The Unexpected

As February 14th approaches near, I get more and more anxious every year not because I have a herculean task to find a date or plan for the romantic evening dinner with my wife, but for a simple reason that I have seen growing up and every year it gets worse. The inability of some Indian masses to accept the realities of life in this ever changing sociocultural economy of ours that is not only influenced (rather part now) by Western culture but also is blending the very essence of us being Indian.

How can Valentine's Day celebrations be detrimental to the Indian culture? Let's pause for a moment and try to gather the facts from fads. People claim that celebrating this festival brings a bad image to our culture. Boys and Girls roaming in open with hands in hands, the kissing behind the bushes in Buddha Jayanti Park (BJP) in Delhi or for that matter the cuddling of couples on Juhu Beach in Mumbai is simply destroying our culture.

Let me enlighten the folks with a harsh reality that we are completely overlooking. Lord Krishna in my mind was also no less than the couples of modern times. I mean he also did date many Gopias? Didn't he? Eventually he got married, but the depiction of his Rass Leelas is very well documented in our culture and in fact is also celebrated with great pomp and show. So how can the modern day Krishna's be different from him? One more example that may force you think your aptitude towards this. Many Kings in our history had married multiple times. Some of them even having multiple wives at the same time and practicing heterosexuality. If that was all right in our culture to be married to multiple women at the same time, I guess the modern day couples are not even close to them. They are at least being faithful (even if for 1 evening) to a girl that they simply want to take out and have some fun on an evening when the entire world celebrates the feeling of love.

Now let's look at some other aspects of Valentine's day destruction that comes along. Some anti-social elements on the name of Valentines day simply get avatar'd into Ravan, who we all know where it leads to. Destruction of public property, displacement of humans and their businesses is a very common theme when people turn into Ravan. Some politically motivated and some motivated by jealousy since they never had a Valentine when growing up. When all is said and done, who is accountable for all the loss that our society has to bear?

They stake claims to get every couple married who is seen together on Valentine's Day. A true incident from Bangalore where a brother and sister were going together to wish their father who was lying in Hospital (due to an accident) were kidnapped, beaten and then taken to a temple where according to Hindu traditions (in a very curtailed manner) they were tied in the holy matrimony.

Illiteracy and deprivation from a mentality to grow and a vision that will take us to the next level is simply the cause of all these issues in India. Let me say one more thing, If we Indians are so concerned about all these PDA (public display of affection), how come we are so backward to be the maximum baby producers in the world? With our population just behind China, I guess it's time for all of us to wake up and make people realize that having sex and making babies is not the only source of entertainment. Valentine's Day celebration is one of them where couples can go together, talk and discuss matters that concern their life and hopefully the next generation. Government should also strengthen their stand on such incidents and hopefully with young blood in government, some reforms can be expected that will give young lovers one more reason to cheer about and extend their celebrations for ever.

Guess what? I just realized that I have to make reservations for my Valentine... Shhh.... it's a surprise and don't want to disclose that I am taking her out for a candle light dinner at her favorite restaurant and will be gifting her favorite turquoise necklace that she has been eying for a very long time.......