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Valentine’s Day despite coinciding with Shab-i-Barat had the same rush of customers gathering at florists, confectionery shops and around the balloon men.

The bulging bunches of red heart-shaped foil balloons beckoned all loving hearts to the Khayaban-i-Jami intersection.

Most of the heart-shaped balloons were plain red, followed by red ones with ‘I love you’ printed on them in silver, silver balloons, a few golden, too, along with pink ones in both dark and light shades. Every other second there was a car stopping by to grab a balloon or two, or even a bunch after inquiring the price, which turned out to be quite reasonable at Rs100 each.

The balloon men were quick to yank a string with a balloon from their huge bunches, tie a stone covered in foil to the end of the string for weight and hand it to a customer. If they wanted to buy more than one, the same action was repeated promptly.

Farman, with his bunch of bright red balloons, was taking it all in from his position inside a nearby parking lot. “I have only just arrived. I have not yet sold a single balloon,” he told Dawn. It was late afternoon and one wondered why he had wasted so much time, and business, to start this late. Pat came the reply: “I’m a labourer, not a balloon man really.”

Then what was he doing here? “Bhai,” he gestured to a middle-aged balloon man on the main road, “brought me here from under the Gizri flyover”.

Mohammad Riaz, the one responsible for bringing the young man to Clifton, smiled when asked about him. “Soon after arriving here this morning I sold a bunch of 50 red balloons, then an SUV arrived and bought 100 more,” he said. “Seeing how much business Valentine’s Day was bringing me this time, I realised I needed an assistant,” he said. “So I went looking for one. I went to Gizri during the Friday prayer break. Farman was the first one there to run up to me, requesting work.

“He was sitting there with jackhammers and chisels thinking that I was looking for a labourer for demolition work, which is what he does. But when I told him what I needed him for, he willingly agreed to come here with me. Now I’m selling balloons on the main road while he will sell them in the parking lot. I will pay him a percentage from each balloon that he can sell. On top of that I have also promised him Rs1,500 for his services,” Riaz explained.

“From what I understand about Valentine’s Day, it may be a Western festival but it is a celebration of love for all humankind. And Shabb-i-Barat is a night of blessings, a time for prayers and doing good deeds. I am trying to do my bit in my own humble means by observing both these special occasions by selling these heart-shaped red balloons and giving someone work today,” he shrugged.

Originally published in Dawn, February 15th, 2025