Posted on 02/14/2006 8:54:27 AM PST by CarrotAndStick
A couple shopping for Valentine's day in Bangalore (TOI)
NEW DELHI: Love was in the air as twosomes thronged parks, restaurants and malls in major cities to celebrate Valentine's Day with roses, chocolates and sweet nothings under the stern watch of Hindu hardline groups who tried hard to mar the celebrations.
Lovers were everywhere - holding hands and cosying up in parks and open spaces, meeting in lounges, discotheques, pubs and even parking lots - as flower sellers made a killing with a single rose stalk going for as much as Rs.50 in some places.
It looked as if the Indian heart had wholeheartedly adopted this day as its very own.
"For me the day is too special, since I got my girlfriend on Feb 14 three years ago. It's a kind of love anniversary for both of us," a beaming Moses Phillip, said a young executive in the capital.
A couple greet each other with flowers in Mumbai (AP Photo)
In Mumbai, couples celebrated the day on a low-key keeping the Shiv Sena protests in mind.
"We will be watching a movie and maybe go to a good restaurant. The point is we need to spend time together. We do not have to exhibit it and invite trouble," said Amrit Mehta, an undergraduate student of economics in Mumbai.
There was a palpable sense of caution among youngsters, especially after the hard stand taken by the Shiv Sena, the Hindu rightwing party, against celebrating the day.
The police stepped up security to end the vandalism of card stores that accompanies the celebration every year. Elaborate security arrangements were made to protect gift shop owners and the general public.
Cute stuffed toys are always popular with youngsters (TOI)
In Hyderabad, the Hindu rightwing Bajrang Dal married off a couple to prove the point that marriage was the best way to celebrate love, but the pair had not been found celebrating the day.
Girls look at greeting cards and gifts for Valentine's Day in Mumbai (TOI)
However, in Kolkata, romance was very much in the air, as Hindu radicals did not attempt to smother the celebrations in Communist-ruled West Bengal. While traditional spots like the sprawling Victoria Memorial garden, Nandan film complex and the Maidan areas were full of love birds expressing their inner feelings with empty nothings, the new joints like the vast City Centre shopping mall and cineplex in Salt Lake were chock-a-block with the natty Generation Next crowd.
Valentine's Day greetings cards, many in Bengali, were selling very well, said shopkeepers despite the growing popularity and convenience of SMS greetings. Heart shaped balloons and candles were also selling well in City Centre.
A couple talks in a park in Allahabad. (AP Photo)
In Indore town, activists of the radical Hindu Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) were arrested Tuesday before they could carry out their threat of marring Valentine's Day celebrations.
Reports reaching Madhya Pradesh state capital Bhopal said 35 activists of the two groups were taken into custody when they gathered at a prominent square armed with hockey sticks, rods and chains. They had intended to visit parks and restaurants to prevent couples from celebrating the day.
Security was upped in Bhopal too where the Bajrang Dal had formed 17 teams to ensure that couples don't celebrate the day. The group threatened to nab canoodling couples and hand them over to their parents.
A young couple seen roaming on the Valentine's day in Bangalore (TOI)
In Chandigarh, scores of police personnel kept a vigil Tuesday to keep lovebirds in the city under check.
Some markets in the city's famous 'Geri route' (Geri means moving in circles), were full with the colour of love - red - with decorated shops and balloon-sellers doing brisk business. The youth had booked restaurants and discos for the evening for a date out with their valentines.
"With so much police around, who cannot think of love on the Geri route. It's better to let your hair down at the evening party," said Amrita, a second year arts student as she went around the route accompanied by friends in her car. Barricades had been put up at nearly two dozen places all over the city to keep youngsters under check, especially while driving.
A young couple hold each other's hand as they visit a monument in a park (AFP Photo)
The Shiv Sena in Kerala called for boycotting the celebrations, claiming that it is a Western culture and would breach family bonds in the state. Sena leader M.S. Bhuvanachandran said the outfit had called for protests in Kochi. However, restaurant, cafeteria and discotheque owners in major cities were happy with the booming business.
A couple is made to dance on heart-shaped paper as part of the celebration in Ahmedabad (TOI)
"The partying on Valentine's Day is just getting bigger with each passing year. More and more people want to celebrate it. From young lovers to newly married couples all have been flooding our discotheque like never before," said Sunil Verma, of a leading south Delhi disco.
According to Verma, the youngsters were now slowly bringing their parents to join them.
"I have been celebrating Valentine's Day for the last five years with my boyfriend. While my parents were not very approving earlier, this year they are accompanying me for a special dinner in a five star hotel," said Nupur Sharma, a call centre executive in New Delhi.
A young couple enjoys a moment together in New Delhi (TOI)
Youths were quite upset with the protests by the Hindu radicals.
"People should not interfere in such a lovely celebration. While trying to dampen the spirit of the celebration, activists of Bajrang Dal are behaving like anti-social elements," said Rajesh Pradhan, who came to Delhi's Lodhi Garden with his partner.
If young lovers were gung-ho about Valentine's Day, so were the newly weds.
"So what if we are not teenagers, we want to keep our love alive and what better occasion than Valentine's Day?" said Rubi Das. "For the last three days me and my husband were celebrating."
http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=62791
Indian alternative to V-Day, courtesy Shiv Sena's Thackeray
Press Trust of India
Posted online: Monday, February 13, 2006 at 2014 hours IST
Mumbai, February 13: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Monday suggested an Indian alternative to Valentine’s Day and said it could be named after legendary lovers ‘Laila Majnu’ or ‘Heer Ranjha’ or ‘Bajirao-Peshwe Mastani’.
“Any way, you youngsters do this thing throughout the year. You don’t need a special day for it,” Thackeray was quoted saying in Sena’s mouthpiece Saamna on the eve of the Valentine’s Day.
“If you want to select the day, then select it in the name of ‘Laila-Majnu’, ‘Heer-Ranjha’ and ‘Bajirao Peshwe-Mastani’, he said.
Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil, who banned dance bars, is tolerating things like Valentine’s Day, Thackeray said.
The Sena chief congratulated college principals who had banned celebration of Valentine’s Day in their colleges.
Shiv Sainiks should continue to strongly oppose ‘hi-fi’ culture in the name of Valentine’s Day which is sought to be propagated in the country, Thackeray said.
Ping!
Bizarre.
Nice pics of Indian hotties, though.
And some nay-sayers kept screaming that capitalism would never work in countries like these, we have a bunch of Hindues spending hard earned cash on St. Valentines Day. (Thats why the Muslims only get the ugly girls, "No Chocolate for You!" )
I thought NO IMAGES of Mohammed were allowed!!!!
Now you've done it. (wink, wink)
Many Indian parents don't allow dating. Of course they are oblivious to the fact that the Hindu scriptures are full of stories on the young people and their lovers, and don't forbid dating/courtship in any way.
Thankfully, all that is changing.
That's Krishna. You knew that ...
Thanks for the ping bump
Very Good!
Thank you! Lovely picture, and thanks for posting the story and photos.
Here's a high-quality version of that painting:
http://vrinda.vaisnava.hu/radhe/fotos/galeria/grandes/ka126a.jpg
PING!
got it. thank you so much.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
