Supermarket Of Love

It’s a ‘fair’ tradition that comes once in four years. Besides adding an extra day to February, the leap year lets women woo their sweethearts on Valentine’s for a change. Men, on the other hand, are supposed to put their feet up and play hard-to-get. But as marketing agencies giddy up to ride the Valentine’s Day cash cow, their megaplans lack one crucial element: romantic gifts for men. The result: it’s just another V-Day for Romeo and at least a four-year wait before the leap year tradition catches on.

"What can a woman gift a man except a shirt and a tie?" asks Mahesh Rao, director of Carbon, a branded jewellery player that has launched a range of gold pendants for women. Gili and Dipriya have also unveiled Valentine trinkets of 18- and 22-karat gold. "This is a good marketing day. It’s the highest month in sales," says an excited Rao.

Dipriya’s Dilip Shah adds that his company manages 15-20 per cent of its annual sales in the fortnight running up to February 14. The sales in this period are double that of any other month. "Earlier, it was Diwali. But now Valentine is our busiest period," says Shah.

Traditional jewellers like Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri still net their biggest sales in Diwali for which the figures are 10 times that of the Valentine fortnight. But the success of branded players like Gili and the increasing visibility of Valentine enthusiasts in the 18-25 age group have forced even the established stores to open counters for teenage eyes. "Even a traditional jeweller does not want to be a fuddy-duddy now," says Dharmesh Sodah of the World Gold Council. Yet, even as the spirit of love sends sales graphs soaring and forces the gold establishment to experiment, the moolah still lies in jewellery for women.

Gili’s Shailesh Sangani boasts that his company is the only one to address the ‘leap year tradition’. No wonder Gili’s ads do read a little differently: "As per tradition, on a leap year a woman can reveal her feelings to a man..." Gili is selling men’s pendants and cufflinks-shaped as mouse pads, tennis rackets and horseheads. But jewellers agree that men aren’t overtly keen on sporting gold or diamond pieces.

So, what happens to the poor yokel who hasn’t a clue that the leap year favours him? Not much, since marketing agencies are equally clueless. The Times of India will carry a page of Valentine’s messages on February 14, but it won’t be the exclusive preserve of women. Mamta Bhandari, marketing executive for Archies, sounds equally nonplussed. She’s on firm ground as she gushes about the 600 designs for V-Day and how card retailers are reporting a 100 per cent spurt in demand from 1999. But the tradition catches her off-guard too: "Really? Women can propose to men? How cute!"

Selling strategies have become crazier, ranging from the cute to the cool, the romantic to the erotic. But the day still goes to the fellow digging deepest into his pockets to pay for this love spree. Channel [V]’s "Phool For Love" invites lovefools to send candies, cards and flowers for Rs 100. In the first five days of February, [V] got 8,500 calls; over 70 per cent were from men. Ajay Vidyasagar, commercial director for [V], attributes this to the "modern traditionalist Indian" who still sticks to the old rules of courtship.

V-Day 2000 is still about a male declaration of love-from selecting a creative gift to paying for it. With "modern traditionalists" sticking to the rules they’re accustomed to. Indigo, one of Mumbai’s newest restaurants, is playing around with those rules just a bit. No more of the pink hearts and cuddly fluffs. Valentine’s here is for those who can stomach the erotic side of love; that includes aphrodisiac recipes. Red lipstick giveaways and chocolate body paint take an irreverent look at the season of love. Just don’t ask who gets to pay for the dinner, though.