Love Is In The Air!

Father Frank O'Gara of Whitefriars Street Church in Dublin, Ireland, recounts the genuine story of the man behind the occasion—St. Valentine.Flowers, sweet, red hearts, and sentiment. That is what really matters to Valentine's day, correct? All things considered, possibly not."He was a Roman Priest when there was a sovereign called Claudius who abused the congregation at that specific time," Father O'Gara clarifies. " He likewise had an order that disallowed the marriage of youngsters. This depended on the theory that unmarried troopers battled superior to wedded fighters since wedded warriors may fear what may transpire or their spouses or families on the off chance that they kicked the bucket."

Holy person Valentine The cutting edge St. Valentine's Day festivities are said to have been gotten from both old Christian and Roman convention. According to one legend, the occasion has begun from the antiquated Roman celebration of Lupercalis/Lupercalia, a ripeness festivity that used to watched yearly on February 15. In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius transformed Lupercalia into a Christian devour day and set its recognition a day prior, on February 14. He broadcasted February 14 to be the devour day to pay tribute to Saint Valentine, a Roman saint who lived in the third century.

V-day naturally became our instant favourite. Probably, this is how a lot of Indian youngsters got aware of V-day.Today, by 2015, the concept is known to almost everyone who's ever had access to TV, movies and/or the internet. Valentine's Day is known in almost all urban areas, and probably in few rural areas (mainly because of TV, Bollywood and Internet). But despite the prevalence, it's still seen as a Western (read American) event.

V-day has become highly commercialized in the last 20 years. Back in the 90's, mainly Archie's and Hallmarks sold gifts and cards exclusively for V-day. Today, the idea of celebrating V-day has become mainstream in TV and popular media, all kinds of shops and commercial entities are offering products, packages, offers and events exclusively for V-day.

When it comes to Moral Policing,Because of its unfortunate association as a western festival which isn't religious, and which celebrates romance, V-day is the favourite target for moral policing too. And by moral policing it doesn't  mean parents raising eyebrows and shaking heads at their kids, but various bodies issuing threats against anyone supporting or celebrating V-day. This can get pretty violent, with goons harassing or beating up young couples and smashing and robbing shops which sell V-day products. While well off couples and shops in prime locations are safe, couples and shops in smaller towns or villages bear the brunt of this mindless violence and moral policing. Which is another reason why V-day isn't big in smaller Indian towns and villages. 

All these factors have resulted in V-day being celebrated differently even in India. In some places, V-day is nonexistent, whereas in some it may be celebrated just like it is celebrated in other countries. While some people may celebrate it with enthusiasm, some may simply see it as a western festival which is highly commercialized and is being mindlessly aped by Indians, and hence do nothing about it. somewhere in the last 2 decades, Indians realized that they can celebrate V-day with their friends (from the same gender) too, that it needn't necessarily be romantic. Anyway, Happy Valentine's Day!