Don’t be lonesome on Valentine’s says an ad in the Times Of India, for….. for what, I am not quite clear from the ad (ok, atleast I have the satisfaction of knowing I was not the target audience. I would be appalled to have such an ad directed at me). I think it is an ad for an SMS service from indiatimes.com, TOI’s portal to end all portals…. by the way, why is pink so dominant in everything associated with valentine’s day? blah !
Anyway, the point is, the ad goes on to say, make sure you have a date. And to achieve that, what do you do ? You just type VAL DAT and sms it to a given number. and hey presto, you will no longer have to worry about being lonesome…. Valentine’s day or otherwise…..
And to take the cake, the buns and the whole bakery, the ad ends with Happening Ho Jao. Loosely translated, become happening…..
Is a date through an sms service with an unkwown entity the way to ‘happening’? In fact, is a date, any date with anybody that indiatimes throws your way that much better than no date at all on Valentine’s Day?
From match-making old aunts (otherwise known as busy-bodies) to matrimonial services and personal columns in monthly magazines to sms-fitted dates, romance has come a long way…..
Or maybe I am mistaken…. dates are no longer about romance (how old-fashioned the word sounds, very Victorian) but about being ‘happening’……