14th feb The Valentine's Day
 

[COLOR="darkRed"][B]Saint Valentine's Day or Valentine's Day is on February 14. It is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other; sending Valentine's cards, candy, or donations to charities, often anonymously. It is very common to present flowers on Valentine's Day. The holiday is named after two men, both Christian martyrs named Valentine. The day became associated with romantic love in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

The day is most closely associated with the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of "valentines". Modern Valentine symbols include the heart-shaped outline and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten notes have largely given way to mass-produced greeting cards. The Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year behind Christmas. The association estimates that women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines.

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[B]Valentine's Day has emerged in Japan and Korea as a day on which women, and less commonly men, give candy, chocolate or flowers to people they like. This has become an obligation for many women. Those who work in offices end up giving chocolates to all their male co-workers, sometimes at significant personal expense. This chocolate is known as giri-choko (義理チョコ), in Japan, from the words giri ("obligation") and choko, a common short version of chokorēto (チョコレート), meaning "chocolate". This contrasts with honmei-choko, which is given to a person someone loves or has a strong relationship with. Friends, especially girls, exchange chocolate that is referred to as tomo-choko (友チョコ); tomo means "friend" in Japanese.

By a further marketing effort, a reciprocal day called White Day has emerged. On March 14, men are expected to return the favour to those who gave them chocolates on Valentine's Day. Many men, however, give only to their girlfriends. Originally, the return gift was supposed to be white chocolate or marshmallows; hence "White Day". However, men have taken the name to a different meaning and lingerie has become a common gift.

In Korea, there is an additional Black Day on April 14, when males who did not receive anything for Valentine's Day gather together to eat Jajangmyun (Chinese-style noodles in black sauce). In South Korea, there is also Pepero Day, celebrated on November 11, during which young couples give each other romantic gifts.

In Chinese Culture, there is a similar counterpart of the Valentine's Day. It is called "The Night of Sevens", on the 7th day of the 7th month of the lunar calendar; the last one being August 30, 2006. A slightly different version of this day is celebrated in Japan as Tanabata, on July 7th on the solar calendar.

In Persian Culture (Iran) this popular date is discreetly celebrated by most lovers despite the disapproval of such occasion by the hardline Islamic government as a copycat of the West.[citation needed]

According to Jewish tradition the 15th day of the month of Av - Tu B'Av (usually late August) is the festival of love (hag haahava). In ancient times girls would wear white dresses and dance in the vineyards, where the boys would be waiting for them (Mishna Taanith end of Chapter 4). In modern Israeli culture this is a popular day to pronounce love, propose marriage and give gifts like cards or flowers.

In Brazil, the Dia dos Namorados (lit. "Day of the enamored", or "Boyfriend's/Girlfriend's Day") is celebrated on June 12, when couples exchange gifts such as chocolates, cards and usually a flower bouquet. This day is chosen probably because it is the day before the Saint Anthony's day, known there as the marriage saint, when many single women perform popular rituals in order to find a good husband (or nowadays, a boyfriend).

In Colombia, the Día del amor y la amistad (lit. "Love and Friendship Day") is celebrated on the third Friday and Saturday in September, because of commercial issues. In this country the Amigo secreto ("Secret friend") tradition is quite popular, which consists of randomly assigning to each participant a recipient who is to be given an anonymous gift (similar to the Christmas tradition of Secret Santa).

In Mexico, the Día del amor y la amistad is celebrated similar to Colombia but this one falls on February 14.

In Finland, Valentine's Day is called Ystävänpäivä which translates into "Friend's day". As the name says, this day is more about remembering your friends than your loved ones.

In Slovenia, a proverb says that "St Valentine brings the keys of roots," so on February 14, plants and flowers start to grow. Valentine's Day has been celebrated as the day when the first works in the vineyards and on the fields commence. It is also said that birds propose to each other or marry on that day. Nevertheless, it has only recently been celebrated as the day of love. The day of love is traditionally 12 March, the Saint Gregory's day. Another proverb says "Valentin - prvi spomladin" ("Valentine — first saint of spring"), as in some places (especially White Carniola) Saint Valentine marks the beginning of spring.

In Romania, the traditional holiday for lovers is Dragobete, which is celebrated on February 24. It is named after a character from Romanian folklore who was supposed to be the son of Baba Dochia. Part of his name is the word drag ("dear"), which can also be found in the word dragoste ("love"). In recent years, Romania has also started celebrating Valentine's Day, despite already having Dragobete as a traditional holiday. This has drawn backlash from many groups, particularly nationalist organizations like Noua Dreaptǎ, who condemn Valentine's Day for being superficial, commercialist and imported Western kitsch.

In Denmark, Norway & Sweden Valentines Day is known as Valentinsdag. It is not celebrated to a large extent, but some people take time to be romantic with their partner, or send a card to a secret love.

Valentines Day also has regional traditions in the UK. In Norfolk a character called 'Jack' Valentine knocks on the rear door of houses leaving sweets and presents for children. Although leavings treats, many children were scared of this mystical person.

In Asia, people celebrate it with a candle-light dinner
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Valentine's day is not a day of Muslims.We should avoid to celeberate this day.If we want to celeberate this day, we should celeberate it in a good manner.We should present flowers to our parents, sisters, uncles, anties, and to our friends of our jender, not to of opposite gender. Mostly it is seen that boys send gifts to girls and girls to boys. This is not fair according to Islam.With sorry to boys and girls.

[COLOR="darkRed"][B]LONDON: Valentine’s Day will stoke the embers of romance worldwide on Wednesday.

Here are some key facts on the day and its origins.

* POSSIBLE ORIGINS — Although there were several Christian martyrs named Valentine, the day probably took its name from a priest who was martyred about AD 270 by the emperor Claudius II Gothicus.

According to legend, the priest signed a letter to his jailer’s daughter, with whom he had fallen in love, “from your Valentine.” — The day may also have originated in the ancient Roman celebration of the Feast of Lupercalia in honour of Juno, the queen of the Roman gods and goddesses, on February 14. Juno was also the goddess of women and marriage so honouring her was thought to be a fertility rite.

— At the feast held the next day, the women would write love-letters and stick them in a large urn. The men would pick a letter from the urn and for the next year, pursue the woman who wrote the chosen letter. This custom lasted centuries.

* THE FIRST CARDS — The custom of exchanging cards and other tokens of love on February 14 began to develop in England and France in the 14th and 15th centuries and became especially popular in the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries.

— In England in 1477 Margery Brews sent a letter to her fiance, John Paston of Norfolk addressing him as “my right wele-belovyd Voluntyn”.

— In the United States the first com mercially produced cards were manufactured by Robert H. Elton of New York in 1834.

* VALENTINE’S DAY EVENTS — Since 1994 couples have been married on the 80th floor of the Empire State Building.

— In 2002 two male and six female elephants were married at a ceremony in the ancient Thai capital of Ayutthaya, though one pair just did what comes naturally. “It is rather tricky trying to stop a 16-year-old elephant groom from consummating his marriage before the ceremony,” said one of the organisers.

— In 2003 the Galeries Lafayette department store in Paris invited those seeking instant love to a marathon-dating session on Feb 13 for sev en-minute tete-a-tetes with seven potential part ners.

— In 2006 hardline Hindu groups and radical Muslims burned Valentine’s Day greeting cards and held protests across India against celebrat ing the festival of love, saying it was a Western import that spread immorality.—Reuters

DAWN 13/02/2006[/B][/COLOR]

[QUOTE=Amjad Gujjar]Valentine's day is not a day of Muslims.We should avoid to celeberate this day.If we want to celeberate this day, we should celeberate it in a good manner.We should present flowers to our parents, sisters, uncles, anties, and to our friends of our jender, not to of opposite gender. Mostly it is seen that boys send gifts to girls and girls to boys. This is not fair according to Islam.With sorry to boys and girls.[/QUOTE]



[B]Bro i was not asking for counter arguments.Any how, As u reveal about islamic culture, i would like to tell ya one thing that 31st december "New year day " is not also in islamic culture but we celebrate it.Besides i want to tell ya that there is specific day to spread love and gift among yr family[/B]

Ting Ting________ Sorry i'm bit late
 

GUns And RosEs : EnJoYyYyyyYYyyYY

@mohammad adnan

Don't mix the things we are talking about. We are saying that we need to enjoy the moments of happinessand to share our love with others. It does not mean that we are gonna adopt western culture. It is not like that. In fact, we are trying to enjoy this special day in our own way.

Spreading love is the most beautiful task that u can do. It is not that tough job to do. Hope we would be able to bloom the flowers of love in this world of hatered.

Regards,

[B]You all guys are always welcome.Besides, i want to reveal against above arguments .The festival like Valentine indicate love and happiness.We can celebrate them with in constraint of our society. We are not bound to celebrate them as same as westerns celebrate.Islam never hinder against love and spread it all around world.We are celebrating them from last decades but still our youth never adopt any western culture . Majority of pakistan families prefer to dispatch their decendent at madarssah first.Atlast,I feel that there is no harsh to let the flower of love grow in our nation

@ Playing

Very funny poem but right now a serious issue is being discussed.[/B]