By the time you read this, e-commerce platforms would be laughing all the way to the bank, women’s wear labels and women’s product brands would have met their targets even before the set date, and bargain stores — online and of the physical variety — buoyed by the weekend fervour, would be smacking their lips, waiting for D-Day. In case you’re haven’t guessed till now, we’re talking about everybody’s favourite golden goose for this time of the year — International Women’s Day.

From self-defence classes to safety apps, the world seems to have gone into a tizzy giving shape and size to a Frankenstein that seems likely to bump Valentine’s Day off the top of the charts as the most commercially viable day in the year. We’ve chuckled over Take Your Boss Out Day or Fourth of July specials (if only Donald Trump knew!) but Women’s Day ideas — be it the oddball or tugging-at-the-heartstrings variety — have taken the importance of the day to unrecognisable levels. Moments before I sat down to write this column, I chanced upon a publisher’s reading list posted on social media that egged all and sundry to stock up on women-backed novels from their stable. Why read these novels on March 8 only? Why take a judo class right now? Or why have women specials at restaurants and pubs for a day? What about the rest of the year? It’s a query that yours truly, like many other women keep asking out aloud only to realise that the monster seems to have become too big to handle or, do away with entirely.