Most of us celebrate it as a day of love while others ridicule saying that love is for all the time, and why to restrict it for one day? With number of people in its support, and many in the opposition, Valentine’s Day, probably enjoys (?) its most controversial status when it comes to India.
Views may defer completely on why and how to celebrate Love on this one particular day; but, Valentine’s Day provides a fresh opportunity to write on the most beloved subject of the writers – Love! Right from a three-line haiku to an endless epic, everything has been, can be, is being, and will be weaved around this phenomenon since the ages and for the ages to come.
Well, the day faces criticism for sure; but the phenomenon called Love for which it is celebrated, never (ever) faces any controversy even if being so diversely understood and explained. There are countless, completely contradictory expressions, explanations and stories of love, still, it is accepted with all different views and expressions universally that Love is something best, one of its kind, and greatest!
So, if all understand that all believe in superiority of love, then why fights are still there?
This is what comes into my mind. Everyone agrees on the fact that no one opposes Love. No country, no religion, or no philosophy says that Love is bad. The opposition, the controversy, conflict and quarrel begins with the way to express love. Elders hate it when youngsters hug and kiss each others publically. Conservative people find it as an insult of Indian culture if Indians follow the foreign customs like Valentine’s Day. Simply, not Love, but the way of expressing it creates controversy. Then what is the way out?
Recently I was reading the Marathi translation of Dr S L Bhyrappa’s milestone novel ‘Parv’. It explains Epic Mahabharata with an Aanthropological point of view. In Mahabharata, every human race (The Kshatriyas of different clans, Rakshasas, Nagas, Gandharvas, Devas and many more) has its own customs and traditions and it proudly maintains those. Other races, too, respect those traditions, even if they may be having complete contradictory practices in their respective clans.
This respect is the reason why many races, traditions, civilizations prospered in India making it a great land of unity in diversity. If we start respecting others’ traditions, without disrespecting our own; there will be ‘zero conflict’, on most of the issues, including Valentine’s Day.
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