In Jharkand, saffronists have hit upon a new way of ‘encouraging’ marriage: shotgun (or, in this case, lathi stick) weddings. But raksha bandhan is months away:
Hindu right-wing activists in Jharkhand claimed to have married off five romancing couples on Valentine’s Day Tuesday, saying they were celebrating the day even though it was against Indian culture… At the rock garden, three couples were spotted. Two of them were made to move around a banyan tree and take an oath of marriage - in a symbolic wedding…Activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) even forced a couple to tie the symbolic brother-sister thread of rakhi when they refused to get married. [Link]
Some students were flippant about it:
The move is now being welcomed by courting couples, who are thanking the moral police for adding velocity to Cupid’s arrows. “It is indeed good news. We must thank them for being concerned about our marriages,” said Ruchika, a student of a management institute in this Jharkhand capital. “My parents will finally come to know about my love.”
Priya, an engineering student, echoed similar sentiments, saying: “I hope they stick to their word and ensure my marriage with my boyfriend…” [Link]
But the saffronists couldn’t even stay consistent:
… even Saamna, the [Shiv] Sena’s mouthpiece, could not resist cashing in on the spirit of love by publishing an article on possible gifts to buy your beloved today. [Link]
In Delhi and Srinagar, more political theater, yawn. Funny how the saffronists are a mirror image of Muslim fundamentalists:
About 50 Hindu activists wearing holy saffron-coloured scarves held a noisy protest in a popular market near the Delhi University campus… They burnt greeting cards which they were carrying and shouted “Down with Valentine’s Day”. [Link]About two dozen women separatists, veiled in black from head to toe, rummaged shops and burnt Valentine’s Day cards in Srinagar, Kashmir’s summer capital… “Valentine’s Day spreads immorality among the youth,” Asiya Andrabi of the Dukhtaran-e-Milat (Daughters of the Muslim Faith), a group of women separatists, said in a statement. [Link]
In Palika Bazaar, Jai Arjun Singh wonders what it would be like to prowl for porn. It’s for his ‘phrend’ only:
The owner is unsuitably avuncular, he wears thick glasses, has a warm, open smile and this starts to feel awkward, like buying condoms from the friendly neighborhood chemist you’ve known since you were a child. But then he opens his mouth to speak. “You want combination, single, Asian, schoolgirl, kitty aunties, frontside, backside, oral, multiple? All varieties available. Full one-and-a-half hour. Rs 150 only.” [Link via Escaping Flatland]
In large Indian cities, Barista serves up more than just coffee:
While growing up in India, it was difficult for a couple to get together (even in Mumbai - friends have been harassed in Bandra Beach and Chowpatty) in a place one’s parents did not know of. In Delhi, Archie’s and Nirula’s filled this gap for the middle class. In recent times, Barista and Café Coffee Day serve this purpose. For those from the lower middle class, who can’t afford Rs 50 cups of coffee, a public park is a more convenient spot. [Link]
In the U.S., Tushar Singh makes confession:
Yes, uncles and aunties… those “good kids” like yours who swear to Vishnu they don’t have sex, they are dry-humping, which is… the same thing with carpet burn. [Link]
