Happy belated Valentine's Day

There were huge protests all over the country against celebrating Valentine’s Day. Some called it a holiday of lust and not love, others shouted that Indians should not emulate the west. People in some parts gathered to burn Valentine’s Day cards. Influential extremist parties in some areas stated that any couple caught cuddling or coochy-cooing would be forced to marry. They were taken to the police station and their parents were called in and then told that they had to register the marriage of the couple in question. Some of the couples welcomed the mandate because then the relationship would have to be recognized by their folks, who in many cases disapprove of such relationships. Most of the forced marriage stuff ended up being a lot of blustering because there was dissent within the extremist party’s different factions.
From talking to people I gathered that the idea of Valentine’s Day celebration is pretty recent. Apparently Hallmark started marketing the holiday in India in the mid-90’s. So here Valentine’s Day seems to be something like Sweetest Day to Americans, a day that people celebrate, sometime grudgingly, but that many consider a bogus holiday, a card manufacturer’s marketing gimmick.