KARACHI: 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 some one work today,` he shrugged.