The Express Tribune Magazine - February 12

FEBRUARY 12-18 2012

Real blood, fake fangs and the Children of the Night

FEBRUARY 12-18 2012

Cover Story 18 The Bite Club Real blood, fake fangs and the Children of the Night

Context 26 Blood Sucking Fiends Sink your teeth into these out-there vampire myths

Style

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32 Kiss and Make-up Shammal Qureshi re-imagines our favourite celebrity couples for Valentine’s Day

Humour 36 Life After TV: Diary of an Ex (Axed) TV Show Host Keep your nikkahnama close, she might be right around the corner

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Food 38 Chocoholic Decadent treats for Valentine’s Day

Regulars 6 People & Parties: Out and about with Pakistan’s beautiful people 40 Reviews: What’s new in films and books 42 Ten Things I Hate About: Valentine’s Day

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Magazine Editor: Zarrar Khuhro, Senior Sub-Editor: Batool Zehra, Sub-Editors: Ameer Hamza and Dilaira Mondegarian.

Creative Team: Amna Iqbal, Jamal Khurshid, Essa Malik, Anam Haleem, Tariq W Alvi, S Asif Ali, Sukayna Sadik.

Publisher: Bilal A Lakhani. Executive Editor: Muhammad Ziauddin. Editor: Kamal Siddiqi.

For feedback and submissions: magazine@tribune.com.pk

PEOPLE & PARTIES

Cara launches its new outlet for bridal wear in Lahore

Taimoor and Natasha

PHOTOS COURTESY QYT EVENTS

Humaima and Mustafa

Saira with her son

Kuki Mr and Mrs Shoaib Shams

Nadia Malik and Shahzad Raza

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Ahmar and Imtisal

FEBRUARY 12-18 2012

PEOPLE & PARTIES

Alia Mamdot

Fauzia

Hina, Sara and Ayesha

Sana, Asimyar and Tooba

Mehreen

Qasim Yar Tiwana

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Sabina and Jahan

Babloo

FEBRUARY 12-18 2012

PEOPLE & PARTIES

WIB CON (Women in Business Conference Series) organises an International Women Leaders Summit in Karachi

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy

Dr Sema Suvarioglu

Rokia Rehman

Nasreen Haque

Neshmia Ahmad

Bata hosts a dinner at the Country Club in Karachi

Guest

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Mr R Rizzo

Mr Imran Malik

Mr Fernando Garcia

FEBRUARY 12-18 2012

PEOPLE & PARTIES

Nadia Hussain launches her skin clinic, Radiance, in Karachi

Shehroz, Anoushey and Ayesha Omar

PHOTOS COURTESY CATALYST PR

Frieha Altaf

Ahsan and Nadia

Nazia Malik

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Nadia and Rana Khan

Maria Wasti

Aaminah Sheikh

Maheen Khan

FEBRUARY 12-18 2012

Ania and Shehzad Hassan

Haleemeh Akhter

Ayesha Omar

Neelam Munir

Naila Jaffery

Mohammad Arif

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Saima Azhar

PHOTOS COURTESY CONSULTANTS & MANAGERS

Bashir Ahmad Textiles hosts a pre-launch dinner in Karachi

FEBRUARY 12-18 2012

Designers Lounge hosts a Pakistani Fashion Gala in Dubai

Safa and Hamna

PHOTOS COURTESY SAVVY PR AND EVENTS

Almas and Sonya

Fatima Butt

Haya and Kanwal

Badriya and Sahar Erum

Janie Liang

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Raziya and Waseem Noor

Gulzeb and Aamir Mazhar

FEBRUARY 12-18 2012

STYLE

kiss and make-up

BY SHAMMAL QURESHI

Valentine’s Day is almost upon us; the day when we dress to the nines and celebrate our love for our significant others. Given that Valentine’s Day is often about fulfilling fantasies and making dreams come true, this V Day, the team at Toni&Guy Lahore decided to do a little ‘dreaming’ of our own. So here are three celebrity couples we would love to style for Cupid’s big day — along with the looks we think would make them truly shine!

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Aaminah Haq & Ammar Belal The iconoclastic designer and the drop-dead gorgeous supermod-

el are truly Pakistani fashion’s real power couple. Ammar is style personified, while Aaminah exudes charm, charisma and confidence from every pore. The two are an amazing example of how

great couples complement one another to perfection and should build on their classic sense of style.

Aaminah Supermodel Aaminah Haq has the perfect mix sensuality and style. For Aaminah’s V Day look, we recommend sticking to the

theme of classic chic. Given the shape of Aaminah’s face, her V Day style is one that will accentuate her features.

Aaminah’s hair is glossed with L’Oreal’s rich Dark Golden Ma-

hogany, accentuating the colour with curls hearkening back to

the style of the Twenties. The sides are pulled back tightly into a high pony-tail, gathering the hair at the back in a mass of voluminous spirals. The tightly pulled back sides bring attention to

Aaminah’s high cheekbones, while the high pony-tail allows her to show off her shapely shoulder bones and nape of her neck. The

front could either be pulled back also, highlighting Aaminah’s classic forehead. Alternatively, a shapely flick of curls could

lightly crown Aaminah’s forehead, serving the same purpose in a softer manner, while calling notice to her large eyes.

Aaminah’s make-up should continue the theme of classic, sim-

ple chic, focusing on her finest features. Aaminah’s luminous eyes

will be made up with classic Diana of London #19 eyeliner reminiscent of a young Audrey Hepburn, and shimmer to highlight her

perfectly arched eyebrows. Her luscious lips will be coloured with MAC Russian Red blood-red lipstick, along with a covering gloss.

Ammar As one of Pakistan’s leading designers, Ammar is no stranger to

style. Ammar’s fashion sense is the perfect blend of classic with

a twist. The young designer can often be spotted in immaculately tailored suits or blazers, yet always carrying subtle hints of the

swanky rebelliousness that first catapulted him onto the Pakistani fashion scene.

Given this mix of classic modernity, Ammar’s style this V Day

should hearken back to the sleek chic of the Seventies. Think Michael Corleone but updated for 2012. We recommend styling

Ammar’s thick, wavy locks pushed back and parted to the side.

Instead of a razor sharp parting like the one Al Pacino sports in

the cinema classic, Ammar’s 21st century take on this classic hairstyle would be parted more casually, as if parted by hand.

We’d use Label.M Strong Wax or Mud Clay to add some texture and shine to the style without looking greasy.

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STYLE FEATURE

Meesha Shafi & Mahmood Rahman

Meesha and Mahmood are Pakistani rock’s newest and hottest

couple. Parents to a beautiful baby girl, Jhanavi, the couple are artists and celebrities in their own individual capacities. Meesha

has also recently made the move to the Silver Screen, starring in

Mira Nair’s upcoming adaptation of Mohsin Hamid’s best-selling novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, and our very own upcom-

ing action thriller Waar. The fun-loving, down-to-earth couple

are a perfect melody — she’s a rock chick and he’s a biker-esque ‘bad boy’ guitarist.

Meesha Mahmood Mahmood’s look will build on his existing persona as a kick-ass rocker. Mahmood’s wardrobe and sense of style remind us of

Casual, laid back and relaxed, Meesha is the very definition of boho

chic. Our V day look for Meesha builds on her chilled out persona, keeping her looking cool and fresh.

Meesha’s hair normally falls pins straight, so for this Valen-

those bad-ass Hell’s Angels in the classic motorbike movie Easy

tine’s Day we think she should shake things up a bit with some

Meesha’s rocking Bonnie.

Meesha’s straight locks into soft loose waves and add Volume

Rider. His look this Valentine’s Day therefore acts as the Clyde to We’d clip Mahmood’s hair into short tailored sides and back

and loosely textured from the top. The texture is accentuated

with Label.M Matt Paste and Sea Salt Spray. And to add that final bit of pizzazz, we’d leave Mahmood with light stubble to complete the rocking biker look.

movement and texture. We’d use Label.M Hair Souffle to sculpt

Mousse for body and bounce. The final look is one of casual, tousled curls, softly framing Meesha’s face. We finish off with a quick spritz of Label.M Shine Mist to add a healthy gleam.

Meesha’s make-up is designed to draw attention to her sharp,

captivating features, while sticking with the theme of ‘keeping it simple’. We use Diana of London #19 shimmer under Meesha’s eye-

brows to give a ‘wide look’, combined with a L’Oreal #508 shade of Aubergine eye shadow, blended deeply, and accompanied by lots of L’Oreal mascara to lengthen Meesha’s already long lashes. The look is capped with a bright pink lipstick by Rimmel #006.

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Usman & Samina Peerzada Our final celebrity couple are the stylish and somewhat older Samina and Usman Peerzada. The Peerzadas are a distinguished

and accomplished couple with a great deal of living and working

under their belts. The most endearing part about them is that they retain a fresh outlook towards their lives and work and are

still in the forefront of innovation and experimentation in their fields. This is part of what we want to reflect in their styling: their innovative attitudes and accomplished styles.

Samina Even today, Samina Peerzada manages to captivate people and turn heads when she enters a room. She is defined by her elegance and grace, and this is what we want to stick with when styling her for Valentine’s Day 2012.

We’d cut Samina’s hair in a Charlie’s Angels-esque style, think

the glamorous Farrah Fawcett, but toned down and less feath-

ered. The hair would be parted in the centre with tons of volume,

and flicked out at the ends. The style would be textured with Label.M Hair Souffle and then blow-dried with Label.M Blow-

Out Spray to protect from the heat. A final addition of Shine Mist adds a high glossy finish to the classy glam look.

Samina’s make-up would work to accentuate her defined yet

Usman

delicate features, with a colour palette of soft browns and bronz-

A classic actor and scion to the famous puppeteering family, Us-

coupled with lots of L’Oreal mascara and a final touch of kajol to

voice and sheer animal magnetism and charisma are what we

es. Eyeliner to accentuate the shape of Samina’s almond eyes,

remind us that she is one of South Asia’s True Beauties. The look would be completed with a final touch of extremely muted, nude lipstick with gloss by L’Oreal #715.

man Peerzada still defines Pakistani masculinity. His deep, sexy want to reflect in Usman’s styling for Valentine’s Day.

While Usman has often sported medium to long hair, this V

Day we’d style him a little differently; keeping his classic style but bringing in a bit of 2012 oomph. Before anything else, we’d treat Usman to a Hydra Dermie Lift Facial, to tighten and rejuvenate the facial skin and bring out Usman’s strong jawline. Us-

man’s salt and pepper locks would be tailored along the sides and the back, but not too short. And we’d leave the top to hang very loosely over.

Shammal Qureshi is the creative director of the Toni & Guy salons in Lahore and the Creative Consultant & Trainer for L’Oreal in Pakistan.

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HUMOUR

life after tv: diary of an ex (axed) tv show host

BY AA SHEIKH

Dear Diary,

It’s not as terrible as I thought. My mornings aren’t so bad after

all. True, the first few days were hard. Those beghairat liberal fascists got me! They pulled a Hosni Mubarak on me: twittering and youtubing and what not against me. I was so mad! And all

I could do to vent my rage was to kick my hubby in the rear and

pull my maid by her hair. That felt good. Kinda cathartic: like

relieving yourself after endless constipation. Since then I feel lighter and relaxed. I’ve taken to gardening. And reading digital

versions of Baheshti Zewar and Harold Robbins on my iBad. How else do I fill my mornings?

Dear Diary,

The horror! While tending my gardenias today I saw a couple of ladybugs cavorting in the grass! “Oh no,” I said, “not under my

watch you don’t!” My first instinct was to get a camera and ask them if they were properly married and whether their parents knew where they were. But I only had the iBad with me, and,

seriously, it’s not the same thing as having a big, nosy camera overlooking your shoulder as you pontificate. So I went ahead

and just squished the damn insects. It gave me a very satisfying feeling afterward. Like afterglow, but better.

I wonder though: when ladybugs mate, is it a same-sex relation relationship? Oh, the horror!

Once she was the terror of dating couples in public parks. Now she stalks her own garden Dear Diary,

In a very low mood. I opened a Facebook page earlier, gathering support for my reinstatement and reminding people of the many

good things I did on my show. So far I only have one supporter though, someone called Rana-the-Lawsome, who cheered my

idea of banning all couples in Pakistan, or at least in Punjab.

That’s great but really, just one guy!? Even Mushy has more fol-

lowers. I felt so down I went to see my doc who, after trying very hard to avoid me and hide behind his desk and all, finally diagnosed me as having excessive menopause, constipation, mora-

lossis and severe Anchoritis. “Whoa,” I said. “Are those last two even real conditions?” “They are now,” he replied.

Dear Diary,

Guess what? Just after I finished practicing my bhangra routine this morning (it’s great aerobics and good for constipation) I got

a call from the nation’s biggest proselytizer. You know, the guy who talks all funny and loves silk couture. Apparently he wants

me for a joint TV show. Just to show that Muslim women in Pakistan are equal to men in every way and enjoy equal rights and all that crapola. He said I’d love working with him: he’s really

decent and all and he says he never even dated his wife! “So,” I quipped, “you dated other people’s wives?” He went really, really quiet for a while until I said I was just joking and then we both

had a nervous laugh. I’m impressed, though. I might take up the offer, even though I’ll have to wear hijab and more makeup than usual, you know, just to match his.

Dear Diary,

My email is choking with anonymous messages saying: you are

so OUT-DATED! I seriously don’t get it. I mean, I have the iBad and other modern gizmos, don’t I? Some people just make no

sense! Anyway I have to go, do some gardening. I just got a new insecticide! I’m so excited!

Oh, and after that, will go shopping for pins. Come Tuesday, I

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wanna pop as many red-heart balloons as possible. More catharsis!

FEBRUARY 12-18 2012

FOOD

chocoholic

You are just a couple of steps away from preparing the most mouthwatering chocolate delights

BY ANUM IMRAN

When you speak of chocolate only one word can do justice to it: “divine”. The joy of breaking a bar of chocolate and indulging in it bite by bite is unmatched — the silky, velvety texture just lightens up your palate. Here are some recipes to fulfill a chocoholic’s fantasy and brighten up your Valentine’s Day. Let’s start with a basic cake recipe and then tweak it to prepare other chocolaty delights.

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Moreover, if you want to make an easy lava muffin, simply

fill the muffin cup with half of the mixture and add a chunk

of your favourite milk chocolate before pouring in the rest of the mixture over it and baking it.

Do make sure you toss the piece of chocolate in the flour

before placing it over the mixture so that it does not sink in.

To make brownies, just omit the oil from the list of ingredients.

Beat sugar and eggs together in a bowl. Melt 1 cup of cooking chocolate with ¾ cup butter and follow the above recipe.

To make icing for this cake, melt ½ a cup of chocolate with

½ a cup of cream. Add 1 tsp honey for that smooth texture and

pour it over the cake. Remember to allow the brownie to rest first or the icing will never set on it.

Basic chocolate cake Ingredients: Eggs - 3

Now let’s give you an easy recipe of an egg-less, sugarless

chocolate mousse. Just melt ¾ cup chocolate with 4 tbsp water, ½ a packet of marshmallows and ½ a cup of butter in a pan.

Beat 1 packet of cream in another bowl with 1 tsp vanilla

Oil - ¾ cup

essence.

Caster Sugar - 1 cup

refrigerator.

Baking Powder - 1 ½ tsp

a cup of cooking chocolate and melt it with ½ a cup of cream.

Coffee - 2 tsp (optional)

fruits, plain biscuits and slices of plain cake and savour the

Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp Flour - 1 cup

Cocoa powder - ½ cup

Method

Fold in the two mixtures together and chill in the Whenever you feel like having something chocolaty, grab ½ Add 1 tsp vanilla essence and 1 tsp of coffee. Grab all the

chocolate fondue.

Beat oil and sugar together, until the sugar starts to dissolve slightly.

Add eggs, one at a time, and beat gently. Start with a low speed and then gradually increase the speed.

Add vanilla essence to the mixture and stir.

In another bowl, mix all the dry ingredients. Make sure you sift them to remove all the lumps.

Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients and fold in gently.

Grease a pan and pour the batter in it.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degree for 40 to 45 minutes.

You can use this batter to bake chocolate muffins as well. In

this case, the baking time will be just 15-20 minutes.

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REVIEW

uncovering the past

BY AMMARA KHAN

Julian Barnes’s latest novel The Sense of an Ending, winner of the 2011 Man Booker Prize, is a tale of disillusionment and self-realisation and Barnes meticulously crafted characters inhabit a world that shifts with every turn of the page.

The Sense of an Ending is the story of Tony Webster, a 60-year-old divorcee, living an ordinary life. A man of supreme prudence, he never let people come close to him for the fear he might become vulnerable. However, Tony’s little world is shattered by the arrival of a letter and he begins to question his perception and understanding of life.

He discovers that the mother of his university girlfriend, Veronica, has left him a bequest and the personal diary of his best friend, Adrian Finn. Soon enough, Veronica stumbles back into Tony’s life when he finds out that she has possession of the diary bequeathed to him.

Embarking on a journey into the past to unravel the extent to which he could be held responsible for a tragedy that happened years ago, Tony discovers an unsettling version of the past and is forced to accept things that alter the way he relates to people.

Barnes combines an idealistic grasp of the truth with the elusive yet

contrabanned

BY NOMAN ANSARI

Directed by Baltasar Kormákur, Contraband is an unremarkable heist movie, which features little in the way of action, and instead tries hard to build tension with narrative. Unfortunately not only is this narrative simply a violent rehash of similar genre films before it, it also comes across as overly convoluted in its failed effort to build drama.

The film is about Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg), a former smuggler, who has given up his life of crime to live honestly with his wife Kate (Kate Beckinsale) and children. The movie shifts into second gear when Chris’s brother-in-law Andy (Caleb Landry Jones), who also happens to be a smuggler, is forced to dump his consignment of drugs from a cargo ship in order to avoid arrest. Unfortunately for Andy, this doesn’t please his highly temperamental crime boss Tim Briggs, played in a fine performance by Giovanni Ribisi, for whom he was sneaking the contraband into the US. When Chris gets involved to protect Andy, he finds his own family threatened by Briggs, who demands $700,000 to make up for loss of the drugs.

Alongside Andy, and old friend Danny Raymer (Lukas Haas), Chris 40 makes his own smuggling run from Panama on a cargo ship helmed FEBRUARY 12-18 2012

uncompromising role of memory in our dealings with the past and present.

A tale of melancholia, aging, and love, The Sense of an Ending is significant at many levels, and the most intriguing aspect of the narrative is its ability to engage readers at all of them. Barnes frequently looks at the complexities of the workings of the human mind, the dilemma of a fragmented identity and accepting responsibility for one’s actions. Combining fiction and reflection, Barnes pictures in a variety of ways the rhythmic order of difference at the core of human existence.

The Sense of an Ending is a work of great vision and perception. It is a deep meditation on subjective reality and our non-linear experience of time. Although time and memory are one of the most discussed aspects of subjective identity in the twentieth century, Barnes does not try to separate them from ordinary life for some overtly intellectual purpose and consequently succeeds in creating a credible story with a handful of ordinary characters.

by a corrupt ship captain (J.K. Simmons), while leaving his family in the care of his untrustworthy friend Sebastian Abney (Ben Foster). From this point on, the movie tries but fails to shift into third gear. What follow are a dozen plot twists, most of which are dead on arrival. It’s a lot of build-up without any real climax.

The strangest thing about Contraband is the shaky-cam method it employs, similar to those used in gritty cop dramas like “The Shield” and “NYPD Blue”. Here, the shaky-cam feels out of place, largely because of the ungrounded plot and the film feels like it is trying too hard to make up for it with the use of such methods. And although the bulk of the cast lift the film with some strong performances, Mark Wahlberg comes across as inappropriately muted, displaying such limited emotional range that I was left wondering if he had been sampling some of that contraband himself. And for a character-driven film, an uninspired performance from its lead is simply criminal.

enjoy the silence

BY UNUM MUNEER AHMED

A stunning tribute to love, success and the history of cinema, The Artist recreates the glamour and innocence of early Hollywood in its dramatic black and white frames. It is a largely silent film, but really, the story is all about sound.

The plot follows the lives of successful silent movie hero George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) and ambitious young extra Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo). Valentin’s pride leads him to reject the introduction of sound in the movies. He laughs at the idea, storms out of the producer’s office and soon becomes a bankrupt has-been.

Meanwhile, Peppy’s voice and enthusiastic personality land her a huge movie contract, making her America’s new sweetheart in the ‘talkies’. Valentin is the one who helps Peppy with her first break, and the two are infatuated with each other.

Actions speak a thousand lines of dialogue in this movie. One of the most moving images in the film is created when Peppy, still an extra, sneaks into Valentin’s empty changing room. She puts her arm through the jacket of his hanging tuxedo and wraps it around herself, pretending that it’s him. Valentin is very obviously smitten with Peppy from an earlier part in the film. However, until this point

soaring high

BY NOMAN ANSARI

Chronicle is a science-fiction film about a group of friends who suddenly gain superhuman abilities and use them for personal gain. Not only is this a completely new twist in the bland superhero genre but it also provides a look into the feelings and emotions experienced by new superheroes who have no idea what to do with their powers.

Cleverly directed by newcomer Josh Trank, and convincingly played by a cast of unknowns, Chronicle works primarily because it is presented through the ‘found footage’ technique, famously used in films like The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield. Chronicle mostly uses HD camera footage shot by one of its principle characters, though it also spices things up by using action footage captured by bystanders.

Thanks to stylish editing, and breathtaking cinematography, the film is a rollercoaster ride and provides some really exciting visuals.

And while the realism lends the action sequences an extra thrill, it provides the dark narrative with an extra chill. The movie starts with Andrew (Dane DeHaan), an unpopular high school teenager.

Burdened by a dying mother, an abusive alcoholic father and bullies

the viewer is still wondering if Peppy is just using him — this single loving gesture instantly silences all doubt.

The Artist also has some really funny moments. The physical comedy makes you laugh without a punch line. The beginning of the movie is also hilarious. We see Valentin playing a spy being interrogated and his first ever dialogue card reads, “I won’t talk, I won’t say a word”.

Making people laugh is an old talent of the film’s leading man and it its director, Michel Hazanavicius. The two actually perfected their comic chemistry working together on a popular French series of spy spoofs (OSS 117).

People may hesitate to watch The Artist because the idea of silent film seems stale and old-fashioned. However, the fact that most modern viewers are so unused to silent movies, paradoxically, makes this a fresh experience. You don’t have to be part of some pretentious niche audience to like The Artist — you just have to be open to trying something new.

in high school, he copes by filming his daily life.

After Andrew’s cousin Matt (Alex Russell), and friend Steve (Michael B Jordan), take Andrew to film a mysterious hole which is emitting some sort of energy, the three teenagers gain amazing telekinetic powers.

However, they soon realise that overusing their newfound abilities leads them to suffer from nosebleeds, headaches, and loss of judgment.

At first the trio use their powers to play pranks, but Andrew quickly becomes the most powerful of the three and he relies too much on his powers, losing control and creating havoc.

Some of the ‘found footage” in Chronicle, comes across as a touch too convenient, making things seem a bit contrived. Having said that, this thrilling film has been quite skilfully made and really makes the viewer believe that flying is as easy as jumping.

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THE HATER

10 things I hate about

1 2 3 4 5

…valentine’s day

The commercialisation. Valentine’s Day used to be

about professing and celebrating love but now it’s not V-Day unless you get at least a dozen roses, a box of

chocolates and some very expensive jewellery for your girl. Is this really what showing your love is about?

All the red. Do you know that in many parts of the

world, blue is considered to be the colour of love?

It symbolises trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven, technically

everything you want from love. So can you please tone down the red, it’s giving me a headache!

The tacky gifts. I’ll admit, I love teddy bears but it’s really embarrassing to come out of a store carrying a

big red teddy bear that keeps bleating “I wuv you” to complete strangers.

The fakers. They act like they don’t care about V-Day until the actual day. Then they gush to their friends

about the wonderful gifts they got. Please don’t insult

our intelligence, we know that you pushed him into the store and handed him the money.

The drama. All the single people who use the day as an excuse to whine about their pathetic lives. It’s really

painful listening to each of your friends blabbering on about how they are never going to find true love. Please stop, I’m this close to shooting myself.

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BY T PASHA

6 7 8 9 10

The haters. I just want to say to all those V-Day haters who love to pick on happy couples: Everybody knows

that while you say you despise the day, secretly you just need some ‘wuv’ in your life.And a teddy bear.

The single people. Yes, yes. We all know how happy you are being single. You also don’t have to tell us about

the fact that you are free from all commitments and obligations on V-Day. Stop ruining the day for us, it’s really annoying.

The “I forgot” excuse. Lots of guys use this excuse to get out of celebrating V-Day all together. How can you forget about V-Day? There are red balloons, hearts and teddy bears everywhere! And no, colour blindness is no excuse?

The television. Every channel on V-Day is awash with

red and all of their content is about love. Why do we have to suffer through all of that when all we want to do is to watch is a good action flick.

The questions. Yes, I am single. No, I like being single.

No, I do not hate Valentine’s Day because I am single.I’m not anti-love or a misanthrope. I’m just single!