Dawn: by Shadaba Islam: YEARS ago when I still made regular visits to Pakistan, a young journalist came up to me in a shopping mall and asked for my thoughts on “St. Valentine’s Day”.
I was flattered. Here I was walking around with my teenage son and daughter — and he wanted my opinion, not theirs. Why? His response was brutal — but charming. I had been selected because I looked “mature and experienced” — and like someone who knew about love.
So I told him the truth: Yes, I did know about love — a great deal. It was my favourite emotion.
And yes Valentine’s Day is commercial and hyped up to make us all spend money on silly things like chocolates, perfume and roses and stuff. But I am all for reminders of love in a cruel world full of hate and anger.
Give me crass, commercial symbols of love over hate speech, suicide bombers and terrorism any day. Roses over guns, balloons over bullets. And then came the second question: wasn’t it all anti-Islamic? “Only if you think Islam is not about love,” I said. And we all burst out giggling.
Categories: Asia