No Monday blues on V-Day

Tomorrow, when Vishal Rai calls in sick at work, he will actually be just a few hours away from office, soaking in the warm sunlight and all the love in the air at Neemrana, with his girlfriend of seven months.
But Vishal is far from queasy about that phoney phone call to his boss. “Yeh toh chalta hai! After all, it’s Valentine’s Day,” he shrugs.
This being his first Valentine’s Day, Vishal, a media professional, says he’s planned something special for his girl and wouldn’t let anything ruin the celebrations.“As long as I win brownie points from my girlfriend, I can handle my boss. Now I can’t tell my girlfriend that since Valentine’s Day is on a Monday, love will have to take a backseat, can I?” laughs Vishal.
But some, like Shernaaz Rizvi, a banker who’s dating a colleague, might just have to say those unromantic words on Valentine’s Day.
“It’s simply impossible for us to bunk work. Our office has a strict ‘No dating colleagues policy’ and if we are absent together, that too on V-Day, it’ll be a dead giveaway,” says Shernaaz, and the disappointment is clear in her voice. If office plays spoilsport for Shernaaz and her beau, it’s a pleasantly different story for Himani Joshi, a BPO professional.
Joshi will actually be celebrating the day at work. “In my office, we have dress codes to adhere to on V-Day and defaulters are penalized. We have competitions and gifts and for singles like us, it’s the best way to celebrate the day. And by the end of the day who cares if we don’t have someone special to pamper us on Valentine’s Day!” she exclaims.
For the unattached, office celebrations may be the best reason to look forward to Valentine’s Day, but for college students, this is the perfect opportunity to go fishing for romance.
“I make sure that I attend college on February 14. We girls even have an unofficial competition on who gets the maximum number of proposals,” reveals Shruti Poddar with a smile.
However, Rishab, who is an MBA student, cites more serious reasons for attending college. “I’m studying business administration and I can’t afford to miss college for Valentine’s Day. In fact, I don’t know of anyone in my class who will be bunking important classes on Monday for that.”
And even as Shruti and all her single friends are just counting down the days to Monday with bated breath, some smarties like Ashish Anand have managed to strike a fine balance between work and love.
“I have told my girlfriend that we’ll have a two-day Valentine’s celebration. On Sunday, I’m taking her out on a long drive to Uchagaon, where I have a surprise planned for her in the evening. On Monday, we’ll head off to our respective offices but after that, it’ll be a nice candlelit dinner for the two of us and the works! That way we get to spend two special days together without compromising on our work.”
Clearly, among all those red hearts this week, the Monday blues will stay far away!
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