By Renuka Dhakal
Kathmandu, Feb. 13: Valentine's Day, a festival of romantic love, friendship and veneration is buzzing around the corner.
This special ‘love day’ is celebrated all over the world on February 14 every year.
The celebration of this day begins a week earlier with other days including rose day, propose day, chocolate day, teddy day, promise day, hug day, and kiss day and every day symbolises the specific aspect of love and compassion.

Although Valentine's Day is celebrated in the western countries, it is equally prevalent in South Asian countries in recent years and has been in vogue among every age group.
Many people eagerly await this special day to spend time with their loved ones by going on romantic dates, gifting them special tokens of love, asking out their potential love interest.
On this day, those in love cherish doing all the mushy things for their partners and potential dates.

Hotels, supermarkets, nightclubs do a lot to make this day special and more lively. Targeting this day they oraganise live music, decorate hotels with heart-shaped balloons and offer surprise gifts, complementary food and beverage items and special discount to prospective couples.

During Valentine's Week, sales of roses, chocolates, and teddy bears increase as these items encapsulate the various aspects of Valentine's Day.
However, like last year, this year too, due to the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic, there has not been much exuberance and excitement about this festival.

Padam Karki, a florist from Kamaladi who has been selling flowers for the past 30 years, said that the sale of flowers this year has not been very encouraging.
He said that before the pandemic, 25 to 30 per cent more flowers were sold on Valentine's Day, but this year only around 10 per cent more flowers were sold.
Not only the flower business but also the hotels and restaurants in the dazzling downtown of Thamel are looking lethargic ahead of this year’s Valentine's Day.

Kumar Dangol, the owner of Jatra Hotel in Thamel, said that last year there was a complete lockdown and this year also the third wave of COVID-19 has affected the celebration of Valentine's Day.
He said that in the past the hotel used to organise live music and decorate the restaurant with balloons to give a special vibe of love to the couples and loved ones, but there were no plans to celebrate the day this year.

Despite the government’s permission to open every sector from Sunday, hotel operators are not excited to make this day different. Dangol said restaurants are facing a major financial crunch due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its restrictions , and there is no Valentine’s Day special event going to be held this year in his restaurant as there is no certainty about customers' visit to the restaurants.

He said that not only his restaurant in Thamel but also other hotels and restaurants were not very zealous about celebrating Valentine’s Day this year.
Similarly, Pramod Khatri, manager of Dharna Garden in mid- Baneshwor, said that there were no specific offers or programmes targeting Valentine's Day in their restaurant. The restaurant would run as on other normal days, he added.

On the other hand, despite all the chaos caused by COVID-19, some hotels and restaurants in the capital are ready with special offers targeting the 14th of February.
Among other restaurants, Lalitpur's Arkai Restaurant will provide surprise gifts, complementary drinks, campfire and discounts to the couples on this special day.

However, in general, those who celebrate this day do not seem to be very enthusiastic about celebrating this year due to the upshot of COVID-19.
Sangam Baskota of Jorpati in Kathmandu said that he and his wife used to go out to have dinner at the hotel on Valentine’s Day but, this time, they have no plans to go out and celebrate Valentine’s Day owing to the fear of COVID-19.