Couples celebrate Day of Love

Cupid reigned supreme as young and not-so-young couples kept their date with the Valentine's Day today even as the Pune bomb blast cast its shadow on the celebrations in Maharashtra.

Romance was in the air as lovebirds exchanged gifts, red roses and flocked to popular hangouts and multiplexes as cops stood guard to prevent some right-wing outfits from donning the role of moral police.

"We are not for moral policing. We will not allow anyone to take law into their hands. We have deployed adequate number of police to ensure that there is no violence and harassment of couples," a police officer said in the national capital.

Unlike last year when the saffron brigade tarred faces of cuddling couples and married some of them, the Lovers' Day was peaceful this time across the country barring protests by a few Bajrang Dal activists in Orissa. 

The Pune blast on the eve of the V-Day cast its shadow in Maharastra where the celebrations were subdued.

Elsewhere in the country, the towns were painted red as youths thronged malls, pubs, hotels and restaurants ushering the God of Love.

Red ribbons adorned entrances of beautifully-decorated shops which offered special Valentine's Day accessories. 

At many places, the V-Day celebrations were a mix of the traditional and the contemporary.

Heart-shaped chocolates, crimson red-rosed bouquets and deep-brown vintage wine jostled for attention with e-Valentine
Day cards, SMS love messages and e-mall offerings.

Florists ran out of flowers as gift manufacturers vied with each other in offering couples to have their names and the cupid printed on their sleeves or T-shirts.

At the India Gate in New Delhi, an NGO organised a function in which Muslim women distributed flowers,propagating peace and love.

In Chennai, most couples did not frequent hotspots for lovers like the Marina Beach and instead preferred to stay in their homes on the Sunday.

This is the first time since 1999 that Valentine's Day fell on a Sunday.

Slamming the western concept of romance, Bajrang Dal activists tried to prevent some boys and girls from moving together in Rourkela in Orissa. Twenty-eight of them were taken into custody, police said. 

At Haveri in Karnataka, right-wing Sri Rama Sene activists forced two cupid-struck couples to tie 'Rakhi' (sacred thread) in the presence of some policemen.