I see red is the flavour of the month. Everywhere there is this tinge of it that reminds me of something lovely. And yes, I also know love is certainly the reason why there are a lot of nice things going right now. Nice things like the fresh red roses adorned beautifully at every florist’s stand, the expressions of the heart at Archie’s and every other cards’ shop, the elegantly wrapped gifts in shapes and sizes, and I really see the malls have a different look these days.

They say, it’s Valentine week, and oh, I hear a lot of love songs being played everywhere. Certainly, love must be a beautiful thing! We haven’t quite forgotten its loveliness. That is why, the buzz, the noise, the display, the declaration, the talk, that is why we are all in a way looking forward to this day, feeling a little more special than other days. We must certainly like the idea of being loved or loving another.

So, what exactly does it mean to love? Do we greet, hug and gift and let it end there? Do we whisper some golden words and think we have loved enough? Do we dedicate some songs and or even sing some and let the song do the talking and the deed? Do we hold another’s hands and think that’s what love is? Do we groom ourselves, dress our best and face another to show we are in love? Well, I guess all those are little ingredients of the love we are talking about. Without these, perhaps love wouldn’t really look as good as it seems now. But what do we really do when we love? For a start, I think we care. We care for the person or people we love. We are concerned about their wellbeing. We care for the things they do, for the successes and failures that come to them, we care for their future and all the other things concerned with them.

We also accept them as they are with all their shortcomings and imperfections. We sincerely listen to them when they need somebody to talk to; we try and understand what they feel. You see, love is much more than friendship. Having said that, even friendship exists because there is an element of love in it. Love is the greatest feeling one will ever know. It is the one thing in life that keeps us going. Also, the best one among all other experiences. When you have loved, you also know why they say it makes the world go round. In the end, we may own and have all kinds of comfort, but life isn’t quite complete without love because from it springs all the other nice feelings that make us happy. In other words, it is ultimately the only one thing that can give us happiness.

Love in the family, in friendship, love for the society, for the people around you, love for your better half, love for the things you do, love for the life that has been gifted to you, love is the one solution for every dark patches in our lives. And it necessarily doesn’t mean we have to remember to love only when Valentine’s Day comes around. The nice thing about love is that it is valid through all the seasons, throughout the year and every single moment of the life that each one of us lives. And although, Valentine’s Day could mean more about loving that special someone in your life, I think it’s always a great idea to go the distance when it comes to love, for it is the reason why so many of the good things in life happen to us.