A Rose

Ah, ok. First things first, so I profusely apologize to all those I have wronged by my silence. I very well owe my readers an apology as well as an explanation. Which is that I had to travel to the United States on work. I went away to Portland/Beaverton which are in the state of Oregon.

This was my second visit to Portland and I think it is a nice city. For those interested, there seem to be these tags associated with the port city - "The City of Roses", "City of Bridges" etc. I could see several bridges across the Willamette River as well as the Columbia River so one of the tags seemed justified. The roses - ah, delicate matter that. I can claim to have not seen any roses in there since my movement was largely confined to the business areas.

But with the week that went by being the week of V-Day, I was not surprised I didn't see any roses growing on trees or orchards. I half suspected most of my readers will be busy the week of V-Day and didn't think it appropriate to trouble them to read any new post of mine .

I went out with a team of software developers for dinner on V-Day to downtown Portland. Everywhere I would turn my head, there would be a sweet couple braving the cold, hushing and laughing over something I dared not ask them about, usually the girl carrying some rose or a flower in her hand. What is it with these roses? Come V-Day and their prices soar above the Sensex or the Dow.

They come in all colors, shapes and sizes you know. The short, mid and long stemmed ones, boxed and packaged neatly, sold at the florists as well as online over the internet. I came to know that the Ecuadorian roses were in demand this season. Over dinner, the conversations needless to say, veered over to V-Day gifts. The people in attendance were all V-less for the evening (due to whatever circumstances). The gift ideas (even theoretical) that the guys proposed were instantly dismissed by the women at the table in the most cavalier fashion.

My theory was that women loved roses for V-Day. The two women at the table said they would kill their husbands if they ever ventured in with roses anymore. One of the enterprising male members in attendance could solve this conundrum and concluded that roses are important only in the first year or so of the romance. After that the real gifts become the cry of the woman. A rose is at best a "this too" kind of gift.

"Where is the diamond?", the woman would enquire if showered with a bunch of red roses alone. Hmmmph. These women. Anyways, Christina and Alex - here is a rose to you both. May you both live and prosper to celebrate many more V-Days with more roses.

I didn't follow V-Day celebrations in India this time. It is an altogether enlightening experience to do so. Usually some neta would have sued the Hallmarks or the Archies for selling roses and greeting cards, oblivious lovers would be booked under the immoral acts for holding hands in a public park, there would be some rally in the major cities against V-Day being celebrated in India. I wonder what happened this time around?

Anyway, I really hope all of you had a great week. Cheers to all of you for V-Day and to the girls, here is a pretty rose!