Kerala Gen Z redefining Valentine’s Day as trululu

Kerala's Gen Z redefines Valentine’s Day, celebrating inclusive love and prioritizing platonic friendships over traditional romantic gestures.

Lenha Safiya

​Love is in the air this February. But for Gen Zers in Kerala, Valentine’s Day is more than a predictable, Instagrammable script of flowers, dinners, and public declarations of love.

​Many young adults are redefining what the day means, often rebranding it as an inclusive celebration of all kinds of love that prioritises platonic friendships over traditional dating.

“Love is not a date circled in red,” says Aysha Dhiya Zellan, 25, a Kannur native. “It is a decision made every morning to choose the same person again.” For Zellan, affection compressed into a single square on the calendar risks reducing something delicate to a performance. “Love is not measured in posts or bouquets,” she adds.

​Neeraj, 23, from Thalassery, insists Valentine’s Day should be treated like any other normal day, not as a competition to prove love through gifts, posts, or public displays. Real love, he says, “lives in respect, trust, patience, and the small everyday efforts we make for each other.”

​While some might say being delulu is the solulu when it comes to finding a soulmate, Gen Z is increasingly finding trululu, true, realistic connection, in their closest friendships rather than just romantic partners.