Here is another day of the year where the Hindu Fundamentalists can come out of their hibernation. Its St.Valentine's Day, the Day for celebrating Love and Affection between intimate companions. It is tradionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionary and sending greeting cards. There are various facts and myths about the origin of the Valentine's day, one can find them googling. But, the celebrations had caught the attention of the fundamentalists yelling that it is a festival of the west and is against our culture, Hindu Culture.
There are certain questions that need to be answered first, Is it the idea of a day or the open expression of love and affection thats irking these fundamentalists? Is it the idea of borrowing a foreign culture that they are against? or Is it the insecurity they are feeling to protect their cultures? These are to be answered only by them, for they aren't giving any reasons except saying that its against their cultures, its their thinking that made the difference.
But, they are the citizens of this country with a well laid constitution and its elements. They are entitled Fundamentalists, but why aren't they not obeying the Fundamental Rights? According to the constitution, six fundamental rights were recognised that include right to freedom of expression, cultural rights, and freedom from exploitation, which they are violating. They are to be punished according to the law, but let off due to the sheer pressure and fear of losing faith in the government. So, with the government not coming to rescue us, its time we take it on our shoulders and sort out the matters. One should appreciate the 'Pink Chaddi Campaign' organised by the consortium of pubgoing, loose and forward women to protest against the right wing hindu group, shri ram sena.
First of all imagine what one would think of this situation if you were one of the citizens of a western country? How rude it would be to disobey others culture in such a hostile way? Why India, known for its many renowned virtues of Tolerance, Friendliness, brotherhood, Non-Violence and Truthfulness (by the Gandhian Philosophy) could hate a foreign culture? Why havent they cried foul over India accepting the English language, their calendar and constitution? From the ages, India has been a land of many religions, cultures and traditions If Indians can live happily in brotherhood with others, can celebrate Eid, Christmas, Gurunanak, Bhudda in the same manner as Duesshera, Holi and Diwali etc., why is this Valentine's day, a festival of Love, much like other festivals/celebrations is treated in such a manner? So, the reason they are stating is against the Indian Culture itself, of showing hatred against the alien cultures. So, it might be the insecurity they are feeling to protect their cultures, in this globalised World, in this cosmopolitan culture where new ways are invented to celebrate now and then or may be some of the senior members of the sena group must have faced the brunt of Love in their lifes. The latter one gives the issue a personal tone and leads to Hypocrisy, which has to be of great strength to withstand the hatred of the majority of the nation.
So, let me suggest an idea, a probable solution, one which all can unanimously agree on, the festival of love can be celebrated along with the fundamentalists, as per their reason, of the Culture. Lets change the name to "Manmadha Din," in commemoration of "Manmadha,"the mythological symbol of love and passion. He also lost his life for the sake of love as does St.Valentine is believed to. Manmadha was burned to ashes by lord shiva for disturbing his meditation. He was responsible for the marriage of lord shiva and lordess parvathi, reborn as the daughter of Himalayan King. Lated he was given life by lord shiva himself on the insistence of parvathi and rati (manmadha's lady love).
The Hindu mythology portrays Manmadha as an equipped and accomplised facilitator in
the domain of the 'chemistry of love' and a strategist and an executioner waiting in the wings, to get his assignments and acting at the right moments, as the material cause, to serve a higher puppose for the larger good. His armoury is so appropriate: a bow made of sugarcane with string of beetles and flowers as the tips of his arrows that can cause righteous desire and fire for creating the proper vibes for falling in love. his vehicle a parrot. So, in a whole he resembles the western Gods of love and passion, cupid and zeus. Also, the entire episode of manmadha - shiva took place during the 'Maghmasam,' which falls in month of february, one can refer the mythologies for details. Anyway the argument on the date cannot be settled, but can be compromised on the same 14th of february with the fact that the mythology doesnt mention any modern calendar dates.
So, I think this would serve the purpose of "Our Culture," required by the fundamentalists and "Day for expressing our love" as desired by the youngsters. So, give it a shot and feel free to suggest a name...
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
The Unanimous Religion of India....Cricket !!!
My previous blogs discussed my views on religion that have come from the ages and the things that the Britishers had given us. Let me mention to you another religion that was given to us by the same old Britishers, the Cricket. Yes, “Cricket is a religion in India” and the God changes for every generation, contrary to that of the age old religions that were build on a particular individual (God, except the Hinduism). If it is Sachin for the present generation, it was Gavaskar for my father’s generation and it well could be Yuvraj, Gambhir or Dhoni for the future generations. Well, if the birth of an individual mainly decides one’s religion and customs, Cricket is the only religion that is bestowed upon an individual from the childhood, by majority of the country irrespective of the family they are born in. But, it too has its flaws according to me and here I mention them.
How did the sport of cricket start, I mean a match and not its origin? Not to mention the recently invented pre-analysis of the match, it starts with the Pitch report and flip of a Coin follows immediately that decides the team that is going to bat first. So, what does winning of a toss depend on? Before answering the question, let’s discuss about the various factors that decide the winner of a match. The pitch decides most of the match; even one can say who’s going to win depending on who batted first. Even the skill of a player is out beaten by the pitch, like sometimes the ball comes on to the bat and sometimes not, which many of the players cant adjust to.
Another factor is the number of overs a ball is used for and also the way it is used, as it decides whether the ball would swing or not most of the times, of course along with the ability of the bowler. Next is the atmosphere, which dictates the moisture content in the pitch and the velocity of the wind that help a bowler to change the way one is bowling. These are the factors that make the kind of delivery one is going to deliver. Even at times, rain can be a spoilsport. Then, comes the ability of the batsmen, the way he takes on the delivery depending on his mental and physical ability.
As with any other competition, skill is required to win and not Luck (regarding the toss); that’s determined by a supernatural being. Let me tell you that, “Good luck is the lazy man's estimate of a worker's success.” Thus, a match of cricket depends mainly on the Toss of a Coin and not on the team’s overall ability. That’s the reason the same team that had won the previous match loses the next match depending on the pitch and the toss.
Considering all these factors, should a cricket match with our twin, Pakistan decide the animosity towards each other? It is taken with utmost pride and a loss is almost viewed as a self degradation. Should it be the case? If so, it should be viewed as a competition between two Religions and Gods, not between two Nations. Don’t you believe in Luck that is determined by your God? Then agree with me that it should not be viewed as a competition between the twins but two Gods, otherwise think over the various issues mentioned and just be a sport, not hostile. Come on, don’t be a spoil sport...
Now, consider the most widely viewed sport of the world, Football which could be viewed much better than the cricket. In football, a simple toss of a coin doesn’t dictate a winner as there would be no pitch, instead it’s the overall ability of the team that decides the winner and the same ball can be used for the whole match. Rain adds to the fun and even tests a team’s ability more profoundly. More over it has the advantage of sooner ended than a match of cricket that keeps in mind the ever time hunger globalised world.
So, what’s wrong when George Bernard Shaw said, “Eleven fools play and eleven thousands fools witness,” of course the latter has to be multiplied by the same factor in the case of India.
How did the sport of cricket start, I mean a match and not its origin? Not to mention the recently invented pre-analysis of the match, it starts with the Pitch report and flip of a Coin follows immediately that decides the team that is going to bat first. So, what does winning of a toss depend on? Before answering the question, let’s discuss about the various factors that decide the winner of a match. The pitch decides most of the match; even one can say who’s going to win depending on who batted first. Even the skill of a player is out beaten by the pitch, like sometimes the ball comes on to the bat and sometimes not, which many of the players cant adjust to.
Another factor is the number of overs a ball is used for and also the way it is used, as it decides whether the ball would swing or not most of the times, of course along with the ability of the bowler. Next is the atmosphere, which dictates the moisture content in the pitch and the velocity of the wind that help a bowler to change the way one is bowling. These are the factors that make the kind of delivery one is going to deliver. Even at times, rain can be a spoilsport. Then, comes the ability of the batsmen, the way he takes on the delivery depending on his mental and physical ability.
As with any other competition, skill is required to win and not Luck (regarding the toss); that’s determined by a supernatural being. Let me tell you that, “Good luck is the lazy man's estimate of a worker's success.” Thus, a match of cricket depends mainly on the Toss of a Coin and not on the team’s overall ability. That’s the reason the same team that had won the previous match loses the next match depending on the pitch and the toss.
Considering all these factors, should a cricket match with our twin, Pakistan decide the animosity towards each other? It is taken with utmost pride and a loss is almost viewed as a self degradation. Should it be the case? If so, it should be viewed as a competition between two Religions and Gods, not between two Nations. Don’t you believe in Luck that is determined by your God? Then agree with me that it should not be viewed as a competition between the twins but two Gods, otherwise think over the various issues mentioned and just be a sport, not hostile. Come on, don’t be a spoil sport...
Now, consider the most widely viewed sport of the world, Football which could be viewed much better than the cricket. In football, a simple toss of a coin doesn’t dictate a winner as there would be no pitch, instead it’s the overall ability of the team that decides the winner and the same ball can be used for the whole match. Rain adds to the fun and even tests a team’s ability more profoundly. More over it has the advantage of sooner ended than a match of cricket that keeps in mind the ever time hunger globalised world.
So, what’s wrong when George Bernard Shaw said, “Eleven fools play and eleven thousands fools witness,” of course the latter has to be multiplied by the same factor in the case of India.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
What did the Britishers Give Us?
From the word go, any one who was asked to tell about the British rule in India would start with the battle of Plassey and end with the partition of India. Everyone of us talk about the Imperialism, the looting of our precious wealth and the lakhs of lives lost in the struggle for Independence. Everyone yells about the Kohinoor diamond, the Peacock throne and various other valuable things that the Britishers had taken away from our Motherland and I do agree with all of them. Was it the only way we should see them? How many of you ever thought of the things they had given and bestowed upon us, without which India would have been bits and pieces of the age old princely states ruled by the Kings? If not, let me give you some ideas.
Haven't you ever ridiculed one who was unable to speak english as he/she was from a non-english medium background, perhaps one's mother tongue? Have you ever seen atleast a person who hadn't travelled on a train? Have you thought of reading the blogs in a language other than english? The answer to the first question might depend on the individual as he/she is, but for the next two questions, it would be definitely be a unanimous NO. I think all of you know that English came to India through the Britishers who had ruled a majority of the peninsula for over two centuries. What would have been the fate of the IT industry if English wasn't the medium of our learning, think of China, Japan and some the far east countries? We boast off saying that Aryabattha invented or coined "Zero," without which computer would have been just an idiotic box. But, what would you do with a zero if you dont know how to use it? Also,what would be the state of our economy if IT industry hadn't given its huge share?
The Indian Railways, the largest employee organisation in the world was started by the Britishers, no doubt that they had started it for transporting our resources to the ports so that they can ship them to their Queen's land. The first platform that was built over 155 years ago was still as solid as the rock, at Mumbai's Victoria Terminus.But, its a fact that railways had become the backbone of our country. Not to forget the communications, no not only the telephone, but also the good old Postal Mail that had reached a proportion where it can deliver a mail with in 2 days ever to far off places. We Indians were successful in Adopting, Adapting and Improving the network.
Have you ever seen the map of India before the Britishers started ruling our country? I guess, not even few. If you find one, just have a look, but let me tell you that it looked like a continent with small countries with their own guiding priciples, ruled by the Mughals, the Rajputs, the Cholas etc. And how do we get it after Independence?, forget about vivisection, its all a different issue. We got a United India, which had grown in its proportion and population. Ofcourse, ruling such a large country, maintaining law and order had been dificult for our elected leaders, do remember that the idea of Democracy and a major chunk of our Constitution was also inspired by the England's.
So, never only accuse the Britishers for what they had done to us, but also thank them for what they had done to us unknowingly. I follow that, "Believing that some good can be derived from every event is a better preposition than believing that something happens for the best, which is assuredly does not."
Haven't you ever ridiculed one who was unable to speak english as he/she was from a non-english medium background, perhaps one's mother tongue? Have you ever seen atleast a person who hadn't travelled on a train? Have you thought of reading the blogs in a language other than english? The answer to the first question might depend on the individual as he/she is, but for the next two questions, it would be definitely be a unanimous NO. I think all of you know that English came to India through the Britishers who had ruled a majority of the peninsula for over two centuries. What would have been the fate of the IT industry if English wasn't the medium of our learning, think of China, Japan and some the far east countries? We boast off saying that Aryabattha invented or coined "Zero," without which computer would have been just an idiotic box. But, what would you do with a zero if you dont know how to use it? Also,what would be the state of our economy if IT industry hadn't given its huge share?
The Indian Railways, the largest employee organisation in the world was started by the Britishers, no doubt that they had started it for transporting our resources to the ports so that they can ship them to their Queen's land. The first platform that was built over 155 years ago was still as solid as the rock, at Mumbai's Victoria Terminus.But, its a fact that railways had become the backbone of our country. Not to forget the communications, no not only the telephone, but also the good old Postal Mail that had reached a proportion where it can deliver a mail with in 2 days ever to far off places. We Indians were successful in Adopting, Adapting and Improving the network.
Have you ever seen the map of India before the Britishers started ruling our country? I guess, not even few. If you find one, just have a look, but let me tell you that it looked like a continent with small countries with their own guiding priciples, ruled by the Mughals, the Rajputs, the Cholas etc. And how do we get it after Independence?, forget about vivisection, its all a different issue. We got a United India, which had grown in its proportion and population. Ofcourse, ruling such a large country, maintaining law and order had been dificult for our elected leaders, do remember that the idea of Democracy and a major chunk of our Constitution was also inspired by the England's.
So, never only accuse the Britishers for what they had done to us, but also thank them for what they had done to us unknowingly. I follow that, "Believing that some good can be derived from every event is a better preposition than believing that something happens for the best, which is assuredly does not."
My Views on Religion and God - II
Straight after the introduction in my previous blog, here I go deep into my own way of reasoning. Let me mention few questons that had bothered me ever since I started thinking on these lines, starting with the first that I had already mentioned in my previous blog.
[1] Why didn't the God had the highly reverred virtue of Fogiveness?
[2] If, there is an almighty, omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent God, who created the earth or world, why did he create it? This world full of woes and miseries,a combination of number-less tragedies, Not a single soul being perfectly satisfied.
[3]Why did he create humans like Hitler, Saddam, Chengis Khan, Osama and all who committed genocides, when he had the power not to do so and not many like Mother Therresa, Gandhi etc?
[4] Why doesnt a God stop a man commiting a crime?
The questions like these crop up one after another making me find out a possible reason. Any man who has got some reasoning power at his command always tries to reason out his environments. Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. So, here is what I found after few days of deep thought, starting with my idea of the birth and growth of the faith in the exixtence of a supernatural being above the human race that was presumed to have created the world.
When our ancestors had leisure enough to try to solve out the mystery of this world, its past, present and the future, its whys and wherefores, they having been terribly short of direct proofs, everybody tried to solve the problem in his own way. Hence we find the wide differences in the fundamentals of various religious creeds, which sometimes assume very antagonistic and conflicting shapes.All these creeds differ from each other on the fundamental question; and everybody considers himself to be on the right. There lies the misfortune. That was the point at which different religions had started.
As regards the origin of God, my own idea is that having realised the limitation of man, his weaknesses and shortcoming having been taken into consideration, God was brought into imaginary existence to encourage man to face boldly all the trying circumstances, to meet all dangers boldly and to check and restrain his outbursts in prosperity and affluence. God, both with his private laws and parental generosity, was imagined and painted in greater details. He was to serve as a deterrent factor when his fury and private laws were discussed, so that man may not become a danger to society.
So, rules were framed, termed as vedas, upanishads, preachings of Prophet or the Jesus and passed on to the human race so that there would be no untoward problems and all men would live happily everafter...Is it So??
More on these views in the next blog.
[1] Why didn't the God had the highly reverred virtue of Fogiveness?
[2] If, there is an almighty, omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent God, who created the earth or world, why did he create it? This world full of woes and miseries,a combination of number-less tragedies, Not a single soul being perfectly satisfied.
[3]Why did he create humans like Hitler, Saddam, Chengis Khan, Osama and all who committed genocides, when he had the power not to do so and not many like Mother Therresa, Gandhi etc?
[4] Why doesnt a God stop a man commiting a crime?
The questions like these crop up one after another making me find out a possible reason. Any man who has got some reasoning power at his command always tries to reason out his environments. Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. So, here is what I found after few days of deep thought, starting with my idea of the birth and growth of the faith in the exixtence of a supernatural being above the human race that was presumed to have created the world.
When our ancestors had leisure enough to try to solve out the mystery of this world, its past, present and the future, its whys and wherefores, they having been terribly short of direct proofs, everybody tried to solve the problem in his own way. Hence we find the wide differences in the fundamentals of various religious creeds, which sometimes assume very antagonistic and conflicting shapes.All these creeds differ from each other on the fundamental question; and everybody considers himself to be on the right. There lies the misfortune. That was the point at which different religions had started.
As regards the origin of God, my own idea is that having realised the limitation of man, his weaknesses and shortcoming having been taken into consideration, God was brought into imaginary existence to encourage man to face boldly all the trying circumstances, to meet all dangers boldly and to check and restrain his outbursts in prosperity and affluence. God, both with his private laws and parental generosity, was imagined and painted in greater details. He was to serve as a deterrent factor when his fury and private laws were discussed, so that man may not become a danger to society.
So, rules were framed, termed as vedas, upanishads, preachings of Prophet or the Jesus and passed on to the human race so that there would be no untoward problems and all men would live happily everafter...Is it So??
More on these views in the next blog.
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