JOIN USThe most awaited day for the young and old lovers is back again. But more than the love birds of the city of Mangalore, the local businessmen and flower vendors are happy as they have a good market in the Port City.
In fact, gifts, flowers, chocolates and hearts are everywhere and a lay person might even say ‘Love is all around.’ Walking around the city of Mangalore, one can find several stores that ‘specialise’ in gifts and other fancy items. On a regular basis, one may not find as many customers entering these stores unless it is a special occasion, but valentines day is one day where all the bars are raised.
Prices shoot up because on this day, people ‘have to’ gift their loved ones, or so some say.Speaking to Deccan Herald, the owner of a well known gift store in the city, Ananth Nayak spoke about how the valentine’s week is a happy week for all of store owners. “It is a fact. We are businessmen and we look into profits. Special occasions call for special gifts and this is where we come in.
Not only in my store, but all stores and flower shops you can see the profits go up and it is called ‘season time’ for us,” he said.In the past couple of years, the port city experienced a few glitches and ups and downs because of some ‘moral’ issues. Valentine’s day became somewhat of a curse for many and this also affected the local businesses but eventually things came back to normal and so did couples to the gift store.
“Overwhelming as it is, the fact is that Valentine’s day is about buying materialistic things and giving happiness to loved ones,” said another store owner and added that they can’t complain because this is how they make a living.Valentine’s Day is a much awaited day for many and ultimately stores and flower markets make abundant profits out of it because the popular belief provides incentives to make someone happy by buying them gifts and Mangalore is no exception to this popular belief.
A trip to the local gift shop and one could see people picking specific colours of wrapping paper and doing the herculean task of choosing between a red or purple candle stand.Not to say, businessmen keep themselves aside from this whole excitement of hearts and flowers, Nayak very enthusiastically said that he also enjoys the concept of doing something special for a loved one. “I am yet to buy something nice for my wife for Valentine’s day as I would like to make her feel special on Nov 14,” he said.
So in all its glory, Mangalore on the eve of valentines day, saw anticipating individuals, old and young, waiting to surprise their loved ones and and also saw businesses flourish and profits rise owing to this ‘day of love’ in commemoration of St Valentine, who, according to history and legends, gave his life uniting people in love.