Bengaluru: Anuradha Varma celebrates her birthday every four years. Yes, she is ageing but not able to celebrate it every year on the 29th, like us. Good or bad, this is the month of February for you. Leave alone a day, the month itself didn’t exist. According to the ancient Roman calendar, February was simply overlooked! The Calendar had only 10 months and the year started with spring equinox in March and ended in December. Both the winter months of January and February were included after 713 BC having 28 days each.

The word February was derived from the word “februa,” which means purification and cleansing, adapted from the Roman “Festival of Purification,” a pre-Spring ritual. “Februo” literally means “I purify by sacrifice.”