The Valentine fever is everywhere ... flowers and red hearts adorn shop windows as tokens of emotions to be bought. Is romance, though, the only face of love? Al-Ahram Weekly peeks into the love craze Look into your heart Valentine's Day is what you make of it, as Dena Rashed and Amira El-Noshokaty found out this year Think of an e-mail showing Cupid lying face down with an arrow piercing his back, captioned: "I don't want to be your valentine." It is but one example of the "anti-Valentine card" -- the profusion of which, this year, makes you wonder if people are fed up with the increasingly extensive Valentine's celebrations. Though Western, some celebration of Valentine's is becoming a must for the vast majority of local couples, and even if you're single you will inevitably notice, among many other things, the red teddy bears, the red balloons and, of course, the red, red roses. A tough experience for some single people: "It's really frustrating for us singles," assistant logistics director, Salma Bahgat, 22, testifies, "rather annoying to see all this humungous planning for couples while you're sitting there feeling like a loser." It is no happy occasion at all, she says. Yet for others it matters less. Free-lance trainer, Rana Saleh, 30, says Valentine's Day has never been as important to her as birthdays or other anniversaries, even while she was emotionally attached: " Single bells, single bells, single all the way -- that's the kind of funny message that spams up my Inbox this time of year." She laughs heartily, resigned to her single status, proffering her nostalgia for the old days: "I think Valentine's was much nicer ten years ago." The celebrations were more subtle, less commercialised -- unlike now, when every shop and street corner is swathed in red -- "while I doubt that many of those celebrating even know who St Valentine is". Well, no doubt he is the saint of love -- but there are different stories as to how his myth developed. In one, he was a priest who lived in third-century Rome under Emperor Claudius II, who, feeling that single men make better soldiers, banned marriage altogether; and it was St Valentine who broke that decree, marrying young lovers until he was executed. Another story has him killed simply for hiding Christians from the Romans. In a third, he was dying in prison when he wrote his beloved a love letter signed "your Valentine" -- a statement still used on the occasion. That love letter, indeed, is what people like Sarah Yasser, 28, spend years waiting for: "I have always believed, cared and waited. I only hoped for a card, some flowers, a symbolic gift..." Yasser was recently engaged to her partner Amir Hegazy, 30, but they have been together for 12 years; and Hegazy, sadly, has had absolutely no interest in Valentine's; she was well prepared for their first Valentine's, but he turned out to be unprepared: "At first I used to prepare a month ahead, but the more he showed disinterest, the more it became a last-minute thing. I used to save money to buy him something nice. Once, when I was totally broke, I baked him a heart-shaped cake. To his credit, he loved that the most, but he still refuses to acknowledge Valentine's." For his part, Hegazy thinks the day is overrated and should not be made into a Eid: "Why should I be forced to celebrate on this particular day of the year? I could show my affection on any other day." To another couple -- friends of the aforementioned: Reham Mahmoud, 27, and Osama Ismail, 35 -- Valentine's gained in importance after marriage. "When someone refuses to celebrate the day of love, I think of them as dull -- why not make it special for your loved one?" asks Mahmoud. For many years, her husband has celebrated by decorating the house for them to spend an evening in. "I cherish my partner all the more when we spend time together," says Ismail. "If someone can afford to celebrate, why not? What harm can it do to buy your partner flowers even if you don't believe in the day?" But Hegazi remains adamant. For some young people, like musician Sherif El-Wesemi, 24, the day is important for its own sake: "Being single does not prevent me from taking a moment to ponder the significance of that day." It is a healthy social gesture, he says, emphasising the value of romantic love: "Emotions are the essence of the world; when we suppress them, there is violence." Likewise Weaam Maher, 30: "I always found a way to enjoy Valentine's. When I was single, I used to hang out with a group of single friends -- we were determined to have fun on that day." Now engaged to someone who lives in Australia, he never misses the chance to send his message of love across the continents: "I sent flowers straight to her office there, to cheer her up." For college girl Yasmine Tharwat, 17, too, Valentine has always been a treat: "We usually celebrate our friendship by going out as a group of single guys and girls; and even those of us who are dating will usually join us afterwards." Indeed the consensus seems to be that Valentine's is not so much about status as about how you feel. For assistant training manager, Sally Samir, however, the celebrations are too much: "What are all these chocolates and teddies that suddenly turn scary red? What happened to the single flower? Why must we channel every single emotion into a way to spend money. Does the absence of a gift mean no love?" Dentist Amr Ismail, 28, agrees: "It's being commercialised like everything else, but still, it's a nice day to celebrate." His fiancée Walaa Imam, 23, thinks it's only natural, under the current circumstances, to try and capitalise on the day financially: "Living expenses have risen in general, and since people will be willing to buy gifts and go out, someone is going to use that." When you have been chased by reminders on the radio, on satellite television and even by SMS, it is hard not to be pushed into buying something pricey. Maher feels that "in a way everyone is now accustomed to receiving a gift, less to appreciating what it means -- few are creative enough to make the day truly special". But whether or not someone has made that day special for you, it is well to remember that there are those who made it special for themselves: Samir, for example, flew to Sharm El-Sheikh to celebrate with her friends: "By the way, I don't wear red on Valentine's. As far as I'm concerned, love has no colour."
