There are a lot of good things we can learn fom the West. But, it seems to me, Valentine's Day isn't one of them. Our culture and tradition are more sophisticated about showing love. It's more subtle. It's deep. Valentine's day is crass, it's superficial, it's a "market economy" version of something that should never be associated with the market.

Alas, Ia m afraid, the tide is building up and young Indians may realize this too late. I pray we preserve our sanskruti and our traditional disdain for crassness and commercialization and kep this "holiday" out of India.

If you love someone, do more than buying them candy and lingerie. And let's not set aside a day for love. and let's not expose young kids to ideas that belong in the domain of adulthood - romantic love is NOT for kids. There's nothing cute about 6yr olds making V-day cards for the little girl next door. You might as well give them some wine to celebrate it too - how appropriate would that be? On several issues, Western culture has lost its compass and this is one of them. No civilization is perfect. This is not a condemnation of the West. It's just a plea to be discriminating in what we adopt from there.

Love is an everyday, every moment thing. And love has nothing to do with sex as V-day has become. Our ancestors knew that. Let's preserve that.