The day of love is here once again, giving rise, like every year, to debates of whether it is “destroying” our culture. On the note of culture, with particular reference to Hinduism, it is not a monolith of values as we would like to believe. It has changed constantly and quite dramatically in the past: Vedic gods like Indra, Som, Brahma, and in consequence, festivals celebrated in their honor, became obsolete centuries ago. Instead, we celebrate festivals in honor of the gods of later Puranas like Ram and Krishna, virtual newbies considering the preceding span of Hinduism.
Cults of new gods—Santoshi Mata in the 60s, Sai Baba in the 70s—continue to pop up with alacrity, and we continue to make space for them in the mainstream, in the true spirit of pantheism. It seems that we can only embrace a new culture if it has the seal of religion on it. And hence, we tend to make a hue and cry about Valentine’s Day every year, ‘a western import’ unassociated with any of our native gods.
In fact, if we were to examine the foreign imports that we have allowed to infiltrate our society, we would be surprised. To take just two, Sati, the custom of burning widows alive, is not mentioned anywhere in our scriptures and instead is speculated to have been imported from contemporary cultures. Yet, it became a mainstay of Hinduism for several centuries. Also, it is not widely known that the glass beads of potes were actually imported into Kathmandu by Muslim emigrants, who continue to trade potes in Indrachok. Pote is not mentioned in scriptures, unlike sindoor, but maybe because of its affordability compared to jewelry, pote has come to be as essential to Hindu weddings as sindoor.
Comparably, Valentine’s Day is neither as ghastly as Sati, nor as deeply entrenched in our culture as pote. In fact, though Valentine’s Day originated in the West, it is no more Christian than the Gregorian New Year, and celebrated with no more religious fervor. It is neither a “holy” or sacred day, nor a “holiday” where you get an off from work. It is just an opportunity for people to express their feelings, if they are so inclined, and as such, cannot import an entire religion to Nepal. It has been giving youngsters a chance to express themselves, and though older people gripe about it, it does stir discussions among all age groups of whether or not romantic relationships require verbal expression.
Actually, Hinduism also has an occasion to celebrate romantic love. Basanta Panchami, now dedicated only to goddess Saraswati, was traditionally celebrated in the memory of the god of love, Kaamdev and the day when Krishna married his favorite wife Rukmini, making it the most auspicious day for marriage in Hindu calendar. The days marked for parents, teachers and siblings are celebrated enthusiastically, but the day for romantic love, as important as any other social relation, is ignored by Hindus. No wonder, youngsters fill this void by indulging in roses and chocolates come February 14.
However, of late Valentine’s Day has become a field day for manufacturers and advertisers, as evidenced by the rise in sales of flowers, greeting cards, and even online gifts shops in Nepal. Anyone celebrating Valentine’s Day should remember that it is the spirit of the day that is important, and not conspicuous consumption of specially marketed Valentine’s Day products.
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