in the world.

This takes us to one question which, everyone should ponder upon. Do we really want our children (to be precise, teenagers) to shy away from us, the challenges in life and most importantly the truth? It is high time we face it: Fashion, dating and disco culture is not, by nature, provoking and hazardous.

Being shy and sensitive are no longer qualities for a good child. Openness, smart and challenging are the qualities what a child should possess. And as love is already in the air this season, should we not make it a point that we present our loved ones with one gift they really need? The gift this year may well be the one of understanding, compassion and freedom (adding a bunch of flowers may not hurt though).

The flying little Cupid’s dart 

Surendra

The sky is azure again. With snowfall across the Himalayan highlands and lowlands, several pairs of the migratory birds are flying down to the lowlands again. It’s such a beautiful sight! The flight of the several pairs of Siberian crane (Ruddy Shelduck), or Chakhewa in Nepali, which starts from central Asia or Siberia or Spain, is showing no signs of stopping. It is going on and on…and it will go on until they circumnavigate the globe and return back to their faraway nests and prepare for next flight next fall. The stars are there to remind them where they are and which direction they need to follow.

The Siberian cranes have now stopped over on the banks of the Koshi, the Narayani, the Mahakali and countless other rivulets and wetlands of the entire Gangetic plains and beyond. As the sun goes down and the silvery moon rises at dusk they sing songs, adding sweetness to the perfect setting. The evening-time winds flowing eastwards from Afghanistan and Kashmir valley whirs against tall grasses and laburnum-like trees and work music. They chat up, and together feel the difference of being in another perfect locale. They have been to virtually every beautiful locale. Yet there are many where they have not yet been to; there is a long and winding road that is waiting for them.

"It’s such a beautiful country!" chirps the male Siberian crane as he stops by the banks of the mighty Koshi, his darling sweetheart trying to figure out the vastness of what humans refer to as the `Sorrow of Bihar’. She walks a step or two with him below the tall grasses of Koshi Tappu, Nepal’s number one birding venue, her heart warms up and feel so good, the like of which she had never experienced before. And she whispers into his ears, "…Yes darling, it’s so beautiful a country…fairly tales everywhere!"

The pairs of Siberian cranes are not the only ones that are welcoming Spring, the season of joys, of happiness, of nirvanas—and of storms, lightening and thunders. It’s that time of the year when flowers bloom and new leaves start budding, giving new life to those that are dead-like. The Lovebirds are there, too. The little birds are always like that, as the name suggests. And they take with them both comprehensible and incomprehensible messages of affection and love, and spread or disperse them wherever they go.

And there are pairs of Waterfowls, Egrets, Herons, Storks, Kingfishers, and even Darters and Red-hearted flycatchers. As the cold mists and frosts of winter begin dissipating, they begin their new sojourns together. The shivering and foggy mornings pave the way for brighter days of Spring, when skeleton-like trees wear new leaves, and the lover birds feel revitalized and re-energized. Going by the charm of Spring, it looks like that the season is meant for lovers—who, with their love and affection to each other and fellows, make the world go around and a better place to live in.

So love is in the air. Coinciding with this is the time of year when Saint Valentine comes from door to door and arranges unions and reunions of separated lovers. And yes, the birds can see, although they can’t quite comprehend for sure what this hullabaloo is all about, the youngsters and the oldsters alike bracing up for another Valentine’s Day, or V-Day in short, at this point. An excited-looking Kingfisher, who flew over a certain South Asian city, describes it thus to his fellows: "It’s all about red roses, cards and colours; it’s all about colorfully dressed young people and love..."

Listening to the Kingfisher with sheer curiosity, his fellows, who include Darters, Flycatchers, Sparrows, Cuckoos and Mynahs, encourage him to explain more. And the Kingfisher continues: "They aren’t quarreling or fighting anymore. Everyone is talking about love, flowers and gifts. The same bunch of young boys, who loitered around with catapults in their hands are moving around with red roses. There is no threat to us. It looks like the world is a better place now."

It’d better…The Purple sun bird appears even more dazzling. "Wow!" he chirps as he rotates his head to all the directions and tries to figure out if that’s happening for sure. He just can’t believe it. He pauses for a second or two and says, "I want to have a look, too!" The sun is about to set behind the wide-flowing Karnali river, and sweet, cold breezes are flowing southwards from Chisapani area. As the soothing air adds sweetness to the evening atmosphere of the Karnali banks, with the red sun setting behind, the Purple sun bird goes high up and flies like an undisturbed kite or aircraft. He quietly flies and looks downwards, where sees ant-shaped humans moving with red roses.

High up in the sky, he suddenly feels alone, bored and tired, and prepares for his landing. A leafless Simal tree stands tall on the Karnali banks, its branches giving it a skeleton-like look. Somewhere on the tree, on the dead-end of the main branch another Purple sun bird is sitting alone, and two pairs of Siberian cranes are gently walking along the sandy banks and beaches of the snow-fed river.

From the sky, he looks at the bird on the tree, which is appearing very much similar to him, like his look-alike, carefully from the sky. She is female of the species. But nope…he does not know her, neither has he met her ever before. He decides to land right there and coochie-coo with her. On his way down he gets to see many pairs or couples of dark-blue and white pigeons, cuckoos and sparrows free-flying over a densely populated village.

Eureka! The Purple sun bird has now safely landed on the Simal tree, much to the delight of the female. She was all alone just like him. But no more. They are busy coochie-cooing, the tree holding them silhouetted against the red, red sun that’s going down. It will come back again with a new dawn. At the union of two Purple sun birds, even the horizon is orange-red. It’s a kind of love-at-first sight. And the male one feels like getting a Red Rose, so cherished by the humans he just saw, for her. If only the bird was a human, he could. As a bird he can’t, for his beak is too small to hold a rose flower. Happy Valentine’s Day Purple sun birds! And everyone out there!

Valentine Bonanza

By Sanchita R Joshy

It’s Valentine Day once again. A day to celebrate love, and a day to show your loved ones how  much you really love them. Love is indeed in the air and we are hear to make it a little more joyous, a little more bright and make it a day to celebrate with memoirs to last all year long.

Not too many years ago people in Nepal had no clue what Valentines Day was exactly about, but now almost everyone seems to be gearing up for the day.

The Olive Garden at the Radisson Hotel offers a tete-a-tete dinner with a complimentary bowl of cocktail to be shared by two and a complimentary heart shaped Strawberry delight.

The Radisson Pastry Shop is offering varieties of Hampers with Heart shaped Cakes, bouquet of Flowers, Wine, French Hearts, Toffees, Cheese Straws, Assorted Cookies especially made for the Valentines Day.

An exclusive Dessert Menu at a very moderate rate at The Fun Cafe for Valentines Day is going to be in full swing.

Soaltee Crowne Plaza offers the following for this Day too.

A special four course cupid menu this Valentine’s Day at the Alfresco

Restaurant is for just Rs 1500/- per couple for you to celebrate your love. This includes a love portion each beautifully concocted by

the Alfresco Team.

The cake shop also features special Valentine’s Day Cakes that are available at the Soaltee Crowne Plaza Cake Shop.

Similarly, Hyatt Regency Hotel also has lots of varieties for the Valentines Day to be celebrated with. Sweet nothings at The Cafe, amidst a romantic candle lit dinner, glass of wine and love songs. Complimentary entrance into the Rox Bar for an evening of dance and music.

The Rox Bar environment is tempting and full of excitement and fun. Cupids den at this Valentines Day for a cozy twosome, adventurous threesome, a friendly four or more. Live pulsating music, heady romance, sinful cocktails and tempting delectables will be served in for just rupees 400 for the singles and rupees 750 for the couples.

Also, at Rox restaurant, one can enjoy a touch of unlimited Italian Passion, pizza and pastas straight from the wood fired ovens. Not only this, there is the salads and deserts as much as you like to accompany the meal. Complimentary entrance into Rox Bar with rupees 950 per person.

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