Feature: Valentine's Day loses steam in India

Feature: Valentine's Day loses steam in India by Karuna Madan

NEW DELHI, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Valentine's Day is the onlyday next to the New Year's celebrated world over by peoples ofmyriad colors, races, regions and religions.

However, ironically the day of love does not seem to have manytakers in India, a country with the second highest population in theworld.

Although, according to estimates, the sales of items such asgreeting cards, flowers and stuffed toys increases manifold on theday, a majority of the Indian youth feels that the significance ofthe Valentine's Day is "simply hyped."

"I have a girlfriend and I dont really wait for a day to expressmy love for her. We meet every single day of the week after work.For us, everyday is a Valentine's Day," said Rahul Gulati, asoftware engineer by profession.

The likes of Rahul are many. Simran too feels that she wouldnever wait for a particular day to express her feelings to herhusband Manish.

"I believe in expressing my feelings every day, every hour, everymoment. With mobile, sms, internet and email facility availabletoday, one can be connected to one's loved one all the time. A dayin a year to express love is like a joke," Simran said.

In the last decade and a half, the multinational companies (MNCs) targetted the Indian market with a vengeance in a bid to catchthe fancy of the youth. They succeeded, but not to a great extent.

"The Valentine's Day did create a flutter in the market when themultinational companies came to India with a bang. Their only targetwas to introduce in India all kinds of days celebrated in thewestern world. A country which hitherto believed in celebrating onlythe Republic Day and the Independence Day suddenly woke up to dayssuch as the Father's Day, the Mother's Day, the Spouse Day, the KissDay, the Smile Day, the Rose Day etc. ," Anurag Banerjie, marketingprofessional working with an MNC, said.

"These companies succeeded in luring the Indian youth but it hadto eventually fizzle out and it did in the later years. The saleswhich used to shoot up drastically preceeding the Valentine' s Dayevery year gradually started falling and today there is no greatmarket to talk about," he added.

One big factor which led to the decline in the number of thosewho believed in celebrating the Valentine's Day was the holding ofprotests and demonstrations by hardline groups and political partieswhich kept growing more and more violent by each passing year.

Organizations such as the Shiv Sena, Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh(RSS), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shri Ram Sene would not onlyterrorize the couples in the public places but would at times alsobeat them black and blue.

Due to a steady increase in the scale of violent protests againstcelebrations of the day, most couples across the country are tooscared to be seen together in the malls, restaurants or cinema hallson this day.

Although organizations such as the Shiv Sena and Shri Ram Seneare concentrated in a particular region, their activists appear fromeverywhere on the Valentine's Day and target the couples, sometimeseven older, seen to be indulging in "suspicious activities" as pertheir standards and beliefs.

"Who would take a risk when you know that it is not safe to beseen together on Valentine's Day. We dont want to be part of an uglyscene with our faces appearing in news channels," Rakesh Tripathi,an engineering student, said.

Interestingly, even the police look helpless when activists ofhardline groups strike popular joints.

"Last year, the glass pane of the restaurant where I was sittingwith my friend on the Valentine's Day was broken by some people.Many couples were sitting there who were obviously the actualtarget. Before much could happen, we fled the scene," Rashmi Anejarecalled with horror visible in her eyes.

Such is the scare of the hardline outfits that semi-urban areaswhich are usually abuzz with youth activity suddenly bear a vacantlook on Feb. 14.

Although the Valentine's Day -- the day of love -- can nevermatch up to the glory it sees in the Western world, it has nottotally lost its steam here.

Quite a few still swear by the emotions attached to theobservance of this "annual ritual."

Ekta Dholakia, a journalism student from Delhi College of Artsand Commerce, described herself as an "eternal romantic."

"I start counting days for the Valentine's Day with the onset ofFebruary. Me and my boyfriend prepare for full two weeks tocelebrate the day in grandeur. We start our day early and aretogether till midnight doing everything possible to show the depthof our feelings for each other," Ekta stated.

The youth in the four metros of the country still pursues the Daywith a certain aggression. Some of them dont seem to be reallybothered by the stance of the "moral police."

"I would not accept anyone dictating me what I should do and whatI should not. I am an adult and its my life. I decide not to bebogged down by the antics of those who have no control over theirown household," Sanjay Sinha, a banker, said.

"With reports of violent demonstrations already trickling fromseveral parts today such as Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, my friendsadvised me not to be seen on the roads but its nobody's businessactually. Its the day of love and everyone should respect itssanctity," he added.

Meanwhile, the police departments in all the states have beeninstructed to keep a vigil on both -- the propounders of love andthose against it.