COLUMN Column:
My High School Valentine… By Eva Nakato
According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine sent the first “valentine” greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl—possibly his jailor’s daughter—who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories all emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and— most importantly—romantic figure. Contemporary culture dictates that Valentine’s day should be one where people shower their loved ones with love. Contrary to popular belief, a person’s valentine could be anything starting from their partner, family member, pets and friends to mention but a few. One could as well go out and show some love to the poor, the homeless and even orphans. In my home country of Uganda, Valentine’s day is barely forgotten especially by the educated folks and the urban dwellers. As a teenager Valentine’s Day was quite interesting. At that stage, our hearts were still very tender and explosive at t h e same time. Just like most of my contemporaries, we were at High School. Unfortunately, I was quite a loner for no apparent reasons so I simply watched my close friends and classmates paint the day red and black! Students would do some of the most hilarious things for their high school sweethearts. The girls would endeavour to look their best, applying some ‘cheap’ makeup on their faces since that was all that was available as well as wearing the best perfume they could lay their hands on. Some of the girls also went as far as writing beautifully worded love letters to their ‘boyfriends’. The ones that were students of literature used this opportunity to quote some lines from Shakespeare’s works into these letters. Sometimes the letters would just consist of lyrics to popular love songs. On the other hand, the boys would do all within their means so as to look as ‘macho’ as possible. Anything that could potentially impress the opposite gender would be prioritised.
Since they believed that girls loved flowers, the boys would gift their girls with simple plastic flowers that cost less than a dollar, accompanied with some cheap necklaces. When time for our evening meal at school came, the ‘couples’ would be seen eating from a special part of the school cafeteria, munching away their little pocket money savings. They would treat each other to a much better meal like noodles or chapati with beans and beef as opposed to the daily boring meal of posho and beans, a common meal for students in boarding schools in my home country of Uganda. Some of the ‘brave’ chaps would bribe the security personnel at the school gate so as to enable them take their partners to happening places outside of school. Worse still, some of the older students would escape out of the school premises at night during prep time to go to the local pubs have a time of their lives, dancing and drinking till late into the night. Well, most of them were expelled from school after being caught. As of now, most of my former schoolmates are now responsible adults with beautiful families and spouses to celebrate Valentine’s Day with. They all probably now understand the real meaning of Valentine’s Day and hence celebrate it more responsibly. Worldwide, some couples tend to only express love towards each other only on some specific days. It could be a day like Valentine’s or Christmas or any some other day known to them. However, I feel love should be shown and shared each and every other day. We really don’t need a day to direct us on how to love and when to show love to the people we adore. Anyway, at least there is a day to celebrate love worldwide! So, tell me, how was your Valentine’s Day? Did you share some love? Finally, I would like to read from you as well that I would love to hear from you on this subject probably how it was in your youth days. Eva Nakato is a Ugandan based writer and she wants to read from you so write her through info@thevoicenewsmagazine.com
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