Today is Valentine’s Day, and by this time most of the valentines may be out to buy a diamond, rose, or to book a candle light dinner. Before you plan your day please note. Recently Jesbel a respectable website came with a claim that a quarter of all diamonds are Blood Diamonds. Blood diamonds are mined in war zones, ruled by warlords where they rape women, torture children, treat them as slaves and fund armed conflict and civil war. If you are buying one make sure to ask for a Kimberly process certification so that you could be out from the curse of those innocent victims on the day of love. Secondly, the Roses, most of those available in the market do not smell like roses. Rose breeders make it more eye candy, colourful, long living, disease resistant flowers. They often ignore the main trait- the fragrance. The chemicals used to preserve the flower may be one of the reasons for losing the original fragrance. In case you cannot resist buying one, then carry a perfume to spray on the flower before you gift it! Thirdly, do you really need a candle light dinner? The American Association of Minnesota says that burning scented candles could emit small amounts of toxins such as acetone, benzene, lead and mercury into the air. And, if your lover is asthmatic, this smell could trigger asthma and could spoil the mood. After all, love is blind and then why does one need a light, especially on a Valentine’s evening? 
One of the facts on the origin of Valentine’s Day relates to the tragic story of Saint Valentinus. He was killed for falling in love with his jailer’s daughter Asterius. Most of the famous love stories had a tragic end - Romeo and Juliet, Cleopatra and Antony ended their life. Majnun even after conquering Layla’s tribe couldn’t marry her. Salim, the son of Mughal Emperor Akbar, declared war against his own father to marry Anarkali, but lost it and later was sentenced to death. Shajahan, after his wife Mumtaz Mahal’s death was jailed by his own son. 
Don’t you think love always had a touch of blood? It accentuates colour of blood-red. It was on this same day of love that Saint Valentine’s Day massacre happened. Gangster Al Capone is believed to be the person behind this gruesome act. Al Capone - viewed as the modern day Robin Hood - born in New York City to Italian immigrants involved with gang activity including smuggling and bootlegging. Despite his criminal background, he had many admirers, thanks to his charitable activities. He lost his reputation and died in jail in the wake of his supposed involvement in the 1929 Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre. This crime is still remembered as one of the worst tragedies in the history, owing to the date it happened.
In Japan, Valentine’s Day is observed on February 14 by women as an expression of their love, courtesy or social obligation. Again Answer day to Valentine’s Day is celebrated by men on March 14th and known as White Day. Unfortunately, in Bahrain, the political unrest started on Valentine’s Day and on March 14, the Answer day, Gulf Cooperation Council agreed to deploy Peninsula Shield force troops to Bahrain! 
For sure, today, on this day of love, I think the majority of the Bahrain residents including expatriates love to see only one thing -The Justice Minister sitting face to face with the Opposition leaders, reconciling, forgiving, forgetting and deciding to move towards a brighter future, so that the young budding writer could close this episode with a note: And they all lived 
happily ever after.