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The Inman .cost

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Bombay, Wednesday. December 16, 1987

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G.lJbarath ona heart-w(J,r:fning cUStom a1J1ongst;uden(s

A rose...ts more .than a.'rose

l' is ,said that CUPidbribed . '/ ffipP9crates"Yith a . rose to ~ /conceal, the doings of Ve,

be impati.ent. Can they wait till- their\. Soft-spolcen'Shobha",a Rose 'Day,usually observed not sophomore, reminiSces. of' th~ H'" more,than once a year, to say to Rose Day when she lrit:rYiei,fc nus,:-ailf;ltlIe,;erJll 'under the someone '~Jlove,you"? Mo~ of lege after being tipp~~ them do. Even the most confi- her confidantes .that. rose' or its Latin form sub rosa dent of boys like Sunil goes see~.a red against came into' English usage. to through pulse-pounding appre- FlatteriIigthopgh it mean 'secretly'. Taking the cue from Cupid, our innovative hension..Hesays, "It takessOlpe . Shobha was a little take guts to do it straight, for a.blunt to'find some6~rrn.enti$'~ teens have created Ros~DayJ,)ut,.th .e;]' ~no', slapped on yoqr face is. tantly'b oasti~ ~g a day which can be pegged (JIlto", any date -' to communicate low o~e, indicatfug YOtk'n~th- sure to' become g6ssip::sU,iff. ber ofreqs theygoL J..a; . tqeirinner feeliIlgsc~ndestinl.!- ing~more:~im-friends' But NiSha, gregari~;rs. offer,' And many a guy. I think, will ~ . \ you're more euphemiSti~and he wreck his nerves and, bungle. . is, calls th~e. boIier::tJt.~i;g.9ro,' while.attemptmg to express his girls "a bit too stuffyt~C()~When a college-goer.wantsto is far l~ss4eje~." Ados.her'buddy Bbinu, "Not lo'vefor a Jdrl. though he may be at the ,way they blush eve'nwMIi;> ~nvey his love for someone special, he can,do it on a'desig- onlythat;:lt~aves a lot ofvindic- at ease tOr triVial chats witb , talking t9 boys.",. . . mited RoseDayWithor through tiveness. Th~,boy would be her." Though the red goes 'unidi'There, are some girls who shy ractional on most occ.asionS~ a rose, Be it revealing love, or seetflirig 'with an open awayfrom this event, as receiv- there is a mutual. exc,hange of befriending someone new, o'r rejectio~." getting over hostility. it can be But impulsiv,eboys, will also ing a red rose embarrasses yellows and whites. "Yelm,w.. done just by sending a red, yeldoes a beautiful jobof'JJl~king , low or white rose respectively new friends;" admits spobha. fear of wounding him. Neither can you laugh at him, nor preach to him, and you are left beating about the b:ush to get your point ~cro$S"-.usl!aIly~I!at' you're not interested. But When youreturn a red rose with,ayel~
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The modUsoperandi is,quite simple. The sender of the'message has to register his name", that ofthe receiver and the mei~. sage (of love, friendship or peace) Witha'nominated representative, paying a small token fee: The rep (it could be a kid brother or SL trusted friend)does the postman's job of personally delivering the rose. The colour of the ros~ is the message. Red ,stands for love, yellow for frien~ship and ~hite for peace.
. Rose Day goes beyond 'Valentine's day' and.'Hi Day'"Dn Valentine's Day, (February 14). the enamoured selid billet-doux. usually Without signatures. 'Hi D/iY,'in practice iti.some European countries, is the day you

on a Rose DI;iY.

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hostilitytowar:ds her~B}lt.tMt l ,! 'was' oniy8tffilwe e-"c~~-~ yellows on a Rose Day,wit either of us knowiPg th~ttl}e
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"When I was in my first year when everybody 'Yasne~t9 e"", erybodYelse - it was al",ays either'Vini or me wh9kepttoPping in all the class tests. That'. , developed a SQr;tOfgaP betwe i1 . us, though I never h'!rla . bi(of, . j

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can say 'hello' to any stranger and make him or her .your friend.,. "Rose Day helps in a,voiding ugly moments of embarrassment," says the blue-denimed . DOris,an apparent blue-stocking. "When an impulsive snob proposes to you and pledges his life to youon the first encounter, youcan't sayan outright 'no' for
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between us and we. are;.,O[ course; close now:'" '.." Apar.t fx:omacqui1intiJ1!fp~6-' . 'pie; yellows are also exch,ll,~g!!; as a gesture of reatfjrma~ioIY;;of friendship. And white?,}tjs hot t, unusual in adolescent.' yeats, when a small tiff or a misundet~ standing causes a peip@l)~t split between good ffie,n;:Is when pride stops tb'em Jr9m making up. But, through " a white. tl,1ey can melt awaytll'* froze~ ,diff~r~ces and bt~me

other. was sending one. ,N.ow ?u,r academic greed doesn'~.\stai;tt,t

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chumsagam.

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When ~e:rose'

Wit;h~rS;;lJ1e

thorn i$ left,l:i~hi~d.1JJlt.~e!,',; Rose Day fad~s, .Its fra~~c~ lingers in one s Ipe~dryf6.r a . J9iJg.long time: . ..t}~."