Valentine Day Memories-Poonam

What memories of Valentine's Day do our TV actors cherish? BT finds out

GITA HARI

   It is believed that it was on February 14 that St Valentine, who was in favour of uniting lovers in marital bonds, was executed by the king. And hence it is observed as Valentine's Day by the lovers all over the world. On this day, they meet, gift each other and make it memorable. But Valentine's Day has also come to mean not just romantically inclined relationships but even those who are close like parents, siblings or just best friends.
   Mrinal Kulkarni can never miss a single Valentine's Day because it was on this day, that her husband had proposed a few years back. Her eyes light up as she reminisces the day, "I was in college and everyone from my group of friends knew that he was going to propose except me. My friends put up this attitude of 'Aaj kuch honewalla hai' and it was on Valentine's Day that he proposed to me, which I can never forget! After that for every V Day, he gifts me a ring."
This couple sure can be voted the most romantic. Poonam Joshi who is single says, "Valentine's Day is a special day and since I have always been by myself, I make it a point to go out for dinner with my group of friends. Once it so happened that we got stuck without a decent place to dine as all the restaurants we frequent were packed and we had to wait for nearly three hours before we could get a table." Sandhya Shetty, Kareena Modi of Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin, has a really funny experience to relate, "On one of my dates on Valentine's Day, I had taken flowers and gifts but to my dismay I found that my boyfriend did not get anything for me and I had to literally tell him to go get me some flowers. Of course, he was embarrassed and apologised." She says even her niece presents her with special greeting cards and chocolates. This one should be an eye opener for all you guys who go empty handed on a Valentine's Day date! When coaxed about how Rahil spent his Valentine's Days, with Kashmera Shah or Ashka Goradia, with whom he is rumoured to have had affairs, Rahil steers clear of the topic and says, "My mom has always been my Valentine. Now that I
am far away from her, she SMSes me," says the hunk who is a momma's boy in toto.
   Shveta Salve hopes that at least this year her boyfriend Rodney is here to spend the day with her as she says ruefully, "For the past three years, we have been away from each other on Valentine's Day. This year, I have already got his gift in advance — it's a cute little pup." One person who regrets not having someone in her life is Rupali Ganguly, whose mother is on a groomhunting spree and according to Rupali, "I have been waiting for so long to celebrate Valentine's Day. I would love to be wined, dined and even given a kiss, but unfortunately there's no one." We are sure there will be a queue of prospective Valentines after reading this!
   Ayub Khan reminisces about the earlier days of his career, "In those days, our purse strings were tight. Once on V Day, when Niharika was pregnant, we hung out on Marine Drive but they were nonetheless special days for us."