CUPID MUST DIE!!!

I am truly saddened today to see what a base level we have sunk to in India. As if rampant poverty, Tsunami devastation and a raging AIDS epidemic was not enough to occupy our narrow little minds, we now have a new enemy: VALENTINE'S DAY.

REUTERS reports:

Hindu Hardliners Burn Valentine Cards
Mon Feb 14, 5:50 AM ET
NEW DELHI, India - Nearly 50 Hindu hardliners burned Valentine's Daycards and posters in the Indian capital on Monday, protesting the international day of love that they say imposes Western values on India's youth.

There was no violence as policemen cordoned off the area and prevented the Shiv Sena activists from marching through the sprawling Delhi University campus.

In the past, Hindu nationalists have ransacked shops selling cards and harassed young lovers seen holding hands in public. On Monday, the protesters dispersed after chanting slogans.
Jai Bhagwan Goyal, New Delhi chief of the Bombay-based Shiv Sena, said multinational companies were promoting Valentine's Day to earn money through the sale of cards and posters.

"This is against Hindu culture and corrupts India's youth," he said.
The protest didn't have any impact on the university campus, as young students continued to move around exchanging flowers and cards.

The Shiv Sena organizes protests every year on Feb. 14 to demand a ban on Valentine's Day celebrations, but gets little response from the government. Shiv Sena wants India to be a Hindu nation, rather than a secular, multi-religious one.

Valentine's Day has gained popularity in India despite being a cultural flashpoint. Conservative traditions have been buffeted by growing permissiveness among high school and colleges students and young adults.
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Now, I am not saying that I have not ever wanted to stage my own coup against valentine's day mania, but this is taking it to the Twilight Zone. This Modus Operandi to overthrow Valentine's Day smacks of jealousy and bitterness, and has the fingerprints of a jilted guy all over it.

I seriously want to sit down with these Shiv Sena guys and interrogate them. I'm willing to bet that they are an undersexed and miserable lot of young men getting off on the idea of going Columbine on poor Cupid. If you can't beat 'em, then ruin it for the rest...'tis, after all, the desi way. I really want to know though...do you feel like a man when you burn that Hallmark card and see that teddy bear going up in flames???

Now, by no means am I defending Valentine's Day. I am totally not on board with the pointless celebration of commercialism and schmaltzy ideas of romance. VOMIT. And before any of you all accuse moi of being a bitter old hag, I will have you know that I *do* participate in the rituals, just not in the traditional sense. If you have a way to be original...you have my blessing. And I prefer to celebrate on a random day...not the day mandated by the greeting card industry.

Anyway, I now see it as the 'alarm clock' date for guys. After years of observation, I have seen that many a guy tend to bolt just a few days shy of Valentine's Day, leaving a wake of distraught females nursing broken hearts and crying into their coffees. So, what gives, guys? Too cheap to shell out the whopping $3.50 on a card? Too immature and think that spending a Valentine's Day with someone is tantamount to marriage?

No. Methinks the pressure is too intense. I mean, Hollywood (and, even worse, BOLLYWOOD) has completely brainwashed us into having a warped and completely unrealistic idea of what love is and is supposed to be. We see movies depicting guys buying out flower shops, flying across the world, and holding boomboxes over their heads outside windows to snag their loved one. Meanwhile, in the real world...all this behaviour would induce restraining orders and harried calls to 911.

So, I don't blame the poor buggers for pulling a pre-Valentines Houdini...who can compare to the fictional Hollywood hero?

No matter what a guy does...it will never be enough for Valentine's Day. Not to say that this excuses them for fuckwit behavior. It merely gives an explanation for why Valentine's Day should not be THE barometer for romance. It just isn't fair to throw out 364 days of thoughtfulness and put the guy in the doghouse for not cutting it on one day. Besides, the hackneyed vision of what romance is (according to ads on tv) would have St. Valentine rolling in his grave.

Having received my fair share of flowers and chocolates and other cliched valentines kitsch over the years, I can definitely say that an $8 rose bouquet from the corner deli does not romance make. It is also not the frantic running around trees, singing to your beloved, while she gyrates in a oh-so convenient passing rain storm. It just is not the materialist and celluloid fantasies we buy into (literally!!).

Now, of course, I would not say no to any of these things (or an Apple I-pod! Nothing says 'I love you' like an I-pod!!)...I am, after all, a progammed Stepford child of the commercial world. But as much as these things could make my material girl heart go pitter pat, I can say that NONE of these things has ever been equated with romance or love in my mind. Seriously ladies. Does a $15 acrylic dust trap of a teddy bear really make you feel loved?

One of the best Valentine's presents I ever gave my friends/love interest was a list of 51 reasons why I loved them. Some were serious...others just funny, but every one of my friends has treasured that list, some even citing it as the one thing they would rescue from a fire. The point? Everyone wants to feel appreciated and loved...everyday, not just Valentine's Day. I am sure if we were consistent in our adoration, then Valentine's would not end up being the SAT of love...the determing factor in your future (or so my Dad thinks the SAT is).

So, my feline friends, love one another for what is real. And, throw a little love the Shiv Sena's way...those boys could really use some.