What compels the Hindu right's volcanic reaction to Valentine's Day? Some of its members have protested that the holiday is the product of a 'rotten imported culture' from the West.

What compels the Hindu right's volcanic reaction to Valentine's Day? Some of its members have protested that the holiday is the product of a 'rotten imported culture' from the West.

Every Valentine's Day, I pretend I don't care. Like many of us, I say I don't want the flowers or chocolates or a homemade card. How cheesy. I pretend that it's over-the-top to want the person you like to make you a ridiculously nice dinner, or do some showy gesture, ala John Cusack with the boombox in 'Say Anything.'