Come, fall in love!

“We will not allow the youth to celebrate the Valentine’s Day this time” shouted an orthodox when I was having a discourse with him on the nature of Indian culture and its ethos.

“But why? Who are you, after all, to curb the happiness of a large chunk of the community? What right do you have to stop the youth from falling in love?” I questioned him.

Well, I got some expected answers to my question. “We are not against loving. But we do not allow celebrating Valentine’s Day as it is an alien culture. We would have rightly allowed celebrating the day had it been a part of Indian culture. Every Indian has to follow what Indian culture cherishes” he explained with a proud voice.

I came back understanding that there was no use in having a discourse with the person.
As we all know, youth – especially those who have fallen in love – celebrate Valentine’s Day on February 14 every year, throughout the world, except in some of the fundamental Islamic states. India, too, welcomed this fest with an open hand after the 1990s when it opened its doors for globalization. Since then there has been a steady increase in the number of youth celebrating this day with great joy. At the same time, on the other hand, this day is becoming a victim in the hands of ‘culture police’.

This time too many organizations have asked the youth community not to celebrate the Valentine’s Day, as ever.

But let anyone of you give me a definition for Indian culture as what it is. I’ll be more than happy if someone can define Indian culture – which is, perhaps, the most diverse and colorful in the entire world. No, no one can define what Indian culture actually is. But, one can see only the beauty of diversity in Indian culture which calls its followers to respect the sentiments of everyone – of even an atheist. There are as many definitions for Indian culture as there are Indians. The culture of Kashmiri Pundits is different from that of Kashmiri Muslims; the culture of Tuluvas is different from that of the people of Malnad region of Karnataka. The Reddy culture of Andhra Pradesh may differ from that of the Andhra Brahmins. And the culture of Dalits is entirely different from that of any of the Indian communities. Nonetheless, we have never quarreled with each other as some nations – the Arab nations for instance – quarrel to establish cultural supremacy. You know why? The very basic foundation of Indian philosophy says “Ano bhadrah krutavo yantu vishwathah”. [Let the noble ideas come from all corners of the world]. And, needless to say love, too, is a noble feeling one can cherish.

Nowhere in the Indian culture is it written that one should not fall in love. In fact, the heroes of Indian mythology have fallen in love. The love between Dushyantha and Shakunthale in Abhijnana Shakunthale of Kalidasa is a classic example for the respect an Indian mind has for love. The love between Krishna-Rukmini is a world famous one. Had Rama not loved Sita, his wife, he would not have gone to the extent of waging a war against Ravana who kidnapped Sita by unlawful means. We are the one to build a Taj Mahal as a symbol of love which, now, is one among the seven wonders in the entire world, thanks to Shah Jahan’s love for his wife! Had Shah Jahan not loved his wife so much the Taj Mahal would have never been constructed.

We celebrate Rakshabandhan every year with lots of fervor and enthusiasm. All girls would be too eager to tie a Rakhi to their brothers, if they have, as a mark of their sisterly love for him. Brothers would expect their sisters to tie Rakhi and in turn brothers gift their sisters with a goody item that their sisters love. Every Indian feels proud of the Rakshabandhan day, though brother-sister relation has to be cherished every moment. This day is just a symbolical day to express our love for brother/sister. Isn’t it?

Applying the same logic to the Valentine’s Day, I would like to question those orthodox minds as to what problem do they have in celebrating the Valentine’s Day. Is love an alien feeling for the Indians though Valentine’s Day is a gift – Yes, I reiterate, it’s a gift; not a bane – of the west? Or is Valentine’s Day more dangerous than the bombs of the terrorists and guns of the naxalites?! Though love has to be felt every moment, there is nothing wrong in celebrating the love on an auspicious day – February 14.

Look at what Rigveda has said. It says “let the noble thoughts come from all corners of the world”. Isn’t love a noble virtue to be emulated? Time and again it has been proved that love can never – ever – be suppressed by any means. The force of love between the two opposite sexes is, perhaps or undoubtedly, the strongest force that one can ever see. When a person falls in love with the person of his opposite sex, he forgets even the caste of his love which is an inseparable, but which has to be eliminated, part of Indian society.

Indian culture has a great power to assimilate any culture in it. It has assimilated the culture of Arabs, West and many more. With a long process of culture assimilation we have developed a composite culture that is the unique in the entire world. Earlier, our men were not wearing pants and T-shirts, instead they were wearing traditional dresses. But with the influence of western culture we have been emulating the T-Shirt, Jeans pant culture of the west. Those who were having Idlis and Dosas as their morning food are now having pizzas and burgers, thanks to the influence of American culture. Those who were listening to the classical songs are now switching over to pop and rock music.

Nonetheless, the Indian culture and the Indian beliefs have not shattered – even a pinch, because, as I said earlier, this culture has assimilated the western culture in it. The Pants and T-Shirts are, now, as Indian as they are western. There have been Indian versions of pop music, Indian pizzas, too, are making their ways into the restaurants. But no self-declared custodian of Indian culture seems to bother over it. The lone target of the self-declared moral police is the love and the Valentine’s Day which our youth community loves to celebrate. And I’m yet to find out a satisfactory answer to it. Hey Ram!

Well, let those who wish to oppose it do their work in a democratic way. But let there be no hooliganism in the pretext of safeguarding the Indian culture.

And those who are in love: go ahead in a socially acceptable style.

Vijay Joshi