A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual.

I don't know who owns this site, for there is nothing on it in the About Us link. It merely says, the Nashik Corporation site "is an educational and news website of the municipal corporation. Today, education and payment of tax are completely online."
It goes on to add, "So we provide some of the latest information about Property Tax, Water Tax, Marriage Certificate, Caste Certificate, etc. So all taxpayer can get all information of their municipal in a single place.some facts about legal and financial issues that different city corporations face, but I was least interested in them."

Surely, this didn't interest me. I was left wondering: why was this site interested in telling its readers what's Maha Shivratri about?
I set my curiosity aside, and clicked on what interested me in the site. It was an assertion which came less than a week after the Valentine's Day -- that "Shiva and Parvati are known as the first love marriage couple in the universe, as per Hindu mythology." Apparently released on the Maha Shivratri day, which fell on February 18, it notes, "The love story of Shiv-Parvati is called Maha Shivratri, the day of love, and this union of love is called Maha Shivratri, which we celebrate every year as Mahaparv."
Claimed to have been released "as per our readers’ demand and comments", the article defines love marriage "one which is driven solely by the couple, with or without consent of their parents, as opposed to arranged marriage." It adds, "While there is no clear definition of love marriage, the term was in common use globally during the Victorian era."

It appears to regret: that while "love marriage in European countries showed a peak from the 15-16th century, but in India and other Asian countries, it began to happen very slowly." Stating that some research (which, it does not say) "was conducted to find out when the first love marriage was conducted in India", and it was found to be that of "Shiv and Parvati".

The article insists, "The marriage of Lord Shiv and Mother Parvati was not a normal one but rather their definitive predetermination was to change the world’s most prominent romantic tales in a second. They couldn’t measure up to any of the affection sets... After marrying Shiv, Parvati went with him to Kailash and thus a love story going on for two lives had a happy ending."
Suggesting that India scored over Europe in originating love marriage, the article even gives the date, when, apparently, Shiv and Parvati tied into nuptial relationship -- "2350 B" (BC?, I don't know), as against Europe, where the first love marriage occurred about 3500 years later -- "in 1140 AD", about which "Rousseau wrote in his book."
It concludes, "The marriage of Lord Shiva and Mother Parvati was not an ordinary one but their ultimate destiny will be to adjust the world’s greatest love stories in a moment. They cannot be compared to any of the love pairs."

An effort to come up with an Indian (or Hindu, to be more precise) Valentine's Day? I don't know.

Be that as it may, I found the much-desired quote elsewhere as I needed it to send across the message to think positive. This is what it says: "May Lord Shiva bless you with patience and a heart to see good in everything! Wishing you all a very happy Maha Shivratri!"

I modified it little in order to suit my thinking a little and sent it across. Being a some sort of an atheist, instead of Lord Shiva, I said Maha Shivratri festival. Don't know how it was taken, positively or negatively. Expectedly, I didn't get a reply.

Comments

When Pakistanis whispered: ‘end military rule’ — A Moscow memoir

During the recent anti-terror operation inside Pakistan by the Government of India, called Operation Sindoor — a name some feminists consider patently patriarchal, even though it’s officially described as a tribute to the wives of the 26 husbands killed in the terrorist strike — I was reminded of my Moscow stint, which lasted for seven long years, from 1986 to 1993.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

RP Gupta a scapegoat to help Govt of India manage fallout of Adani case in US court?

RP Gupta, a retired 1987-batch IAS officer from the Gujarat cadre, has found himself at the center of a growing controversy. During my tenure as the Times of India correspondent in Gandhinagar (1997–2012), I often interacted with him. He struck me as a straightforward officer, though I never quite understood why he was never appointed to what are supposed to be top-tier departments like industries, energy and petrochemicals, finance, or revenue.

Environmental report raises alarm: Sabarmati one of four rivers with nonylphenol contamination

A new report by Toxics Link , an Indian environmental research and advocacy organisation based in New Delhi, in collaboration with the Environmental Defense Fund , a global non-profit headquartered in New York, has raised the alarm that Sabarmati is one of five rivers across India found to contain unacceptable levels of nonylphenol (NP), a chemical linked to "exposure to carcinogenic outcomes, including prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women."

PharmEasy: The only online medical store which revises prices upwards after confirming the order

For senior citizens — especially those without a family support system — ordering medicines online can be a great relief. Shruti and I have been doing this for the last couple of years, and with considerable success. We upload a prescription, receive a verification call from a doctor, and within two or three days, the medicines are delivered to our doorstep.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Revisiting Gijubhai: Pioneer of child-centric education and the caste debate

It was Krishna Kumar, the well-known educationist, who I believe first introduced me to the name — Gijubhai Badheka (1885–1939). Hailing from Bhavnagar, known as the cultural capital of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, Gijubhai, Kumar told me during my student days, made significant contributions to the field of pedagogy — something that hasn't received much attention from India's education mandarins. At that time, Kumar was my tutorial teacher at Kirorimal College, Delhi University.

A sector under siege? War and real estate: Navigating uncertainty in India's expanding market

I was a little surprised when I received an email alert from a top real estate consultant, Anarock Group , titled "Exploring War’s Effects on Indian Real Estate—When Conflict Meets Concrete," authored by its regional director and head of research, Dr. Prashant Thakur. I had thought that the business would wholeheartedly support what is considered a strong response to the dastardly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Operation Sindoor.

Search This Blog