Post Valentine Opinions

by Jayasiri Jayakody

Valentine's Day-alien to our culture

St. Valentine's Day was not celebrated in our country fifteen years ago. In my curiosity to find out about the roots of this "all important" day for young lovers, I searched Microsoft Encarta. This is what I found.

Valentine's Day is an annual holiday honouring lovers. It is celebrated on February 14 by the custom of sending greeting cards or gifts to express affection. The cards, known as valentines, are often designed with hearts to symbolise love.

The holiday probably derives from the ancient Roman feast of Lupercalis (February 15), also called the Lupercalia. In an annual rite of fertility, eligible young men and women would be paired as couples through a town lottery.

Briefly clad or naked men would then run through the town carrying the skins of newly sacrificed goats dipped in blood. The women of the town would present themselves to be gently slapped by the strips and marked by the blood to improve their chances of conceiving in the coming year.

As Christianity came to dominance in Europe, pagan holidays such as Lupercalia were frequently renamed for early Christian martyrs. In 496 Pope Gelasius officially declared February 14 to be the feast day of two Roman martyrs, both named Saint Valentine, who lived in the 3rd century. Neither Saint Valentine seems to have an obvious connection to courtship or lovers.

Despite attempts by the Christian Church to sanctify the holiday, the association of Valentine's Day with romance and courtship continued through the Middle Ages. In medieval France and England it was believed that birds mate on February 14, and the image of birds as the symbol of lovers began to appear in poems dedicated to the day.

By the 18th century it was common for friends and lovers to exchange handwritten notes on Valentine's Day. Printed cards had largely replaced written sentiments by the 19th century. In 1840 Esther Howland of Worcester, Massachusetts, created the first line of mass-produced Valentines for sale. Today, Valentine's Day is second only to Christmas as the most popular card-sending holiday.

Valentine's Day."Microsoft student 2007 (DVD), Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2006.

This holiday, alien to our culture, is popularised by cellular phone companies, some TV stations, five-and four-star hotels, up-market dress boutiques and jewellers. Exchanging SMS messages professing your love to your loved one, is the "in" thing.

Not to be out done, the majority of our low income young people go for artificial roses, the minimum price of a rose being Rs. 100. If they know the real truth about Valentine's Day, it's association with a pagan festival like Lupercalia, our youngsters will never do these foolish things.

Briefly clad or naked men running through the towns carrying the skins of newly sacrificed goats dipped in blood will be arrested for creating a public nuisance today. Our generations also had love affaire. But we never cared to publicise them.

The love affairs those days were civilised loves between youth. Recently, we were watching an old Sinhala film in office. Three young couples, went for a walk in an estate, and got separated. The separated couples were chatting, not even holding hands. A very young man exclaimed "what nonsense is this! They are not doing anything!" Another slightly older man explained. "That was how the love affairs were conducted those days.

That was real love, not just the lust you have today."

The hearts and minds of our younger generation are corrupted now. In a way, we are more fortunate. We did not have internet, computers, DVD players and mobile phones like today's generation, but, we are not corrupted to the level of the younger generation of today even now.

This brain washing by various media and other organisations of our young people, in order to exploit them further, has to stop. Even now it is too late to halt the rot. I feel somebody in authority must take heed of this degeneration of young people, or Sri Lanka may not have a future.

A most important war is going on in the North. If the young lovers of Sri Lanka decide to donate at least Rs. 100/= to the war effort, it will be of great assistance to solve the National Question.