The authorities in India tried to kill two birds with one stone and set up a competition for Valentine's Day, perceived by many in the subcontinent as a foreign western influence, and to increase awareness of an important element of Hindu tradition, the respect for cows.
As any Israeli who has traveled in India knows, according to the Hindu tradition, cows are considered to represent the sacred and the carnal together and are respected and admired by the Hindu population of the country.
Many in conservative circles believe that the young generation in the country does not show enough interest in Hindu tradition and culture and takes a critical stance towards foreign western influences such as Valentine's Day, which is celebrated mainly by young people in India with a variety of romantic gestures.
Last week, the "Committee for the Welfare of Animals in India", a semi-governmental body in the country, published an announcement according to which February 14 will be celebrated in the country as "Embrace a Cow Day", in which the residents of the country are called to show affection towards the raised animals, especially the members of the cow population that roam the streets of the country.
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The Animal Welfare Board of India has issued a notice appealing to people to celebrate "Cow Hug Day" on February 14. Here is what happened when an NDTV reporter tried to hug a cow pic.twitter.com/D54vnlLhk7
— NDTV (@ndtv) February 9, 2023
The committee's announcement states that "the cow gives us everything, has a nourishing nature and provides great wealth to the human race. It is the backbone of Indian culture and its rural economy."
"Indian culture has been eroded by western influence and the 'Cow Hug' day is a way to promote the sacred Hindu traditions."
The announcement also states that "the glamor of Western culture has caused our physical culture and tradition to be almost completely forgotten."
But it seems that the organizers of the idea forgot another western influence that has spread in India in recent decades, the social networks.
The decision to replace Valentine's Day with the day when the public was called to hug cows gave free rein to the netizens for plenty of jokes, memes and cartoons that did not add respect to the ancient Hindu tradition.
But the mockery also came from more traditional media.
An announcer for the English language news network NDTV was filmed trying to hug some cows live and was pushed away by the calm and cautious creatures.
"Consent is very important," said the announcer in a joking tone.
The amount of mockery on the net caused the organization to announce that the cute project is canceled but the public is still called to give their love to the sacred animal.
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