St Valentine’s Day is supposed to be a day of love. Yet, it is turning out to be more of a battleground in India, thanks to attempts by various groups to rebrand it, but they have not been successful to a great degree.
Right-wing organisation Bajrang Dal even said Valentine’s Day was against the culture and traditions of India.
Over the past few years, there have been incidents of Bajrang Dal members assaulting couples on Valentine’s Day in several parts of India.
However, this time a Central government organisation has come up with a unique instruction to celebrate this year’s Valentine’s Day.
The Animal Welfare Board of India has appealed to the citizens of India — only those who are cow lovers — to celebrate 14 February as “Cow Hug Day’ to keep away from western traditions.
“In view of the immense benefit of the cow, hugging with cow will bring emotional richness hence will increase our individual & collective happiness. Therefore, all the cow lovers may also celebrate the February 14 as Cow Hug day keeping in mind the importance of mother cow and make life happy and full of positive energy [sic],” said the board in a circular.
The order, urging to hug cows because of its “nourishing love like mother [sic]”, has gone viral on social media.
The #CowHugDay jokes write themselves, especially in the Hindi belt, with little lost in translation.
Gives a whole new meaning to "What is bullshit for some is holy cow dung for others."
BTW, shouldn't this be celebrated on a Saturday, since cow is the vahan of Shani? pic.twitter.com/H2h815MLBy
— Arkadev Ghoshal (@arkadev) February 8, 2023
It has sparked a meme fest, including one from Kerala Minister V Sivankutty, who mocked the circular with a dialogue from a Mohanlal movie.
“Little bit rice bran, some coconut cake… Ahh feels like the siren of prosperity,” is the translation of the popular scene from the movie Nadodikattu.
Memes multiply
“Dear, Let us go to the villages and spend the night, and in the early morning let’s go to the vineyards and see if the vines have budded and the pomegranates have blossomed. While there I will give you my love. My Ammini (a common cow name in Kerala),” wrote a user on Facebook.
“When nobody hugs you on Cow Hug Day,” wrote another person on Twitter.
When nobody hugs you on Cow Hug Day. pic.twitter.com/tYLWQ11Grt
— Advaid അദ്വൈത് (@Advaidism) February 8, 2023
Another meme had an actor hugging a cow and calling it sweet names.
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To check whether the order would become a reality, people will have to wait till 14 February.
