THERE was a time when Valentine’s Day and its attendant celebration of love and sweethearts was an event when everyone who was single had to suffer. This is no longer the case. Over the past few years, even those who are not single have started to opt out of the celebration. The reasons are numerous, and they include everything from the opposition to the celebration of coupledom in an age where being single is increasingly being viewed as acceptable, to a protest against the consumerist nature of the holiday when the prices of flowers and chocolates skyrocket to double, even triple the usual amount. Others dislike what they call the manipulative nature of the event, which they allege is supposed to make single people feel like there is something wrong with them because they are not all cosily coupled up. There is some truth to all of it.

One of the consequences of increasing urbanisation and the high cost of living has been that the world is home to more single people than perhaps ever before. Migration to new cities makes it harder to meet members of the opposite sex because city life invariably lacks the kind of social and familial connections that exist in one’s native town. In many parts of the Global South, people have to migrate not only to faraway cities within their country but even to places like the Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia to have any employment at all. In the process, they are cut off from their social circles. Even for those who........

© Dawn