More on Valentine s

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A friend asked me when did I come to know of a certain St. Valentine ? I remembered when I came to Mumbai in eleventh standard. He came to know in his twelfth year of school when he got anonymous valentine cards. He was traveling in interiors of Gujarat on work and mentioned that even boys and girls in villages were celebrating it. I wasn't surprised as amongst a lot of Indian communities , the Gujaratis are very broadminded. The whole concept of group dance called Garba and Dandiya Raas where men and women dance together in sync and to the dhol beats and garba songs is a vision one must experience. garba is a dance of celebration and is done not only during the Navratri but also during weddings, Bhagwad Geeta parayan , mehndi, anniversaries or any other festival. This state though bordering Pakistan, has had the celebration of men and women dancing together from the night to dawn for nine consecutive nights. So interaction between men and women is not a taboo. People still live in joint families here and concerned about each other.

Dhanbad in the heartland of Bihar where I was born and brought up. Only the Gujarati community men and women could talk or look at each other. Rest were almost banned. To see someone being caught for celebrating Valentine s day does not ring a good bell. It means certain fascist elements are making their way in the town. It was a narrow minded town but things were moving now. We never had Hindu Muslim riots there. The tension was due to coal mafia and robbers and never due to religious elements. Men women interaction was common in government and Tata colonies. All the colonies had lovely clubs with swimming pools. Children would go to play, there would be weekly screening of films and all festivals celebrated in peace. On the day of Muharram, we all would go to see the Taziya. Some used to try to go under it with their kids as it was believed to be healing.

Why does everything have to have an end?




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