St. Valentine’s Story
I lived in Rome during the third century. That was long, long ago! At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius. I didn’t like Emperor Claudius, and I wasn’t the only one! A lot of people shared my feelings. My name is Valentine.
Claudius wanted to have a big army. He expected men to volunteer to join. Many men just did not want to fight in wars. They did not want to leave their wives and families. As you might have guessed, not many men signed up. This made Claudius furious. So what happened? He had a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army. So Claudius decided not to allow any more marriages. Young people thought his new law was cruel. I thought it was preposterous! I certainly wasn’t going to support that law!
Did I mention that I was a priest? One of my favorite activities was to marry couples. Even after Emperor Claudius passed his law, I kept on performing marriage ceremonies — secretly, of course. It was really quite exciting. Imagine a small candlelit room with only the bride and groom and myself. We would whisper the words of the ceremony, listening all the while for the steps of soldiers.
One night, we did hear footsteps. It was scary! Thank goodness the couple I was marrying escaped in time. I was caught. (Not quite as light on my feet as I used to be, I guess.) I was thrown in jail and told that my punishment was death.
I tried to stay cheerful. And do you know what? Wonderful things happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit me. They threw flowers and notes up to my window. They wanted me to know that they, too, believed in love.
One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard. Her father allowed her to visit me in the cell. Sometimes we would sit and talk for hours. She helped me to keep my spirits up. She agreed that I did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and going ahead with the secret marriages. On the day I was to die, I left my friend a little note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. I signed it, “Love from your Valentine.”
I believe that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine’s Day. It was written on the day I died, February 14, 269 A.D. Now, every year on this day, people remember. But most importantly, they think about love and friendship. And when they think of Emperor Claudius, they remember how he tried to stand in the way of love, and they laugh — because they know that love can’t be beaten!
Specially Contributed by
Dr. Hemant Inamdar
ALL ABOUT SEX
DOCTOR MUMBAI
PREMATURE EJACULATION
SEX EDUCATION
SEX LOVE QUOTES
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!!!!
In spite of what you have been told by everyone,
the truth is that
Valentine’s Day originated hundreds of years
ago, in India, and to top it all, in Punjab.
It is a well known fact that Punjabi men, continually mistreat and disrespect their wives (Punjabans). One fine day, it happened to be the 14th day of February, one brave Punjaban, having had enough “torture” by her husband, finally chose to rebel by beating him up with a Velan (rolling pin).
Yes….the same Velan which she used daily, to make chapattis for
him….only this time, instead of the dough, it was the husband who was
flattened.
This was a momentous occasion for all Punjaban women and a revolt soon
spread, like wild fire, with thousands of housewives beating up their
husbands with the Velan.
There was an outburst of moaning “chapatti-ed” husbands all over Jalandhar and Ludhiana. The Punjabi men-folk quickly learnt their lesson and started to
behave more respectfully with their Punjabans.
Thereafter, on 14th February, every year, the womenfolk of Punjab would
beat up their husbands, to commemorate that eventful day.The wives having
the satisfaction of beating up their husbands with the Velan and the men
having the supreme joy of submitting to the will of the women they loved.
Soon The Punjabi men realised that in order to avoid this ordeal they need
to present gifts to their wives….they brought flowers and sweetmeats.
Hence the tradition began.
As Punjabis under the influence of Western culture, that day was
called ‘Velan time’ day.
The ritual soon spread to Britain and many other Western countries,
specifically, the catch words ‘Velan time!’. Of course in their foreign
tongues, it was first anglisised to ‘Velantime’ and then to ‘Valentine’.
And thereafter, 14th of February, came to be known as Valentine’s Day!