India, Feb. 10 -- On February 14, Valentine's Day in India arrives like a pop-up festival, bright and impossible to ignore, yet still not "official" in any civic sense. It isn't a public holiday. Schools run, offices stay open, Government counters work their usual hours, and traffic looks the same by noon. And still, the day matters, especially in big cities. For many young Indians, it has become a yearly ritual that fits neatly around lectures, shifts, and metro rides. That's also why it sparks mixed reactions: excitement, eye-rolls, and, in some places, backlash.

The argument around the day often says more about modern India than the day itself. The transformation of a typical workday into a modern ritual for urban youth is noteworthy....