By Dominick Rodrigues
Mumbai : As Valentine’s Day is observed on February 14 by millions of romantics around the world, related industries churn out numerous special celebration offerings to bring cheer amidst the sadness wrought by the global Pandemic. Among the cheer-givers is the hotel industry and music industry coming out with their variety of offerings to cheer the hearts of these valentines, even as the cyber-security industry urges caution about sweet mobile viruses.
“Love is in the air but since the arrival of COVID 19 in our lives, the air is also coronavirus-bound –which in turn has left no dearth in viruses and malwares that can impact one’s cyberhealth,” Paul Ducklin, Principal Security Researcher at Sophos on Cybersecurity Best Practices, Sophos, says while describing the best ‘special cybersecurity tip for Valetine’s Day’ as really simple.
“Even if there’s just one cybersecurity thing you have been meaning to do for months, such as getting a password manager, turning on two-factor authentication., or setting a proper lock code on your phone… why not use Valentine’s Day to show a bit of cybersecurity love to yourself by actually doing it? And then keep on doing it!”
“Cybersecurity improvements that you make in your own digital life help everyone else at the same time. Remember that if one of your accounts gets hacked, the crooks are almost certainly going to use that account to try to scam or trick your friends and family, using your name to win their trust. So, if you protect yourself better on Valentine’s Day, you protect your loved ones better, too,” Ducklin added.
Adding sweet music to Valentine’s Day is Radio City, India’s leading radio network, which is playing ‘Cupid” by celebrating the season of Love with the season 2 of “Love Shorts with Love Guru” across the nation. This campaign — which began February 1 to February 14 — will witness Radio City’s Love Guru airing love stories of listeners, playing love songs — and helping listeners propose to their loved ones with 10 lucky couples winning a romantic date — to rejoice the valentine fervor.
Radio City’s Chief Creative Officer, Kartik Kalla said “In Delhi, Radio City Love Guru has been encouraging its listeners to share their romantic proposals where select messages receive a call back from Love Guru. If Cupid’s arrows hit the right spot and if love finds its way back, then Love Guru will treat the lucky couple to a luxurious date, sponsored by Radio City! On digital, we are creating a series of Youtube Shorts, wherein each RJ will create one video based on Valentine’s Day which will be funny & romantic for the digizens.”
Commenting on the campaign, Kalla said, “We started Love Guru 20 years ago when private FM radio was in his nascent stage. It was born out of a need to break the mould of film gossip and general talk shows, and ever since, it has been guiding listeners by giving them modern-day relationship advice. Today Love Guru is a household name and the most trusted confidante for all matters of the heart. With Love Shorts, we aim to give words to feelings, and help lovers bare their hearts to each other. And what better occasion to do this, than on Valentine’s Day!”
Down South, in Chennai, Radio City celebrates Kadhal surprise, where Love Guru will invite one lucky listener for a short chat on radio, with a special gift in tow. The show will also feature a few local celebrities. In Bangalore, Love Guru will celebrate Valentine’s day by sharing love stories from listeners across generations. Meanwhile, the Hyderabad station will have celebrities team up with Love Guru, and together they will counsel couples on relationship issues.
The hotel industry too has got into the Valentine’s Day mood with sweets. Marriott highlighted scrumptious dessert recipes from Paul Kinny, Director Culinary, The St. Regis Mumbai and Executive Pastry Chef Selva, The Westin Pune Koregaon Park – for delighting one’s better half. The Valentine’s Day recipes included: Strawberry Cream Cheese Cheesecake.
