India might be considered the most open nation when considered historically. History provides ample evidence, which may include “Kamasutra”, the art of love making or the erotic depictions of love making at Khajuraho Temples but Valentine’s day in India is a recent phenomenon. The previous generations have never witnessed such a celebration in the Indian society. The open celebration of love is something which is quite rare in Indian society where having a love affair is not generally accepted and a person’s moral values are questioned. In contradiction, almost all Indian firms and now Indian soap now depicts not only the love affairs but extra – martial affairs as well as multiple love affairs.

It is definitely a cultural influence from the western countries which hold such celebrations. On the other side of society, there are some radical organizations in India which condemn such festivals which are considered to be the western influence. Though not everywhere, not in the big cities but march or moral policing could be seen.

Nevertheless, the celebration carry on and you would see many places like multiplex, shops etc decorated on such occasion. People could be seen looking for a perfect gift or bouquet for their loved one. The occasion maybe for the young couples but the married couples could be seen celebrating it as well.

Way of verbal expressions for expressing their love could be western with those three words, “I love you” in English which is quite popular in the younger generation or maybe traditional one. Maybe I must tell you at this point, how it is being expressed in traditional way. So, let’s have a look on the most common expressions that we might use in the Hindi to express our feelings  in the traditional way.

There are some dear words (Darling, Honey etc in English) in Hindi which might be used. These words are जान (jaan), प्रिया (priya), प्रिय (priy). The three words, “I love you” in Hindi can be expressed in many ways like:

Male to female / Male to male:
मैं तुमसे प्यार करता हूँ।
Main tum se pyaar karta hoon.
मुझे तुम से प्यार है।
Mujhe tum se pyar hai.
मैं तुम को प्यार करता हूँ।
Main tum ko pyaar karta hoon.
मैं तुम्हे प्यार करता हूँ।
Main tumhe pyaar karta hoon.

Female to male / Female to female:
मैं तुमसे प्यार करती हूँ।
Main tum se pyaar karti hoon.
मुझे तुम से प्यार है।
Mujhe tum se pyar hai.
मैं तुम को प्यार करती हूँ।
Main tum ko pyaar karti hoon.
मैं तुम्हे प्यार करती हूँ।
Main tumhe pyaar karti hoon.

You can get more information on “I love you” in Hindi in our previous post at : https://blogs.transparent.com/hindi/page/2/?s=i+love+you

Wish you all a very happy Valentine’s day!  🙂