Saint Valentine's Day Massacre

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Yesterday was madness here. Everywhere we went, there was pink and red. Streamers, clothing, advertisements -- the Times of India (a serious newspaper, that) -- took it upon itself to have kitschy Valentine-related articles and pictures all of last week; at a grocery store, I came across a display of Valentine cards (I think the pick of the bunch was "A Valentine's Day Wish for My Boss and Bestfriend"); all of the local news channels ran Valentine's "specials." We stopped by an eletrical appliances "fair" -- only to be ambushed by an offer to buy two electric rice cookers -- "One for you and one for your Valentine Mother." Schools and colleges and other places where the yout gather have all been done over in pink and red for the big day. But clearly, St. Valentine's Day isn't just about the sickly-sweet sentiment that love is assumed to be by the vast masses of Indian yout for whom sweaty hand-clasps have to be the extent of the expression of love. Oh no, it's become a family and friend and people you don't know extravaganza driven by corporate marketing, disposable incomes in the hands of the young techie demographic and mass media. And it's not just the women; I counted 17 men in pink and red shirts yesterday and we were only out and about for an hour or so. It's nuts. NUTS, I tell you.

Especially because this is still a deeply traditional culture. And I do mean deeply. The norm is still for marriages to be arranged. Gender roles are pretty much still the traditional ones; female foeticide is still a subject of serious concern to the nation -- there are entire states where the ratio of women to men is in the 800:1000 range. So this embrace of Valentine's day is bizarre, on so many levels. But I also suspect that it appeals to the new-age Indian consumer of globalization precisely because of the syrupy sentimentality attached to its global marketing. St. Valentine's day -- or at least its mass-market variation -- is all sickly sweet chemically tasting chocolate, fluffy bunnies and expensive hot house roses with no perfume. It's not about any real change in the deep patriarchies of Indian social life. A Valentine's day date might involve the girl being invited out to the latest movie or the nearest Coffee Day but I'd wager that few of them get invitations to come and meet Mom and Dad (and Grandad and Grandma). The superficial acceptance of love and sentiment hasn't changed the conservative traditions upon which social life is built any.

But you wouldn't think that on the face of public display of Valentine fever yesterday, and because this is India and there is never any kind of a ridiculous embracing of this type of pop culture without an equal and opposite heart-rending somewhere else, there were protests organized by right-wing Hindu groups over "unIndian" Valentine's day celebrations. The irony will no doubt be lost on them, but I think it's worth mentioning -- given the depth of right-wing Hinduism's contempt for Islam -- that in Saudi Arabia, the religious authorities have reportedly ordered a crackdown on the "decadent" practice of St. Valentine's day to the extent that there is now a "black market" for roses and women have been instructed not to dress in red on that day.

Yes, I know. My mind boggles too. Boggle, boggle, boggle. b.o.g.g.l.e....