Valentines Day ‘n Basanto Utshab: the youthful, sprightly exuberance

Following the celebration of Basanto Utshab yesterday, the young folk will celebrate the Valentines Day across the country, especially on the Dhaka University (DU) campus today to express their feelings of love to opposite sexes in an atmosphere of fun, frolic and festivities.
The day does not have much scope for privacy, as it will witness mainly the youthful, sprightly exuberance centring the most precious feeling of youth… romance.
The history of the celebration of Valentine’s day in the country is a recent event. Valentine is shrouded in mystery. One story says that Valentine was a priest who defied  Emperor Claudius’ decree to outlaw marriage of young men, because they would be made better soldiers if they had no wife and children. But the youths secretly continued to enter nuptial bonds with their beloved and were punished for their actions. Whatever the legends are, today’s lovers celebrate the day with exchange of gifts, flowers and candies.
Adding to the elegance of presenting one’s loved one with a rose are the greetings cards brought out by the famous outlets Archies and Hallmark who are selling cards and gifts items on discount. To mark the day, the Dhaka University Debating Society organised a fun debate and concert on the university campus yesterday. On the other hand many hotels, cafes and restaurants have offered different types of attractive gifts for couples ’suffering from the fever of romance’.