Valentine's Day is over. Lovers loved, expressed their love, exchanged Valentines and in India, got beaten up for their pains.
I have two questions. First, is Valentine's Day necessary, especially in India? Second, why is love against our culture?
Let us take the first question first.
Valentine's Day is celebrated in the name of a
Catholic martyr, who expressed his love to his jailer's daughter, while waiting to be martyred... So it is assumed. And that is one of the reasons our Hindu moral brigade objects to it. They say it is a Western, and thus Christian, influence.
It is true that it is a Western import. As far as I know, it was only in the last decade that we have even started to pay attention to such a day in our calendar. And for that, let us blame the cards and gift industry, which has burgeoned into a monster by promoting all these so-called days. The next one in the pipeline is 'Toilet Day', I presume! (There really IS a
World Toilet Day'!) You know, we could wish each other happy toilet trips?
Well, setting that aside, I strongly feel that this culture of celebrating Valentine's Day should be discouraged. I am sure people in love can find enough reasons and ways to celebrate their love than setting just one day aside for the purpose.
As for the objection to the day being a Christian phenomenon, that is not strictly true. Even the
Catholic Church is not very enthusiastic about this Saint of love, who may or may not have existed. I think that we should let the day go by like we do the World Toilet Day (November 19, if you want to know).
Now to my second question. Why do our new-found enthusiasm for cultural mores make us shy away from love? Is it said any where that Hindus should not express love before marriage?
So, according to these people who would beat up those who show affection to each other,
Abhijñānaśākuntalam of
Kālidāsa is a sinful anti-Hindu treatise, is it?
I will not go into
a rant about these unsavoury purveyors of pseudo Hinduism like I did in my previous post.
Just a little suggestion, why do we not take a suitable date in the calendar (I have no objection to February 14) and declare it
Vātsyāyana day? Of course, there would be a danger that this will lead to more than love on that day!
Please remember, ours is a culture that was willing to respect the abhisarika as well as the pativrata. Let us not restrict our women inside narrow male defined confines. Why am I saying this here? It is obvious, when you observe the moral police in action, that they are more interested in pawing the girl or woman in question, while beating up the man. They are in it for their own sexual frustrations than any moral considerations. Let us not empower them by acknowledging their existence.