Valentine’s Day is a designated day to celebrate love, where two people choose to express their affection for each other. Through out the history, words have taken on new and expanded meanings, so is Valentine's Day.Valentine Day is a universal expression of affection between any two individuals. Between husband and wife, between two people in love, be it mother and son, father daughter, brother sister, friends, uncles, aunties, Grand Pa and Grand Ma.
This expression of affection can range between any family members and any friends. Love does not have any bounds. The Sadhus and Sufis also can say happy Valentine to God with a clear meaning that I love you.
Please feel free to say happy valentine to your sister, mother, brother, daughter, dad, uncle or a friend. It is a much bigger word now than it started out to be. Take them out for dinner send them a flower to let them know that you care.
Every time we have a cultural festival which may have been a religious festival once, a few of our brothers and sisters will start applying morality to it.
While we Americans express it by presenting Red Roses to our loved ones, the Filipinos will break another record; the number of people kissing at the same time, Brazil will have another major festival on her beaches celebrating love.
On the other side of the world, the news papers in India will carry articles of how individuals were harassed, stores were vandalized, valentine cards were trashed, or people eating dinner in a restaurant were mauled, the intolerants will vandalise. Who authorizes these goons to go and harass the people for expressing their affection for each other? Sadly these frustrated, usually unemployed youth are paid by a few dirty politicians, and fortunately they are no more than 1/10th of 1% of each group. I do hope we can change this by offering free Valentines day lunches to all the needy and frustrated youth, to show them that we care about them and they don't need to earn their Rupee by vandalizing.
Globalizing is happening - from a narrow romantic meaning, the Valentine's Day becoming an all inclusive day. It will become a universal affection day within a decade.
Happy Valentine's Day.
Mike Ghouse
Mike Ghouse is a thinker, writer, speaker, optimist and an activist of Pluralism, Interfaith, Co-existence, Peace, Islam and India. He is a frequent guest at the TV, radio and print media offering pluralistic solutions to issues of the day. His work is reflected at three websites and 22 Blogs listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/
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Wishing you all A Happy Valentine............................
ReplyDeleteWhoever invented this, in my opinion it is one of the best marketing strategies one could have thought of.Valentine's Day is not only genius way how to make money in material sense, but also lifts your spirit, which Mike Ghouse expressed it well, expression of affection for each other, between husband and wife, mother and son, father and daughter,and so forth.No matter who you are, gujarati, muslim or christian, for expression
of true love and friendship, his or her God I believe would be most kind to bless them for happiness and lasting relation.
Of course it's a marketing strategy to make money.So what.All societies have their own marketing strategies, even those who object and interpret it as corruptive, to sell their products.Why then this strategy is irreligious and corruptive.Where in the scriptures does it say celebrating Valentine's Day is prohibited.Anyway, it may be true some might misuse the occasion, but in my opinion it's the best strategy ever made to enhance one's love and friendship, which I think should be every day occasion, not once a year.I am an American muslim, I bring flowers to my wife and my daughter-in-law brings flowers to her mother-in-law on Valentine's Day, and express our sincere and Islamic love to each other.
I have just received this funny gujarati story from my nephew, which I would like to share it with you.Whether gujaratis have invented it is beside the point.But, it sure carries an affectionate message. And tells what Valentine Day is all about, expression of true love and friendship, whether partners are gujaratis, muslims or christians.Mike Ghouse has described it well,expression of affection for each other, between husband and wife,mother and son,father and daughter, and so forth.