Valentine's Day ! Long time ago, when I was in the school, I did wonder what this day was all about. I remember one of my senior in the school, Aditi, was all excited that day, and I saw that gleam on her face which was never there all throughout the year. She was joined by her friends and were engaged in conversation, indulging in laughter and teasing time to time.

I was wanting to know the significance of this day and also, was curious to find out what made Aditi spring to life, so much that she was carrying the most joyful expression on her face.

I went up to her group. "Hi, what’s happening today !? " I said. "You gals are all dressed to kill"

"As if you dont know" replied one of the girls.

"Uhh...well I really dunno" I pleaded. "What special today ?, someone's getting married or engaged, or you guys are having an audition ?.
The girls burst to laughter. I was wondering as to what was so very funny.

Then, Aditi was kind enough to calm down, and in a slow tone said to me "Dont you know today is St Valentine's day ?".
"St Valentine's Day ?!" I thought. "Oh ! is this the birthday celebration of some Saint ? " I asked again.

The girls burst into laughter. The kind of laughter you indulge in, if you had watched the whackiest of all Jim Carrey movies. Aditi, who was also laughing calmed down, pulled me aside and said "This day is about honoring love and lovers. Today happens to be a special day for all the lovers to express how much they love each other. And also for those who are in love to confess to their mate their inner most feelings that they always wanted to convey. Guys give roses to the girls to express their feelings and girls present greeting cards to the guys".

"Oh " I said. "So are you in ...love or something ..? .

Aditi feigning to be annoyed said "You have enough information, now you scoot" .
"Ok, now tell me why are you so happy today ..? " I asked. "Is it that you are in love?, hey dont worry I wont tell your Mom ....".
"Now shutup and go away" Said Aditi.
Then, Ruhi her friend turned towards me and said" Today, she is gonna get maximum number of roses from the guys, you might want to tell her mom that."

"Roses from guys !!. You mean so many guys love her !!. Woooooo, is she in love with so many guys ..." I asked.

Now Aditi visibly annoyed, more so with gals who burst into peals of laughter, said "Now don't trouble us, get lost now. When you have a girl friend you will know".
I noticed Aditi's face and that gleam I had seen on her face earlier, turned slightly into a frown. It did not require my sixth sense to tell me that I need to remove myself from the scene.

"Well, I do know that Valentine's day is about love and lovers " I said to myself. I was very proud of myself to have been enlighted about the most important subject related to lovers. I then saw a group of guys from my apartment complex, all of them senior to me by age, indulging in some conversation with girls, who were also, from the same apartment complex.

I decided that I show off my knowledge I acquired today. "Happy VD guys !!" I said to them. "What the heck is that !!!?? asked Rohit, one of the guys, glaring at me. The other guys and gals were also stunned and were silent.
"Oh you don't know VD !!?, hey buddy today is the Valentine's day " I said proudly.

Rohit pinched my ears and said" I know that you brat !!, but you don't wish anybody that way!! you @#@!###. If you dunno much about something, you shouldn't open your mouth".

I wasn't having a great today !. Today was the day when people are supposed to be expressing love to each other. Perhaps, I haven't understood the mean of Valentine's day I thought.

"I should read up on this and get good understanding of this" I said to myself. "Else I will land into trouble".

I walked away from the group, feeling very peeved. "Someday I will understand what this thing is all about guys, ..." I silently whispered to myself.

It was evening and I was back from school. I decided to go to the library to return a novel I had borrowed. As I was about to climb the stairs, I heard some noise. It was someone weeping. I decided to move on, but out of curiosity, I wanted to check who it was. I then turned towards the entrance which lead to the parking lot, and I was surprised to see a familiar face.
It was Aditi !!.
Her eyes were filled with tears and her face lacked the gleam she had it in the morning. I was a little concerned. I went upto her and said "Everything is allright Aditi?".

Upon seeing me, she was shocked. "See !!! you will not say a word to anyone, !!. She said visibly disturbed.

"No I won't, Aditi, I was always your friend remember, and I am even now" I said. I then, remembered with gratitude, how much she had helped me with my mathematics homework, and how generous she was in allowing me to read novels she had borrowed from the library". Aditi now looked at me, and now I could see some expression of trust on her face.
"Ok !" She said. "I know you are a nice guy" .
I was wanting to check what was wrong with her.

"Hey Aditi, someone teased you or something? , tell me who it is, I will ask Roger to bash those nincoomps". Roger Fernandes was a big fellow of our colony and was my best friend. He was our school boxing champion and all the guys knew one thing, never to act smart with him, because if they did, the Roger acts with his muscles rather than his brains.
"No its not that " Said Aditi. "Its nothing !!, forget it".

"Cmon you can tell me ! " I asked. "Perhaps I may be able to help" .

Aditi, now with a thoughtful expression said to me "Perhaps may be....".
"Ok, now tell me what happened" I curiously asked.
"Now you shouldnt not tell this to anyone, promise ?? Aditi said.

"Oh yup, promise!!" I said. "Ok !. there this guy called Nakul ...I guess you know him" She said. "Nakul ?" I thought. "Oh yes, Nakul" I rememberd. He plays football for the neigbouring apartment complex club. "Oh yeah , Nakul, what about him ?" I asked.
"Well......Nakul ...hurt me " Said Aditi. I could see her eyes again filling up with tears and she was trying to supress that very badly.

"That Nakul fella dared to hurt you !!" I was furious. "You don't worry, we have a foot ball match scheduled this sunday, I will tell all my guys to break is leg during the match. He hurts you ..eh ..!!, now I shall show him that we can hurt him too !!".

"Noooo Noooo......don't ever do that " Said Aditi . "Its not that way ...!!, he did not kindof ... ...actually ....he did not hurt me ...I mean he did not hurt me that way".

I was perplexed. "He did not hurt you..." I asked. "So why are you crying then ??. Ok tell me in what way did he hurt you .. ?.

"Well,...ok, i will tell you, but, i guess you wont understand me " She said.

"Ok lemme try " I told her assuringly. "Ok, I was expecting a rose from Nakul today... " She said silently.
"And he did not give you ..eh ? I enquired.

"Yes, he did ..." said Aditi.

"So he likes you right !!? I asked.
"Yes !" Said Aditi. "And you like him too right ? " I asked her.
"Yes !" She said blushingly.

I was now absolutely perplexed. "I never ever understood girls, they are an enigma" I said to myself. "Ok ....but why are you crying .." I asked.
"Well....its Poonam !!" She said.

"Poonam !!?, what about her ? I asked . "Did she hurt you eh ? "

"No !, not that way . "Aditi said. "She ..er...." .
"She ...what " I asked, not being able to tolerate the suspense.

"Poonam too gave a greeting card to Nakul.., and he .....accepted. " She said.
"So what...? Nakul likes you right ... ? I enquired.
"Yes!" She said.
Din't he give you a rose ? " I asked her.
"He did " She said.
"Now whats your problem ? . I asked. I was now in a total state of confusion.

"Well, I got angry with Nakul accepting card from her "She said angrily.
"Hmmnn.. now, she gave a card, and he accepted, is it that he is not supposed to accept the card ? I asked. "Well this day is about giving cards and recieving roses and vice versa, ...er please correct me if I am wrong".

"Err... he can accept, ..i mean ....I did not like Poonam giving him a card" She said.

"Oh, !! did he know that you dont like Poonam giving him a card" I innocently asked.

"Well, ....he wouldn't ....er ...you know...errr....no its not that...." She said stammering.

"You know what ..? the best thing to do is to give Nakul a list which contains names of those gals from whom he shouldn't accept cards, if he really likes you, then he will obey you". I said.

"Tell me something Aditi" I asked her. "Did you receive cards from guys other than Rohit ?. I asked her.
"Yes!" She said.
"Ah !, now you might wanna get the list from Nakul from whom you shouldn't accept roses" I said.
Now, Aditi was calm. She had an expression of relief, normally one would have when you realise something.

Aditi was now silent for few seconds. Then, she looked at me and said" You know what...that Poonam gal shows off a lot and I don't like that"
"What does she show off ...." I asked her.
"She is good at tennis. Nakul appreciates a her talent in that game." She said. "She has won prizes, and stuff, and, thats why she thinks she is great".

"Ok now I am confused" I said holding my head. "Now let me clarify, is it because Poonam is good at tennis that is bothering you ?, or Poonam gave Nakul the card thats got you peeved? , or Nakul accepted card from Poonam thats got you hurt ? ."

Aditi was silent now. She just stared at me blankly.

Then she said slowy " You know what? , I did try and practice tennis with my dad, but it got me real tired. I can't go on for more that 15 mimutes . How much I have been trying to learn tennis, you know !!"

"Hmmm... " I said. "I did not know that you liked tennis, do you? "
"Actually ....no, ...I ....wanted to learn tennis because ...........Poonam is good at it. She receives appreciation from many other guys because of that". Said Aditi.

"Hmmn... I did not know that guys will like gals if they are good at tennis" I said. "you know I never watch tennis matches, my love is and always will be football".

Aditi now looked at me and I could see an expression of sudden calmness on her face.

"So, are you gonna work hard in picking up this tennis stuff ? , so that guys will start appreciating you" I asked her. "And hey, ....I really dunno how much Nakul will appreciate your tennis stuff, because, he plays football, and we have a match this Sunday with his team"
"While many guys might appreciate you if you get good at Tennis sometime in the future, but know something ..? from the current sitaution where you stand, there are many things about you that is worth appreciating"

"You know how happy I was when you won the gold medal in the inter school debating competition ?. You know how happy our teachers and all of the school members were ?. I said.
"That day, when I had the lowest grades in maths, when my parents and teachers were very upset with me, and you gave me the confidence that I can make it. You took time to teach me maths concepts which were so tough to gain entry into my brains. Do you know?, I was one of the top ten scorer in maths last quaterly exams. My teacher commended about my abilities of bouncing back. And, I knew that it was your encouragement that helped to display the resilience."

"Do you know how much you are good at painting ?. Your paintings were sold for a price at one of the school exhibitions" I continued. "And also, I saw you receiving money generated from the sales of your paintings from the principal.

And , now don’t get mad at me when I tell you this. Myself and Sunil, that day, were planning to extract a big treat from you that day as you had loads of money. And we spotted you heading towards the reception room adjacent to the principle's chamber. And we spied on you as to what you are up to. And we know what you did.
You dropped all the Money you received from the sales of your painting into the glass box that had the label 'Contribute generously to build home for the aged' . We were awed because, we don’t think we have that kind of big heart to do that. Also, we were pissed because we will not be getting a treat from you. Clumsy us. "
Aditi was silently watching me now.
"You know something Aditi, you can learn tennis if you want to, but it won't make any difference to some of us, especially me, when it comes to showering appreciation for what you are being now and, later" I said. “Yup, guys wouldn’t have seen you playing tennis, the way Poonam does, but, they haven’t seen Poonam debating the way you do either.

"Well, Aditi, you are skilled at many things which doesn’t come easily to others. Like being an expert debater. Kindness and generosity comes to you so easily. You are the best at whatever you do, be it painting, debating, giving, etc.. I think I should take tuitions to learn all these stuffs from you someday." I said. “It will be a pity that guys would want you to become a tennis expert for them to shower appreciation on you, when there are many things about you to focus on, that’s worth appreciation”.

I could see tears dripping from Aditi’s eyes. I was a little concerned. “My loud mouth” I said to myself.
“Hey Aditi, I am sorry…….,I did not mean to hurt you” I said. “You …know ..you can be like Poonam if you want to, …but you are right now at your very best, ……… being yourself. Perhaps Nakul is not really bothered about you, not really knowing stuff about tennis. But, hey, what will you do if he is upset because you dunno anything about football? So ….err…you will learn ..eh ..”

Aditi was in tears now, but then, she was also smiling.

I really did not know how to react. I perhaps hurt her. “Ok Aditi, you wanna learn tennis right?, Roger’s cousin is a tennis coach, I shall speak to him………and …” Before, I could complete, Aditi said “Its okay. I don’t see a need for that now”.
That gleam on her face, I saw in the morning was back now. She was calm, composed and had a very graceful look on her face.
“Hey, you want to borrow books on my account? . Its all on me, and also I will tell your mom to allow you to read more than one novel” She said, handing over me the library card.
“Gee thanks” I said.
“Ok, you go and pick up your novel, meanwhile, I will be back by the time you are done. I’ve gotto buy something” she said and walked away.
I finished selecting my novels, and handed it over to the librarian. “It goes to Aditi’s account” I said.
I came out of the building so very happy, and I was greeted by smiling Aditi.
“Here….” She said handing a card to me.
“Hey this is a Valentine’s day card “ I exclaimed.
“ It's for you” She said.
“But why are you giving it to me ? I asked.
“Because you are my friend” She said.
“Friend ??, but this card is supposed to be given to a prospective boy friend/girl friend right ?, that’s what you told me in the morning” I said. “Is it that you love me eh ?? “

Aditi, now looked towards the sky and she said “Dumbo, yes, I love you as a friend, I think you still haven’t got the meaning of the valentine’s day”.

I could see another card in her hand. “For whom is that card for ? “ I checked.
“Yeah, I had missed giving this to somebody this morning, better late than never” she said.
“For whom it is for? “ I asked.
“Poonam “Aditi said. “and I am so glad that I am giving it to her”.
I could see the gleam on Aditi’s face increase to be qualified as a glow. I have never seen her this way before. So much of bliss and beauty seemed to exude from her face.
Ok tell me, which restaurant you wanna go, you can expect a big treat from me today” Said Aditi.
“Hmmm…lets go to The Breeze” I said. “Love the paper Dosas they serve there”
“The Breeze, it is gonna be” Said Aditi smiling.
“Geee !! Aditi, you know, it started off as a bad day for me, just coz, I didn’t know stuff about what this Valentine ’s Day is all about. Looks, like the ending is turning out to be great with this feast. ?
“Who said you don’t know anything about Valentine’s Day” Said Aditi. “Infact you know a lot of things.
She smiled at me and we walk into the restaurant. It was the most memorable day of my life.

Finally I got to know what Valentine’s Day is all about.
It’s about honoring love. It’s about appreciating people whom you Love, and most importantly, Loving and Appreciating YOURSELF”.
How can you receive love from others when you don’t love yourself?. A flower exudes beauty allover, because it acknowledges its own beauty deep within inside, which gets noticed by others.

Many a times, we compare ourselves with others, and in that process indulge in criticizing ourselves. And what we really miss out is the fact that very people whom “we feel are responsible for our misery” are the people who are telling you, prodding you, pleading you to appreciate yourself. Love yourself. They are telling you that you are a magnificent being, wherever you are, whatever you are, you are just perfect, just appreciate yourself for being what you are right now.
This valentine’s day acknowledge the beauty within you. And when you do that it radiates allover to be seen, and be appreciated. And most importantly, Love Yourself, and,Yes, Appreciate all the people in your experience who helped to set you on the path of loving yourself.

Remember my words that day when it all began? "I should get good understanding of this; else I will land into trouble".
Aditi can vouch for that!!.

Happy Valentine’s day.