Valentine’s Day:

Commercialisation of romance

Jayashantha Jayawardhana

“Love is not love
Which alters when it
alternation finds,
Or bends with the
remover to remove:
Oh! no it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests
and is never shaken;
It is the star to every
wandering bark,
Whose worth is not known,
although his height be taken.”
Let me not to the marriage of true minds

William Shakespeare

LOVE: Says Francis Baken, the great philosopher and author, in his insightful essay, ‘Of Love’, written some five centuries ago, “Nuptial Love maketh mankind; Friendly love perfecth it; but wanton love corrupteth and embaseth it.”

Although I can hardly hope to be any wiser than Sir Francis Baken, I cannot, nevertheless, entirely agree with him on his opinion that love is a weak emotion which has to be quelled if we propose to attain success in our loftier and more important works since I believe love to be one of the noblest and the most powerful (its gentleness makes it all the more powerful) emotion springing in human breasts as well as that of even animals. Unfortunately, today, it is this third kind of love in Baken’s categorization that is most prevalent, aiming at which romance-promoters organize events celebrating days such as Valentine’s Day, making handsome profits.

What is love?

Oxford Dictionary defines love as, “An intense feeling of deep affection or fondness for a person or thing.” Poets, Novelists, and also Philosophers have all been so deeply interested in the very subject of love that countless poems, novels, dramas, essays as well as dissertations have been written focusing on it. Interestingly, love is extensively discussed in every genre of literature at present and will be discussed just as extensively in the future too.

And regardless of their philosophies or opinions and their medium of expression, they have all agreed on one point, that is, the very existence of mankind depends largely on love. While food, clothes, medicine and shelter constitute the four basic physical needs of the human, love, affection, belongingness and the like are projected by human, anthropologists as highly important emotional needs. Maslow’s need hierarchy itself is solid proof to that.

Moreover, love is not exclusive to human beings and is felt and experienced even by the animals; Mother’s love will always be the same whether that mother is human, a bird, a hen or a tigress; despite their physical formation, they will all seek alike to protect and foster their sons or daughters, fledge-lings, chicken or cubs.

While love is thus associated with parents and children, or sisters and brothers in the form of love and affection, romance has vestiges of both love and lust.

Though it is nearly impossible to draw a distinction between love and lust when it comes to romance, today, it is, nevertheless, axiomatic that romance contains elements more of lust than of love, which has given rise to large number of moral issues.

Who exactly is St.Valentine?

The history of Valentine’s Day and St. Valentine is shrouded in mystery though it has become immensely popular among today’s lovers. One legend contends that St. Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome.

When Emperor Claudius II outlawed marriage for young men, having decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, challenged Claudius II and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When the priest Valentine’s actions were discovered Claudius ordered that he be executed.

One legend says Valentine was a prisoner and that he fell in love with his jailer’s daughter while in prison, and that, before his death, he sent the first valentine greeting signed as, “From your Valentine”, a phrase still in use today. Whatever the legend says, St. Valentine’s Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition.

Oddly enough, this Valentine’s Day, which is celebrated in such a grand scale in our country, has no connection whatsoever with our culture or tradition, leaving aside the fact that love is universal. So, here arises the big question, ‘Why should it be so highly celebrated in our country?’

They who advocate Valentine’s Day may come up with numerous flimsy excuses and explanations but few people will be too stupid to see that they do all this out of sheer, desire or more correctly, greed for money.

Commercialisation of love

Sinhala Hindu New Year, Christmas and Deepavali: these cultural and religious festivals rarely escape business-people’s attention and have, therefore, become commercial events rather than religious or cultural events. Viewed in that light, it is small wonder that there are people who make huge profits by commercializing Valentine’s Day.

The goods and services offered for this day ranges from flowers and Valentine cards to dinner dances to music festivals. The hotels and restaurants that organize this kind of dinner-dances feign to offer good service to customers while, in reality, they make large profits at the expense of culture and morality.

The impressionable youth in the country fall easy prey to the shenanigans and gimmicks of those calculating, organized scoundrels. If someone calls this socializing, I will look on this as annihilation of culture, tradition, and of course morality.

Though true love, one of the noblest emotions in the human, is not completely non-existent, it, I believe, is very really found; what these love-merchants do today is debauch both the younger generation and what is left intact of true love.

Some media including both the print and the electronic, play a pivotal role in this legitimate skullduggery showing dazzling newspaper advertisements and TV commercials, which the young and the callow imagine, talk to their hearts.

But the little known truth is that those propagandists care not a whit for love or any noble human emotion for that matter and that their sole solitary objective is to rob them blind who fall into their carefully set traps.

Before conclusion, I must tell my dear fellow readers that I am damned sure that, notwithstanding all our criticisms, on this February 14, too, events like dinner-dances will be held to celebrate love and romance and commemorate St. Valentine, whosoever he is, by those fake humanists, that there will be people who will be enjoying themselves eating, drinking, and dancing at those Valentine’s Day celebrations and that the truth will always be too plain for too many of them to see!

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It’s a matter of choice

D.H. Sathischandra

Legends: The origin of the Valentine’s Day is ambiguous. There are several Legends prevalent. One Legend has it that the Valentine’s Day had its origin during the region of King Claudius II of Rome. In order to recruit young men to his army and to retain them he enacted a low prohibiting marriage.

Valentine, a Christian priest secretly organised marriage of young couples circumventing this law. He took this risk to promote the noble cause of marriage and family needed to propagate the human species.

Another legend states that the valentine day began as a holiday for god who protected livestock from wolves outside Rome. How the day came to be associated with young love is unknown. With the passage of time the original meaning of the event was lost as the event itself became part of the popular culture in recent times.

The close association between popular culture and commercial interests has evolved over a long period making the two aspects inseparable. Many businesses have evolved around the event, with popular culture and business reinforcing each other.

The Valentine’s Day is certainly relevant if we rediscover its original meaning, particularly in the context of the gradual breakdown of the family system.

On a different plane, the Valentine day, as it has evolved in association with commerce has an economic utility value in a market economy. It creates business opportunities, add value and generates employment. On the other hand business talent, creativity and innovation can contribute to raise popular culture to a higher level.

In a democracy, Valentine’s Day is a matter of choice. Breaking the link between the Valentine’s Day and commerce forcibly is a denial of this choice. What is important is to identify and critically review the practices associated with the event. We need to apply the concept of “best practicies” to identify the desirable practicies and the harmful practices.

Harmful practices should be discouraged by highlighting the negative consequences of such practices. Dissemination of such information is vital. Concurrently, it is possible to suggest best practices relevant to our cultural background emphasising their usefulness.

In any society there is both a high culture and a popular culture. In our country there is a fear that this popular culture will ultimately consume the high culture. No where has it happened.

High culture should create and innovate on a continuing basis and constantly strive to raise the level of public taste. Remaining static and denouncing popular culture is counter productive.

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Valentine’s Day needs good recognition

S.T. Arasu

Romance: I am now old and have got into the final stages of my life’s career and being one of the senior citizens of our motherland let me be permitted frankly and wholeheartedly to say even boldly, ‘Yes’, that it’s really fine, to celebrate by all trustworthy, romantic lovable innocent teen aged couples, indeed (That is natural love of course).

It’s an auspicious, red-letter day that falls on February 14 of every year called lovably as St. Valentine’s Day’.

It’s the day, to show, or enlighten your dearly loved one, how much you adore and care! ‘Love is blind’, no doubt, and all encouragement must be extended, by parents and elders of couples, who are truly loyal, firm, sincere steady and understanding, irrespective of castes, creeds races and religions (without holding on to strict ethnic differences)! Believe it or not, this internationally, widely celebrated day, originated in Rome, many many years ago.

The special day February 14 was a holiday to all the Romans in order to honour the Juno, the Queen of Cupid (love), of the Roman Gods’ and goddesses! The lovers made it a day of get together dances, grand parties and so on; very similar to the birthday celebrations of all lovers! Well, it’s a great significant, remembrance day, to be reckoned by all lovers anywhere, (the day, the lovers world over, falls in love intimately, to each, or one another)?.

It’s also, an absolute, symbolic of several of the bonds of enduring true love, without any doubts, at all levels of human life!

Thus, the St. Valentine’s Day need a grand or full recognition and tremendous support of all lovers’ celebrations, in our beautiful county of people with kind hospitality and affection (love). Let me wind up my contribution on the topic with a tiny striking quotation, by any late tape, to cite here, (as appended):

“Love is the unity, behind all creations, Faith is the spain, between God and Man!”

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   Next topic: Big Match Fever - fun or menace ?

With the thrills and excitement of Valentine’s Day fading way, we thought of drawing your attention to a ‘happening’ of this season considered equally significant by our younger generation - the Big Match Fever.

As one of our readers had rightly pointed out, for most school-going Sri Lankan youngsters, the highlight of the season from February to March is none other than the ‘Big Matches’, the cricket matches played between leading boys’ schools in the country.

Though many of us are in the dark about the origins of this annual event and unaware of as to why they are called so, it is clear that the ‘big match’ syndrome is no longer confined to the so-called elite schools in the Capital, but has spread to outstations like Galle, Kandy and Matara and even beyond.

And it would be wrong to say that onhly boys are interested in the big matches. Many girls also root for their favourite boys’ schools and their facourite players.

School buses are adorned with flags of the respective schools and flags can be seen protruding from private cars too.

It is the season when walls in the cities are designed overnight with names of schools, mobs of school kids clad in fancy attire and carrying flags dance around to the tune of ‘papare’ bands, and when you could be easily relieved of your pocket money or bus fare by ‘hat collectors’ if you dare to wander out alone. They also go truckin’ and so-called cycle parades block whole streets.

But, are these practices associated with Big Match fever purely harmless fun ? Or has it developed to a state of harassment, particularly for young girls ? Is ‘hat collection’ the best way to raise funds for your school team?

Who is going to make sure that the money ending up in the young hands are put to good use and not spent on alcohol or drugs ? There have been many instances when school big match revelry has ended in violence, tarnishing the reputation of the schools involved.

Or, is ‘big match fever’ one of those wonderful memories of one’s youth which ought not to be frowned upon by society ? After all youth is another name for adventure, playfulness and mischief, is it not?

Whatever your views on Big Match Fever are, have your free say on ‘Daily News Debate’. Thus our next topic is ‘Big Match Fever: Fun or Menace ?’.

Do write in with your view (750-1,000 words) to ‘Daily News Debate’, Daily News, Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited, PO Box 1217, Colombo, or via e-mail to [email protected] before March 5, 2007.