Mussoorie: Valentine's Day is celebrated across the world on 14 February. The day is meant for lovebirds who eagerly wait for it to exchange gifts and go on dates. While the day may have its own history for the world, in India, a story of two lovers in the hills of Mussoorie in British India holds a special mention in how people began celebrating this day in the country.
According to Gopal Bhardwaj, a noted historian in Mussoorie, a book 'Letters of a Mussoorie Merchant' written by Mauger Fitzhugh Monk in the mid-1800s details the importance of the day.
Monk, an England-born Latin language teacher at John McKenna's school in Barlowganj in Mussoorie those days, had fallen in love with one English girl Elizabeth Luene in the idyllic Indian hill station. On 14 February 1843, he wrote a letter to his sister Margeret in England talking about his feelings for Elizabeth and detailing how the two were happy together.
According to Bhardwaj, Monk had clearly written 'Valentine's Day' on top of the letter close to where he mentioned the date 14 February 1843. "In it, he had written to his sister that he had fallen in love with the girl and was soon going to get married to her," the historian said. "We could say the first recorded mention of Valentine's day in India happened in Mussoorie over 150 years ago," he added.
