Back with the new topic for GD Contest this week! Since its Valentines Day today, I think the best topic that can be discussed forever without getting bored is Love!
Is a special day like Valentine's Day really necessary to show that you love someone? Is it really in line with our culture and philosophy??
Also, a request to all participants - Please keep away political issues - Shriram Sena, Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal etc. etc. out of this discussion. I want you all to think about issues, pros and cons of the topic OTHER THAN politics.
As usual, the winner gets 50 points plus 50 Rupees, Runner-up gets 50 points plus 25 rupees and all participants with minimum 3 valid replies get 50 points. All answers must be relevant, related to the topic and spam free
if you do not have someone to spend it with. But if you look at it that way, then Christmas is not "necessary" if you are Jewish; and Independence Day is not necessary if you are from a different country.
If you don't have a significant other to spend the holiday with, you could either skip out on that holiday (like you would do on Christmas if you were Jewish) or take it as an opportunity to find a significant other.
sumit wrote:
[quote]Valentines Day is un "necessary"
if you do not have someone to spend it with. But if you look at it that way, then Christmas is not "necessary" if you are Jewish; and Independence Day is not necessary if you are from a different country.
If you don't have a significant other to spend the holiday with, you could either skip out on that holiday (like you would do on Christmas if you were Jewish) or take it as an opportunity to find a significant other.[/quote]
Valentine day is not obligatory for all. I agree to this. But those who celebrate this should not be humiliated or discouraged. Valentine day is voluntary like all other festivals. No festival is compulsory. You cannot force some one even to celebrate Independence day. It is the individual spirit that counts.
As long as there are individuals who wish to express love on the Valentine day, this festival will be celebrated. There is no need to support or oppose this. We cannot also oppose the business of cards and flowers sale on this occasion. We are free market economy and democracy. Hence all celebrations and connected activities are permissible. Those who do not like the festival for any reason can definitely avoid this.
I am not against "Valentine's Day". Some people think that it came from western culture and does not match our indian culture. This statement is also true but as we celebrate other days, we should celebrate this day as well. We celebrate days that belongs to people like Friendship's Day, Father's Day, Teachers Day, Mother's Day. So, i think we should also celebrate Valentine's Day as this day belongs to that special person whom we love the most.
If you love some one then it is not necessary that you should wait till this day to show him/her how much you love. But this day is very special day dedicated to special person of your life. There are many pros and cons of this day like best day for making huge profits, even " A Rose" flower will cost you around 50 bucks on this day but at the same time, it shows your affection, your love for your beloved.
DO you know one thing the cost of a single Bangalore Rose on Valentine Day is Rs.30/- which is just a fifteen rupee on the other days. Moreover it was really hard to get Roses on that as it was totally on demand and also costlier. I could not understand how people still buy them even it is costlier?
I am against this Valentine's day celebration.Actually we had changed our culture by accepting celebrations like trhese.
We are a part of consumer society.So the market analysers are looking how this can be made advanatage.Every thing and every day are observed to marketise.So they introduced the best way for this , a day celebration.As the whole world is celebrating we poor Indians also thought that it is a status symbol.But we were misguided.
There are some comments on undesirability of days specially devoted to 'mother, 'father', 'friend' borrowed from west. Celebration of any festival or event is individual choice and we need not interfere. But I may point out that there are also such festivals of Indian origins. There is Brothers' day called Bhai Dooj, Sisters' day called 'raksha bandhan' husbands' day called 'karwa Choth'. similarly, Valentine Day is Lovers' day.
Valentines Day gifts are expensive. Flowers are always like $30 more. Plus, whats is your incomes like? Do you have more money than him? Did he take you out to dinner? It's not easy answering this for you.
so its not all about gift its truly & only about love
sumit wrote:
[quote]Valentines Day gifts are expensive. Flowers are always like $30 more. Plus, whats is your incomes like? Do you have more money than him? Did he take you out to dinner? It's not easy answering this for you.
so its not all about gift its truly & only about love[/quote]
Expensive gift is not peculiar to Valentine day. Husbands give costly gifts to wives on Karwa Choth, Brothers to sister on Raksha Bandhan and so on. About Deepawali, less said the better. There are expensive gifts which are really bribe from businessmen to various govt departments- Customs & Excise, Income tax, Sales Tax, Labor Department and so on.
It is best to celebrate all festivals economically and avoid costly gifts on Deepawali, Karwa choth, Raksha bandhan and also on Valentine Day.
Cultural invasion should be always cared.Indian culture is one of the oldest and best culture in the world.Invasion of Europen culture into it is good for nothing.It will destroy ourselves and we will not be able to accept all their cultures like the dating , roaming with boy friend etc.So better to be an idea about such silent invasions.
The roots of what is now called Valentine Day can be traced back to ancient Greece, where worship of Pan flourished. This mythical half-man-half-goat fertility god had a wild, unpredictable nature that struck terror into humans. Aptly the English word “panic” literally means “of Pan.”
Pan was supposed to watch the flocks while playing his pipes. However, he was easily distracted. Pan had many love affairs with nymphs and goddesses. One sculpture shows Pan making advances to Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Eros, the god of love, hovers above them flapping his wings—much like the Cupid found on valentines today.
In Rome many worshiped a similar god named Faunus. He too was depicted as half man and half goat. Worship of Faunus was prominent at Lupercalia, an orgiastic festival that was observed each year on February 15. During this festival scantily clad men raced around a hill, brandishing goatskin whips. Women who wanted to bear children stood near the path of these runners. Striking a woman with a whip, the Romans believed, would ensure her fertility.
Festivals had become an occation for spending money.Huge amounts are spent nowadays for each festival.It is not at all good.
In the case of Valentine day celebration some particular gifts are there.It is really a marketing technique again.Boy and girl try to give the best to show thier love and purchase the best without looking the price.Here we have to think one more thing.How many such valentines keep this relation honestly for next valentine's day ? Mostly it will be less than 1%.
Valentine Day is a special day for expressing love. But, in India it is celebrated for expressing vulgarity. We already have different festivals where in the pretext of celebration people do bad things,like in the festivals of Holi,Deepavali etc.
But, Valentine Day is celebrated totally in a vulgar way as more and more youths and teenage people are involved in it.
This is a western culture which should not be encouraged in India.India is a democratic country which has it's own cultural value, that doesn't mean we can do anything. The country has a rich tradition which is destroyed by western culture and we can't just allow this destruction to happen and just watch as mute spectators.
In foreign countries, like in London or USA, their govt. doesn't allow to celebrate our festivals in proper way as we celebrate in India.
For example: In London,Holi is a festivals of colours, but people from Indian origin who wish to celebrate this festivals, can't move out freely in the streets of London and play festivals of colours. They call all their friends of Indian origin to their own house and play the festivals of colours in their house backyard.
Likewise, in Deepawali, peoples of Indian origins are not allowed to burn fire crackers at all, the can only decorate with lights, Durga Puja is allowed to celebrate with no noise pollution and without any procession for the Deity to be immersed into water.
In the same way, in India also we should not allow such days to be celebrated which spread vulgarism among youths.
Expression of love doesn't require any special day, Love is immortal and eternal, doesn't depend on any special day.Tis is only destroying our culture and nothing else.
sumit wrote:
[quote]The roots of what is now called Valentine Day can be traced back to ancient Greece, where worship of Pan flourished. This mythical half-man-half-goat fertility god had a wild, unpredictable nature that struck terror into humans. Aptly the English word “panic” literally means “of Pan.”
Pan was supposed to watch the flocks while playing his pipes. However, he was easily distracted. Pan had many love affairs with nymphs and goddesses. One sculpture shows Pan making advances to Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Eros, the god of love, hovers above them flapping his wings—much like the Cupid found on valentines today.
In Rome many worshiped a similar god named Faunus. He too was depicted as half man and half goat. Worship of Faunus was prominent at Lupercalia, an orgiastic festival that was observed each year on February 15. During this festival scantily clad men raced around a hill, brandishing goatskin whips. Women who wanted to bear children stood near the path of these runners. Striking a woman with a whip, the Romans believed, would ensure her fertility.[/quote]
This is very interesting information. The link is as:
But here we are discussing whether this festival should be celebrated despite its foreign origin. It would be better to give this information with link in a separate thread.
Cultural evasion has to be avoided,that's true but I believe that the manner in which the idea is being opposed in the country has been more violent in nature.
If an idea has to be opposed ,it best be discussed out.Anything done by force only makes the idea stronger and that is what is happening in our country.
A forum like this has made the opinion of the masses clear that YES,this is not in sync with our culture and YES its not a necessary requirement to have one specific day to express love.But at the same time there is no ill if it is celebrated.
Again I say,that events like this are only hyped up for business and probably that's where the plus point for such an event lies.
I agree to what Pradeep had told.When we are in another country we have to respect their culture and celebrate our festivals in that manner.If it is celebrated as we do in our country it will be annoyance to its citizens.Similarly when we celebrate another culture's celebration it should be private not in a that manner we do now.
Abid Areacode wrote:
[quote]I agree to what Pradeep had told.When we are in another country we have to respect their culture and celebrate our festivals in that manner.If it is celebrated as we do in our country it will be annoyance to its citizens.Similarly when we celebrate another culture's celebration it should be private not in a that manner we do now.[/quote]
India is historically and culturally very different from other country. India is like a melting pot absorbing different races and cultures. Now it is difficult to know what is foreign. The original traditions were Aryans and Dravidian. We absorbed lot of traditions of foreign settlers. On the other hand, many Europeans and other countries are predominantly one race/ one religion/ one culture nations. We cannot compare with them. Moreover, nobody forces Indians to follow any western festival or tradition. If the Indians feel it convenient to observe some festivals and traditions from west, it is okay. All is okay as long as this is lawful and harms nobody.
