{"id":2088,"date":"2016-03-05T00:28:06","date_gmt":"2016-03-04T18:58:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/middle-aged-woman-deserves-valentines-day\/"},"modified":"2016-03-05T00:28:06","modified_gmt":"2016-03-04T18:58:06","slug":"middle-aged-woman-deserves-valentines-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=2088","title":{"rendered":"Pyaar, Ishq, Mohabbat, and V-Day for the Middle-Aged Woman"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I<\/span>t\u2019s the month for love. Haters gonna hate; everyone can yell \u201cPyaar ek dhoka hai\u201d all they want but that makes not a jot of difference to the love industry. Hotels, restaurants, <\/p>greeting-card<\/span><\/a> designers, TV shows, and even your local sabjiwallah have all been working overtime trying to sell romance to the young. And therein lies the rub. <\/span>\n\nWhy does anyone have to sell romance to souped-up hormones with legs? It\u2019s almost like selling sand to an Arab, like carrying coals to Newcastle. Why do the young need more romance? You know who needs targeted marketing in the romance department? The middle-class, middle-aged woman, formerly known as the Gen X-er. <\/span>\n\nThe Gen X woman was smart and financially independent. You know her. She\u2019s the cool, <\/span>soccer mom<\/span><\/a> in your apartment building, the one who reeks of slightly wasted potential. Back in her heyday, the Gen X woman was peaking professionally and personally. She wouldn\u2019t let anything stand in her way\u2026 until, that is, she fell in love.<\/span>\n\nSay this is love<\/span>\n<\/span>You know you\u2019re in love\u2026<\/span>\n<\/span>You are not alone<\/span>\n<\/span>Somewhere-someone is made for you\u2026<\/span>\n<\/span>Come\u2026 fall in love<\/span>\n\nThese aren\u2019t the lyrics to some <\/span>Ed Sheeran<\/span><\/a> song. These are just some of the taglines of super romantic Bollywood movies from the \u201990s that the Gen X woman consumed with much enthusiasm. Hindi cinema from that era had some pretty strange notions of romance, and sadly, the Gen X woman internalised them all without questioning, because she didn\u2019t know any better and there was no one to guide her. <\/span>\n

Back then, couples didn\u2019t break up because they were incompatible or because one\u2019s social media followers didn\u2019t make the cut; they broke up because of parental disapproval.<\/blockquote>\nThese movies made festivals, especially <\/span>Karva Chauth<\/span><\/a>, unnecessarily romantic. Fasting became the new aphrodisiac. When the heroine fell in love, she developed a strange superpower. She could starve all day, cook up a feast worthy of a MasterChef winner, all the while lugging around enough jewellery to give Bappi Lahiri an inferiority complex. Watching the heroines in these glittering, Karva Chauth-themed songs gave the Gen X woman major #StarvationGoals. The rumbling stomach became a symbol of love even though by the end of the day, a piece of cheese looked more desirable than her <\/span>husband<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>\n\nThe duty-loving \u201990s heroine loved running. The moment she fell in love, she didn\u2019t go on a date or snuggle up to her love and make out. She just ran out of the house and into the outskirts of the city so that she could find a field full of flowers to stomp or roll around in. If there was snow, that was even better. This is why the Gen X woman liked meeting her lover in parks. And this is the reason there is a concentrated campaign by <\/span>Bajrang Dal<\/span><\/a>\/Sri Ram Sene types to hunt for young lovers in any place with more than three trees. <\/span>\n\nMovies from the \u201990s placed great importance on food. The moment the heroine fell in love, she chucked her important job as a <\/span>doctor<\/span><\/a>, businesswoman, architect, etc and promptly began making gajar ka halwa and sarson ka saag. That was not all. She also learnt to pour a glass of milk and hand it to any unsuspecting person standing\u00a0around her because these were important skills that won over the hero. We might as well have had films with taglines like, \u201cIt\u2019s all about loving your round rotis.\u201d <\/span>\n\nFollowing the era\u2019s fashion, the Gen X woman also learnt to cook the moment she fell in love. Romantic dates consisted of testing the woman\u2019s culinary skills in front of the man and his parents. <\/span>\n\nThe Bollywood heroine didn\u2019t seduce her partner with <\/span>sexy lingerie<\/span><\/a>. In fact, the moment she fell in love, she immediately stopped wearing skirts and jeans and everything that had attracted the guy in the first place. She went on a shopping spree and bought gossamer saris that were good to be worn only atop a snowy Swiss mountain. <\/span>\n\nHow did that all work out for her, you ask? Well, let\u2019s just say she learnt the meaning of the Shakespearean phrase, \u201cWe are such stuff as dreams are made on\u201d. <\/span>\n\nRomance for the Gen X woman was all a part of fantasy, not a part of real life. She could have scorching romance and giddy sex\u2026 in her dreams. Most of the time, she wasn’t really having a ball with her beau, she was just wistfully fantasising about it and trying hard to get parental approval. <\/span>\n\nFor the Gen X woman, <\/span>parental approval<\/span><\/a> was king. Back then, couples didn\u2019t break up because they were incompatible or because one\u2019s social media followers didn\u2019t make the cut; they broke up because of parental disapproval. For the Gen X woman, receiving parental approval was borderline erotic. In fact, all the strange behaviour that she considered romantic was designed to gain <\/span>parental approval<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\n\nIt\u2019s obvious then, that nobody deserves to celebrate <\/span>Valentine\u2019s Day<\/span><\/a> more than the average, middle-class, middle-aged, muddle-headed woman. She got all the ever-lasting love and parental approval that she needed and realised that it can all get a bit boring sometimes. What she now needs is to be re-programmed to have fun and discover the real feeling of being romanced. <\/span>\n\nThe young don\u2019t need this day; they have all the other days and everything else. This year, let\u2019s dedicate Valentine\u2019s Day to that strange creature with her strange ways: the middle-aged woman. <\/span>\n\nIf not for love, at least for pity. <\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nobody deserves to celebrate Valentine\u2019s Day more than the middle-class, middle-aged, muddle-headed woman. She got her everlasting love and parental approval, but sadly, all her ideas of romance are rooted in Bollywood from the \u201990s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":179,"featured_media":2089,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[4199,4200,4201,1246,735],"class_list":["post-2088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-love-and-sex","tag-middle-aged","tag-st-valentine","tag-v-day","tag-valentines-day","tag-women"],"yoast_head":"\nPyaar, Ishq, Mohabbat, and V-Day for the Middle-Aged Woman<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nobody deserves to celebrate Valentine\u2019s Day more than the middle-class, middle-aged, muddle-headed woman. She got her everlasting love and parental approval, but sadly, all her ideas of romance are rooted in Bollywood from the \u201990s.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=2088\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pyaar, Ishq, Mohabbat, and V-Day for the Middle-Aged Woman\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nobody deserves to celebrate Valentine\u2019s Day more than the middle-class, middle-aged, muddle-headed woman. She got her everlasting love and parental approval, but sadly, all her ideas of romance are rooted in Bollywood from the \u201990s.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=2088\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arr\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-04T18:58:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1518516753.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1520\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ashwina Garg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Pyaar, Ishq, Mohabbat, and V-Day for the Middle-Aged Woman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Nobody deserves to celebrate Valentine\u2019s Day more than the middle-class, middle-aged, muddle-headed woman. She got her everlasting love and parental approval, but sadly, all her ideas of romance are rooted in Bollywood from the \u201990s.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ashwina Garg\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=2088#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=2088\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ashwina Garg\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d4b0f630083e6e2d8059c39b85a32d1b\"},\"headline\":\"Pyaar, Ishq, Mohabbat, and V-Day for the Middle-Aged Woman\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-04T18:58:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=2088\"},\"wordCount\":954,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=2088#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1518516753.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Middle-aged\",\"St.Valentine\",\"V-Day\",\"Valentine's Day\",\"Women\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Love and Sex\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=2088\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=2088\",\"name\":\"Pyaar, Ishq, Mohabbat, and V-Day for the Middle-Aged Woman\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=2088#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=2088#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1518516753.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-04T18:58:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d4b0f630083e6e2d8059c39b85a32d1b\"},\"description\":\"Nobody deserves to celebrate Valentine\u2019s Day more than the middle-class, middle-aged, muddle-headed woman. She got her everlasting love and parental approval, but sadly, all her ideas of romance are rooted in Bollywood from the \u201990s.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=2088#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=2088\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=2088#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1518516753.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1518516753.jpg\",\"width\":1520,\"height\":850},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?p=2088#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pyaar, Ishq, Mohabbat, and V-Day for the Middle-Aged Woman\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arr\u00e9\",\"description\":\"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d4b0f630083e6e2d8059c39b85a32d1b\",\"name\":\"Ashwina Garg\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f5df80338ebf2af04f8a4bd5a0efa983d291b5f9fa8b37af2438f2025ee462b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f5df80338ebf2af04f8a4bd5a0efa983d291b5f9fa8b37af2438f2025ee462b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f5df80338ebf2af04f8a4bd5a0efa983d291b5f9fa8b37af2438f2025ee462b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ashwina Garg\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?author=179\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pyaar, Ishq, Mohabbat, and V-Day for the Middle-Aged Woman","description":"Nobody deserves to celebrate Valentine\u2019s Day more than the middle-class, middle-aged, muddle-headed woman. She got her everlasting love and parental approval, but sadly, all her ideas of romance are rooted in Bollywood from the \u201990s.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=2088","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pyaar, Ishq, Mohabbat, and V-Day for the Middle-Aged Woman","og_description":"Nobody deserves to celebrate Valentine\u2019s Day more than the middle-class, middle-aged, muddle-headed woman. She got her everlasting love and parental approval, but sadly, all her ideas of romance are rooted in Bollywood from the \u201990s.","og_url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=2088","og_site_name":"Arr\u00e9","article_published_time":"2016-03-04T18:58:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1520,"height":850,"url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1518516753.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ashwina Garg","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Pyaar, Ishq, Mohabbat, and V-Day for the Middle-Aged Woman","twitter_description":"Nobody deserves to celebrate Valentine\u2019s Day more than the middle-class, middle-aged, muddle-headed woman. She got her everlasting love and parental approval, but sadly, all her ideas of romance are rooted in Bollywood from the \u201990s.","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ashwina Garg","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=2088#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=2088"},"author":{"name":"Ashwina Garg","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/d4b0f630083e6e2d8059c39b85a32d1b"},"headline":"Pyaar, Ishq, Mohabbat, and V-Day for the Middle-Aged Woman","datePublished":"2016-03-04T18:58:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=2088"},"wordCount":954,"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=2088#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1518516753.jpg","keywords":["Middle-aged","St.Valentine","V-Day","Valentine's Day","Women"],"articleSection":["Love and Sex"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=2088","url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=2088","name":"Pyaar, Ishq, Mohabbat, and V-Day for the Middle-Aged Woman","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=2088#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=2088#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1518516753.jpg","datePublished":"2016-03-04T18:58:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/d4b0f630083e6e2d8059c39b85a32d1b"},"description":"Nobody deserves to celebrate Valentine\u2019s Day more than the middle-class, middle-aged, muddle-headed woman. She got her everlasting love and parental approval, but sadly, all her ideas of romance are rooted in Bollywood from the \u201990s.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=2088#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=2088"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=2088#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1518516753.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1518516753.jpg","width":1520,"height":850},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=2088#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pyaar, Ishq, Mohabbat, and V-Day for the Middle-Aged Woman"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/","name":"Arr\u00e9","description":"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/d4b0f630083e6e2d8059c39b85a32d1b","name":"Ashwina Garg","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5df80338ebf2af04f8a4bd5a0efa983d291b5f9fa8b37af2438f2025ee462b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5df80338ebf2af04f8a4bd5a0efa983d291b5f9fa8b37af2438f2025ee462b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5df80338ebf2af04f8a4bd5a0efa983d291b5f9fa8b37af2438f2025ee462b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ashwina Garg"},"url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?author=179"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1518516753.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/179"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}