Balance February 18 - 55

NIHAL
Off the record:

What's so special about Saint Valentine anyway - unless you're a beekeeper?
Let's be good to each other every day of the year, says Nihal Arthanayake
photography by WI LL I REL A ND

T

he Christmas credit card bills are
being peeked at through disbelieving
eyes, the unwanted gifts have long
since gone back to the shops. No sooner is
the festive season but a dot in the rearview
mirror of life, than another once religious, now
mostly retail, date comes screaming into view:
Valentine's Day. With it, you are faced with
this rose-smelling, chocolate-drenched lump
of emotional blackmail stuffed into the furry
carcass of a highly flammable teddy bear.
You may think my words are infused with
bitterness. But before you accuse me of being
an unromantic fool, I'd like to make it clear my
feelings on the subject have nothing to do with
the fact I received very few (if any) Valentine's
cards throughout school, college and Uni. Or
that, one particularly memorable year, the only
thing I received on 14 February was a Council
Tax demand.
These mere details have not coloured my
view of Valentine's Day in any way.
Here's some historical context to the day
when romantics of the world unite and toast the
triumph of love over darkness with a strawberry
drowning in a glass of prosecco.

GROOMING: RICHARD HARVEY

A DAY TO FORGET
In the third century AD, Roman Emperor
Claudius II decided that soldiers made better
warriors if they didn't have their wives hassling
them about flirting with other women while off
on tour in Gaul or Thracia.
So he decreed that young men should not
marry, thus ridding his legionnaires of any
unnecessary distractions while carrying out
the essential business of repressing people
across the Roman Empire.
A man called Valentinus objected to this and
carried out clandestine wedding ceremonies.
But 'love' was most certainly not in the air
when Claudius got hold of him and had

him beaten with clubs and his head cut off,
apparently on 14 February AD269.
I refuse to be drawn into this faux festival
created entirely to keep card manufacturers,
flower growers and chocolate companies
- and their shareholders - happy.
Valentinus derives from the Latin for worthy,
strong or powerful, none of which you will
feel once you get the bill and realise you could
have had the sea bass without the romantic
surcharge if you'd eaten there a day earlier.

Shout back
@therealnihal
@BalanceLDN

BUZZING WITH EXCITEMENT
Go back to the good old days pre 1375 when
14 February was just another day. Show your
love throughout the year, buy them flowers on

'LOVE' WAS MOST CERTAINLY
NOT IN THE AIR WHEN
CLAUDIUS GOT HOLD OF
VALENTINUS AND HAD HIS
HEAD CUT OFF
a whim, go for an affordable meal when
you can, and write your one and only
a poem when the muse strikes you.
If all that fails, turn up with
a giant bottle of honey on
14 February. Hold it aloft and
swear allegiance to St Valentine,
patron saint of beekeepers (his
other gig). You'll then know for
sure if they really love you. B
Nihal hosts Afternoon Edition
on BBC Radio 5 Live, 1pm-4pm,
Monday to Thursday, and the
Asian Network's Big Debate
from 10am-1pm on Friday.

February 2018 BA LA N CE

55



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Balance February 18

Balance February 18 - 1
Balance February 18 - 2
Balance February 18 - 3
Balance February 18 - 4
Balance February 18 - 5
Balance February 18 - 6
Balance February 18 - 7
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