Born To Love, Not To Hate!
Cute teddies holding on to little hearts, soft, fluffy heart-shaped pillows declaring sweet nothings, adorable puppies melting your heart away, lovely miscellaneous stuff that never cease to tug at your heart – come February, these are the sights welcoming you in every gift shop. Love is in the air, and Cupid’s arrows fly fast and furiously striking the hearts of young men and women.
Valentine’s Day is here, and the world is literally painted in hues of red. The heart rules the mind on February 14, while pockets are emptied on expensive gifts, exotic getaways and exquisite candlelight dinners. A time to love and to be loved, February 14 is a day couples in love wait eagerly for, all ready with chocolaty-sweet greeting cards, bunches of fresh red roses and cuddly teddies to win the hearts of their loved ones. For those who lie in wait to propose, it might be one of the most anxiety-filled times of the year. If Cupid’s arrow strikes, then all the world’s a heaven. If the arrow misses the target, then God save the poor soul!
We all know that Valentine’s Day is dedicated to people in love. But how many of us know the legend behind it? The story of St Valentine, by whose name the day is known, is quite interesting: St Valentine was a third century AD priest who refused to bog down to the unreasonable decrees of the then Roman emperor Claudius II. The emperor thought that marriage marred the young men from fighting battles – he believed them to be too dedicated to their families and hence considered them incapable of rendering service to the country. He thus brought in a rule that prevented young man from marrying, which, naturally, broke many a heart.
The new decree angered and saddened St Valentine, and he decided to marry off young couples clandestinely. When the emperor heard of this violation of orders, he incarcerated the priest and condemned him to death. While in prison, he developed affection towards the jailor’s daughter who was supposedly blind....
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