It’s that time of the year again when not only love is in the air, but also fiery slogans like “Down with Valentine’s Day!”
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00:00For lovebirds, it's a day to celebrate love.
00:03For a few godmen, it's a day to worship parents.
00:07For others, it's a day to embrace cows.
00:10But for several fringe groups, it's a day to chase couples.
00:14We're talking about 14th of February, Valentine's Day.
00:19It was in the 90s when this festival of the West
00:22made a grand entry into India through movies and TV shows.
00:26In the 1997 film Dil Toh Pagal Hai,
00:28the determined Madhuri Dixit was searching for a valentine.
00:32In the 1998 TV show Hip Hip Hooray,
00:35two lovebirds confessed their feelings on this special day.
00:42Inspired by the big screen,
00:44this day became all the rage among real-life couples too.
00:48But this celebration of love made some angry.
00:51They rejected Valentine's Day, saying
00:59Some fringe outfits also took it upon themselves to school those
01:10who dared to celebrate this day of love,
01:13whether that involved chasing couples at public places or vandalizing malls.
01:22In 2007, Asaram tried to give a new twist to this day of love.
01:29But have you ever wondered how Valentine's Day even began?
01:37Legend has it that Valentine's Day is named after Saint Valentine,
01:41a Roman saint who opposed Emperor Claudia II's ban on marriages for soldiers.
01:47It is said that Valentine secretly arranged marriages and got thrown into jail for it.
01:52While in prison, he supposedly fell in love with the jailer's daughter.
01:56When he was about to be executed on 14 February,
01:59he apparently sent a love letter to her saying,
02:02From your Valentine.
02:03Another version suggests that Saint Valentine was
02:06killed for helping mistreated Christians escape from prisons in Rome.
02:10While some say that Valentine's Day is celebrated to commemorate the death of Saint Valentine,
02:15others believe it also gave the pagan Lupercalia festival,
02:19a fertility festival which happened around the same time, a Christian touch.
02:24Over the years, Valentine's Day became a big deal worldwide,
02:28with brands and e-commerce giants cashing in on this day of love.
02:34When it came to Valentine cards,
02:36gift store Archie's was one of the first to hop onto the trend in India.
02:41Over time, teddy bears and heart-shaped pillows started popping up in every other gift shop.
02:47In 2023, some leading floral companies in India told Zee Business
02:52that the flower market around Valentine's Day was estimated at about Rs 500 crore.
02:58But as the Valentine's Day celebrations kept getting bigger, so did the protests against it.
03:04And guess what the Animal Welfare Board suggested for Valentine's Day?
03:08In February 2023, it appealed to Indians to love and hug cows on this special day.
03:22But after it led to criticism and host of memes on the internet, the board withdrew this appeal.
03:29This is the story of Valentine's Day, a day when some are head over heels in love,
03:35others are angry and the rest couldn't care less.