At 6:30 in the morning I woke up to soft relaxing music instead of the usual political talk on my favorite radio station, Joy FM 99.7, which is a station that broadcasts in Accra, the capital of my country, Ghana. The air in the room felt very dry and the sun’s rays came through the window. All this while I was still lying in bed and wondering why such a change in the usual radio show. The radio created what I must describe as a sweet and loving atmosphere; I looked at the calendar hanging on my wall and saw that the date was February 14. There was a heart on the calendar marking that day, Valentine’s Day.
The radio announcer that beautiful morning was not the usual male baritone voice, a familiar voice that always questions people on political issues, but the soft, sweet, romantic and attractive voice of a lady. He announced, “Today is a day of love,” and went on to say other beautiful things to remind his listeners of Valentine’s Day. He laced his chatter with fresh, sweet music. I lay down there and listened for half an hour. and then, at 7 am, he invited listeners to call and say whatever they wished to his loved ones, through the magic of radio. So listeners started calling, saying all the beautiful things they could think of. Some of the calls were declarations of love such as “I can’t look back or forward to anything better than you, my dear”, or “You mean everything to me, my sweet heart”. Almost all of the callers mentioned their full name and the name of their loved ones to show how deeply they meant what they said. The presenter simultaneously drew the attention of the audience to all the activities underway in the city, especially those celebrations that were planned for that night to mark Valentine’s Day.
The radio created such a pleasant and happy morning that I felt like lying in bed all day just to listen to the radio. However, I had other urgent things to attend to in the city, so I got out of bed, washed up and made myself breakfast before leaving the house in Accra Central, the city’s commercial hub. I left home at 10 in the morning and it took me about twenty minutes to walk to the bus station. Almost all the people I put on my way to the station had a charming smile on their faces, especially all the young faces. The ladies looked elegant in their dresses, mostly in red and white colors. The young men did not leave the day alone to the ladies; they also looked elegantly dressed with well-cut hair. The day looked very promising for taxi drivers; they were ready to take advantage of all the lovers who would hire their services. The taxis looked extremely clean with red heart shaped balloons (1 or 2) hanging on the car door handles. The sounds coming out of the stereos in all the taxis that faithful morning were soft and sweet and fresh. I got into one of the taxis and as we drove into town I had a lovely conversation with the driver. He spoke of his joy and anticipation for the day. As we drove, almost every billboard along the highways had some message for the day, and highway light poles had red banners and red heart-shaped balloons. As you might guess, the people of Ghana love Valentine’s Day, a day of love and romance.
I arrived at my destination at noon after wandering through the heavy traffic of the day; everyone was running to the main business center to buy some gifts for their loved ones. Business was brisk, every store was packed with customers, and the most crowded stores were those that dealt in men’s and women’s clothing, wine shops, gift shops, flower shops, and card shops. All the messages on the cards carried a central message: love. Virtually all the shops were full of lovers shopping for the occasion, and the most fascinating thing was that almost all the items in the shops were red and the shop-goers were also dressed in red. It seemed that all the red colors in the world had been imported for one day to the capital city, Accra. All the shoppers were smiling as they went about their business. An atmosphere of happiness and love filled the entire mall. All the ladies and gentlemen had gift packages to show their preparation for the occasion. As I walked, I realized that the city’s usual mixed music types – reggae, hip-hop, highlife, R&B, francophone music, and every other song you can imagine playing in a cosmopolitan city – had given way for a weather. little time with soft and romantic music. In addition to music, some of the radio stations were also discussing Valentine’s Day-centric topics.
After spending around three hours in the city, I took a taxi back home. The ride back home was no different than what he had experienced before. I came home elated, and immediately retired to bed for an hour-long nap. I spent the last part of the day in the living room watching TV, and the images on the screen were no different from what I saw earlier that day, mainly the color.