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| V-day: what the buzz is about? | | | MUNISH GUPTA
Jammu, Feb 13: Is love in the air? With Valentine’s Day on Saturday , most young hearts in the city are pounding with a resounding ‘yes’. But there are some who don’t know what the buzz is about. And some of the oldies did not mind even terming it as ‘dramabaazi’. However, it is none of the gift shopkeepers’ business, who have stocked everything that could strike the cupid-struck lovers’ minds and hearts. Just read on.
“The day, February 14, is all about sharing love with your near and dear ones. And it is not just for the ‘boys and girls’, as the misconception prevails,” says a student of Jammu University.
When the question was put to college and school students in the city, most of them expressed ignorance. However, Sania, a teenager, proved to be an exception. She went on to narrate the tale as if she was doing a Ph.D on the subject. This is what she said, “There are a number of stories associated with the day. The one that is quite popular is related to the assassination of Saint Valentine, a priest in Rome during the 3rd century, who helped couples marry secretly against the wishes of the then emperor Claudius II. The emperor had banned marriages as he needed men for his military and found that married men were not ready to leave their loved ones.” Phew!
Since, he was assassinated on February 14, the day began to be observed by exchanging love messages, quipped her friend.
Many believed that the day has received an impetus in India due to the growing influence of the West, through movies and the media. “People in India have forgotten legends like Sohni Mahiwal, Heer Ranjha and Laila Majnu and now they remember Mr Valentine,” quipped retired Prof. Parvee Singh from GCW Parade.
The changing role of parents, as they become friends to their children, or choose to maintain a stoic silence on their childrens’ dating, has somewhat given a societal nod to the phenomenon of dating.
Sanchita Gupta, a resident of Gandhi Nagar , and mother of a teenage daughter says that nowadays youth are not what they were some 10 years ago. “Media exposure has done a lot of good to the youth. They know the levels to which their flings should go, and mostly confide about their dates to their parents,” she says.
Agrees Priya Sharma , a BA II student, “Love has become more expressionist and materialistic. With permissiveness being a part of today’s life, one can find couples cuddling at the cafes and discs in the city. With the city getting a more cosmopolitan image, love as giving a feeling of high, has taken precedence over love as being an emotion.
The price of the gift ranges anything between Rs 50 to Rs 15,000. One can pick up cute teddies, perfumes, pendants, quotation plates, lovebirds, figures of entwined couples in metal and stone or the latest entry i-Pod. The market is flooded with the stuff. Chocolates and cards are obviously a must.
““You don’t need a particular day to express your love to somebody. I believe that every day is a Valentine Day for real lovers,” chirps Priyanka Bhagat.
Nothing wrong in adopting some better things from other cultures, but the tradition, which amounts to vitiating our basic cultural values and giving way to crush the human values and undermine the most sacred human relations, will have to be shredded. The way this day is chosen for mass propositions and expression of love towards the fair sex is self-explanatory about the longevity and faithfulness of such relations. Offering and accepting a flower, and that too under chaotic atmosphere is just making a mockery of this great human relation. More particularly, propositions and expression of love thus made on this particular day, as per prevailing practice, have varied choices, which means if the flower is not accepted by one, the offer is made to the second in line or whosoever comes in the way. Is love a bargain or a business proposition? said a senior citizen Mohan Lal Sharma.
Is love a commodity, which can be asked for or demanded by presenting a flower to someone of your choice without knowing his/her wish? No! Love cannot be forced or demanded from someone you think being appropriate for you; rather it is a two-way traffic. Love is honouring the other side’s feeling. Love knows what the beloved desires or needs and not the fulfillments of one’s own aspirations. Sacrifice, thy name is love!
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