I live in the USA. ere is how I see
it.
Eager Indian youths consume anything
that has the stamp of the West with
great glee. Like the servant Raju
(in the movie "The Angrez"), who is
beside himself upon getting women's
panties, these people feel as if
their association with anything
Western sets them apart from the
rest of the Indian crowd.
I grew up in India at a time when
Indian products were crappy (because
the market wasn't open) and yes, at
that time getting a 'phoren' item
was a big deal. All those pressures
aren't there now, but there is
something else that propels us down
that road. Indian people are very
feudal in their mentality. The
entire Hindu faith (as practiced
today) is based on dividing people
into castes. All men are NOT created
equal in India. Adopting a 'phoren'
product, accent, language, festival
etc. sets one apart from the "rest
of the ganwars". On top of that, Sex
is like the proverbial onion to the
new convert. Indians are very
hypocritical when it comes to
matters pertaining to sexual
behavior. There is a joke in the USA
where Southern Baptist Christians
are taunted as being religious
hypocrites. They say, "Don't take
one Southern Baptist on a picnic
with you because he will drink all
your beer. If you take two, you are
okay, because they will watch each
other."
Valentine's day in the USA is a day
when florists (gul-faroosh) and
jewelers make a killing and men pay
through their noses for roses that
shrivel up the next day. None of the
immigrants from India or China
celebrate this nonsense because they
can see through the nonsense that
this festival generates. When we
look at India from the outside, we
find these antics very amusing and
silly. If we get angry, it is for
the only reason that when we try so
hard to preserve the good aspects of
our culture in a foreign land, these
no-gooders go like patangas and kill
themselves over the shama of
Valentine's day. - Aarcee - Feb.
17, 2007
Let us try and analyze how these
days came into existence. As society
"evolved" with "development". Joint
families fragmented into nucleated
ones. People became selfish and
self-centered. Money became of
paramount importance. Even human
values took a back seat. In their
scramble for more and more money,
every relationship was brushed
aside. Children left parents for
more money which was decently termed
as "better life" or "better
prospects" and then husbands left
wives for better looking women. All
human bonds and value systems were
sold for money. However, one thing
remained, a sense of guilt. That
guilt has manifested itself as
"Father's Day" and "Mother's Day" to
assure aged parents that children
still think of them and like them.
Valentine's Day, similarly is an
assurance to the wife that all is
not lost and that the ever busy,
affection less husband still has
tender feelings for you. Cut out the
hypocrisy and what are we left with?
Valentine's Day is a show not for
the husband or wife, they know
better. It is show to the society
around that husbands are successful,
wealthy people who also happen to
like their wives. Expensive gifts
are given and either it is timed to
be delivered with pomp and show when
there are many onlookers or the wife
goes around boasting "My husband
gave me a gold necklace on this
Valentine's Day". It is a
coordinated exercise by husband and
wife to show their friends how
wealthy they are and that, by the
way, they also love each other.
Often such drum beating shows the
hollowness of the drum, in this case
the relationship. All this comes
from the west as they are ahead of
us in the race. They have already
reduced affection, or the lack of
it, for parents to flowers on
Father's & Mother's Days and
affection, or the lack of it, for
their spouses to a public display
called Valentine's Day. As a
summary, all these so many days show
the health of our societies and of
our value systems. Time is not far
when uncaring parents will be
kissing their maid-cared babies on
"Babies Day".
Soon as even the guilt evaporates in
the heat of money even these
displays will be declared wasteful
and they will cease. This is only a
transition period. - Rajesh -
Feb. 18, 2007 |
