If you are already looking for cover at the sight of the next red rose, teddy bear or heart-shaped balloons — thanks to all the talk of “love” — you are not alone, let me assure you.

Agreed, it’s great to love and be loved but let’s just agree on the overdose bit (or at least I presume you do). The mannequins are wearing red already; demand for red roses is going through the roof, and as if that wasn’t enough, you spot heart-shaped balloons even at traffic signals. Believe me, I have no issues with the concept of celebrating love; what strikes me as odd is that there is only one facet of love that is promoted and spoken about.

For, after all, isn’t love so much more? To me love is all-inclusive. It defines the love I feel for my father; the love one feels for a newborn when the little wonder wraps a tiny hand around your finger; the love for a stray that looks at you lovingly when you give it a pat, or the love of God that you feel around you, no matter how deep your troubles, because you know the power of universe is there with you.

And since you, dear reader, are evolved enough to know and understand all these facets of love, we bring you glimpses of the various shades of love in this edition. So, we have the talented actor Irrfan Khan on the cover. Thanks to his love for acting, he has brought us all some great cinema in the process. I our Looking Back section, we have Gerry Marin, the world-famous wildlife conservationist and wildlife researcher. Thanks to his love for wildlife, he is also India’s first National Geographic adventurer, and has been a crucial influencing power when it comes to discourses about wildlife and its conservation in India.

Adding to another flavor of love is a wonderful Platform section by our columnist Shamya Dasgupta. His piece on Hrishikesh Mukherjee does indeed take one back to the simple joys of life.

This month then, let’s celebrate love in its real essence, the pure deep love that’s all around us.