Santa Claus: The Salesman with Claws

Having emerged from the Christmas season, which is not yet over, a not-so changed man, I wonder how many actually did bring about a change in their lives in this year.

Well Christmas is indeed a time of cheer and goodwill among men but it is also the international standard for sales targets, advertising budget overruns, depleting savings and burning through piles of hard earned cash – all in the name of the Lord.

Image Courtesy: batman.wikia.com

Well, that’s at least what I’ve heard some of the clergy say this year what with the birthday boy, Jesus himself, disappearing out of the whole Christmas picture with every passing year. To put it into perspective, there seems to be a feeling that Jesus didn’t get invited to his own birthday party because somebody brought the cake, another brought the drinks, a third brought the food and the fourth brought the dessert and there was nobody left to inform the guy for whom they actually threw the party.

Sounds weird?

Some seem to be concerned that the commercialization of festivals has led Santa Claus to become an even bigger idol that Jesus today. And that should worry the leaders off the church if it doesn’t already. One has to admit, it is great for the propagation of religion but the essence as such keeps losing significance.

To kids today, Christmas seems to mean nothing other than the fact that their parents getting them gifts, for teenagers it’s all about the parties, for young adults it’s a day off of work and the others, some time to spend with the family.

This obviously doesn’t hold true for everyone but observation has led me to believe that the importance of Christmas has dwindled down to just the poster boy of a soft drinks company and means nothing more than just another holiday.

Image Courtesy: www.youthareawesome.com

It is just like what happens to other festivals celebrated here in India that I’ve written about in this post on Durga puja. But well, something needs to be done to drive sales and what better way than appealing  to peoples sentiments that inadvertently force them to show their love towards their family by having them make money for companies.

In the memorable words of Lord Cutler Bekett from Pirates of the Caribbean:

It’s just good business…

Image Courtesy: www.reddit.com

A very Merry Christmas to you and a Happy New Year!

Note: This post is not meant to be disrespectful to any religion, people or God/s. It is just my personal opinion on what I've observed in my vicinity. Any connection to people (living or dead) or Companies (and franchises) or Gods (and Goddesses) is merely coincidental and is not deliberately meant.

Owning up to the Real Issues at Hand

We see and are a part of a number of things that are wrong in society in daily life. We want to make them better, we want to be better as a civilization and we strive towards that very common goal with the rest of humanity.

But we sometimes lose sight of the bigger picture either by quickly finding someone to blame or getting caught up in unnecessary nuances that hide the real issue, which is then left to stagnate and dealt with at a later date.

Image Courtesy: pinterest.com

These are the issues that really need to be dealt with, the crux of the matter, the questions we should really be asking. Divided by categories, here are the real issues and their tangents we have been obsessing over.

Crime

Radhe Maa in a skirt or Radhe Maa abetting suicide

The self-styled ‘Godwoman’ known as Radha Maacame into the news recently for her apparently racy photos in which she is wearing a short skirt or a dress. Although the real issue of her involvement in the death of a woman in a dowry case came to light, everyone was obsessed more about her short skirt than her abetment of suicide. That says more than one thing about the Indian mindset.

Defence

Japan’s new defence bill or Chinese aggression in South Asia

Everyone, from pacifists, to students, to academicians, to the common people are opposing a bill cleared by the lower house of Japanese parliament that will allow their military to help their allies fight threats. This means, Japanese forces will once again be able to deploy beyond their shores. What is not being taken into consideration however, is the Chinese aggression in the South China Sea that is taking a turn for the worse and Japanese self-defence may be reliant on reciprocation of the same to its allies.

Social Issue

Politics or Human Rights in the Israel-Palestine conflict

Political deadlock between Israel and Palestine seems to have become a permanent feature for that part of the world. With uncompromising parties on both sides giving no room for a peaceful reconciliation, the conflict seems in no hurry to end. However, human rights abuses, both by militant groups as well as police forces seem to be sidelined in favour of sovereign territorial disputes, settlements and violence on the streets.

Culture & Heritage

Protecting Monuments or Stopping Conflict

Cultural heritage all over the world is in constant danger of being enveloped into the conflicts that result in their unnecessary destruction or the threat thereof. The destruction f the Bamiyan Buddhas (Afghanistan), the looting of Iraqi national museum (Iraq), the allegations of the Taj Mahal being a temple (India) and the threat to Palmyra’s ruins (Syria) is very real and disheartening. Religious intolerance and conflict will continue to exist till there is a shift in mindset or in vested interests, but heritage will not come back once it is destroyed.

Education

The Porn Ban or the need for Sex Education

Amidst the uproar on whether the Indian government has any right to tell its citizens what to watch on the internet due to them banning over 800 porn sites, the real point of sex education and its despondent state in Indian education has been lost. The government has cited immorality as its feeble excuse to try to get away with its regressive policy but all everyone can be bothered with is the right to watch porn. What about the real bad effects it has on children? The answer is lost in the echoes of morality, decency and the freedom of the internet.

Religion

Fanaticism or Blame Game

Religious fanaticism exists in almost every religion and even examples seem unnecessary in this case. How much ever one tries to deny it, everyone knows that fringe elements exist in every religion, the people who are either too naïve to figure out that they are pawns in a bigger game and those who do so for their own vested interests. But popular concentration seems to be on placing the blame not on these elements alone but on a broader spectrum of people, most of whom abhor these elements and wish to see them wiped out as much as any sensible human being.

Time for a reality Check, maybe?

Hence, to say then that we aren’t actually facing up to the real threat wouldn’t be much of an overstatement. Time to see things in a broader perspective, don’t you think?

Faith in the Obscure: A Musing

What is Faith? Is it being Religious? Is it being Spiritual? Is it being part of both? Or is accepting one of them is enough?

By Faith, I mean belief in God. Not this God or that God, not multiple Gods or a single entity, not male or female, not multitudes ranked by relative importance, but the supernatural ‘Thing’ (for lack of a better word) that some believe created everything, runs everything and destroys everything.

Faith is a tricky subject and writing about it even more so. However, I wish neither to hurt feelings and sentiments nor create a controversy. ‘Faith’ is merely the word written upon my parents’ house and I’m just in the mood to ponder upon its placement in life.

Image Courtesy: fmaonline.net

Is Faith being a part of an organized or unorganized religion having rituals and practices? Is that a necessity? Or is it alright to not be part of religion and still have Faith. Yes, in order to have Faith, there must be a metaphorical or supposed entity to have Faith upon, but what if this entity has no shape or size or face or being? Can there be Faith without a point of reference?

Can Faith be largely a part of spirituality with attaching oneself to religion? Is it possible to put Faith in something that isn’t quite part of any religion but religious in an individual context? Can Faith exist in a void where there is a falling out between personal beliefs and the beliefs of religion? Can Faith exist without religion?

The possibility of keeping Faith in something that is somewhere and which is not hampered by the teachings of elders or the traditions of a people under a religious roof is something many people cannot comprehend. The ability to have Faith exists in all and the varying degrees to which they have it also depends on their personal experiences.

A disillusionment of religion as an institution can bring about the type of Faith I’m talking about. Although remnants of an imbibed religion may remain to guide the psyche to a new way of belief, it will no longer be the topmost priority in forming a Faith that almost nobody can reconcile to.

It is a difficult concept to grasp, especially for those encumbered with the weight of religious learning and years of practicing rituals and following traditions but this does not mean that an individual having Faith in a concept unknown to others is asking to be persecuted or is supposed to be worshipping evil or is straying from the path of God.

Faith cannot be ranked, for each one has his or her own and is different from the Faith that everyone else has.

The Beef in Pakistan and the Ministerial Menu

The beef ban has become one big case of political posturing – deity worshiping – non vegetarian atrocity that has taken not one but two countries by storm. Sorry, three, you’ve got to count Nepal too.

The latest controversy in this cow murdering tale of dark comedy is Kiren Rjiju, Minister of State for home Affairs taking a pot shot at fellow Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs, Mukhtar Abaas Naqvi, for a comment that went basically like, “Want beef? Go to Pakistan. It’s awesome there!”

Now one might easily be confused as to whether the Naqvi is an Indian Minister in the Union government or the Minister of Tourism for Pakistan but the Indian Secretariat website calmly assures us that the Pakistan tourism thing is just a side job that’s totally legal because hey, why not?

I'm delicious & you know it!
Image Courtesy: says.com

Now Rijiju said that we shouldn’t be touchy about people’s food habits and when the PM (and I’m just guessing here) called and reminded him that he was also part of the government, Rijiju promptly blamed the media for misquoting him because that’s the most plausible answer given the circumstances.

Well, he then said that what he meant was actually not what he said and what he said was not what the media interpreted correctly but now what he was saying was not what he said earlier but something different to the effect that the Hindu religious population was a majority in some places and a minority in other places and that Arunachal Pradesh was better at cooking beef than Pakistan.

Got all that? Good. (Hahaha, I didn’t either)

So basically, by his logic, if all the Hindus in all the states got together to ban beef, the whole country would have cows jamming traffic in the middle of busy intersections? Damn.

Note: I'm not trying to hurt anyone's religious feelings but in case you're hurt, don't say the title didn't warn you.

The Monk who almost wanted a Ferrari

Tales of organized religions running after money and trying to spread their faith all around either by force or through bribes are mire in the history of not only this nation, but the world. But these are just tales and conspiracies which may or may not be rooted in fact. What happens however, when such stories of a real incident come to light?

I know of one such incident and although I refuse to admit if this is fiction or fact, it makes it very clear that the voices reciting the vow of poverty are often lost in the need for materialistic luxuries of life.

Featured here: The Bishop of Bling, Germany.
Image Courtesy: Google Images.

Once there was a priest who, after many years, finally made it as the preacher of a large congregation. The place of worship was large and the number of devotees was also higher in comparison to other places where he’d been assigned before. This city he went to had a reputation of not being able to tolerate nonsense from their preachers and this priest, in his pride, managed to get on the wrong side of the entire council. It was just like the previous priest; he was transferred because of his arrogance.

This priest managed to run things his way for a while but ultimately the patience of the people ran out because he never stopped making them regret the fact that they didn’t contribute enough money to God and by that, he meant he wasn’t happy with the amount of money that went into his upkeep after paying for the maintenance of the house of God. He kept repeating the dire situation of the accounts, all under the statue of his maker while the congregation tried its best to keep him happy. But it was not to be and the priest’s senior had to have him transferred for his own well-being.

This priest was sent to a village whose faithful consisted of just a handful of people. He was appalled! How could he be sent to this place after heading a temple of a big city? It was outrageous. He probably thought that these villagers deserved a new priest without any experience while he deserved to be moving up in the hierarchy and heading another big place of worship. How dare the management leave him to rot in some godforsaken village?

And so, once again, senior had to transfer him and this time, even though he got a small town, which was technically a promotion from the village, the priest was sullen at this transfer too. Now this town had recently been upgraded, divided into two parts and another temple was built to accommodate all the faithful. This priest got the new temple and its people but he had to commute to this new temple everyday from his residence, which was still at the old place of worship. It takes time to shift quarters and it hadn’t happened yet. A minor inconvenience no doubt, to travel within the same city and pry for the people. But the priest now demanded separate living quarters for himself and a servant for his needs at the new place. The management decided this was too costly an affair and refused this demand.

Within a year, the priest demanded a transfer.

Looking at his track record, it does seem plausible that this person would have fared better as an IAS officer than he did as a priest.

It only goes to show how the people who serve God are also not totally immune to the pleasures of life and it’s not like they don’t deserve them but there are those who work to sincerely spread love and foster goodwill among people according to what their scriptures say. These sincere people try to do good in often horrible conditions, among hostiles, in dangerous territory and under threat of prosecution and death on a regular basis. The priest in the story and those like him give everyone else a bad name and are often the reason why even the most religious of people tend to lose their faith.

Death by Blasphemy

I’m writing this post today because I think I know that barring natural causes or a horrific accident, I’ll probably be alive reading the response that you so considerately are going to write in the comments section. But it is not so for a lot of other bloggers and by ‘other’, I mean bloggers in Bangladesh who don’t know whether they’ll be alive to see their message reach their readers or not. They don’t know if they are safe even within the sanctity of their homes.

Image Courtesy: The Hindu.

Two bloggers are already dead in our neighbouring nation because they apparently wrote blasphemous stuff on their blogs. They were supposedly atheists who wrote critically of religion. I’m not sure of the content of their writing but the answer to anything is never violence. It’s not that things cannot be solved that way, but it is nobody’s right to inflict it on another.

Obviously, it is wrong to write hateful things about other religions and their leaders and so on and so forth but the punishment for that cannot be death. Causing mass agitation and public anger can be argued to have severe consequence but death for anything without the due process of law is something I believe no brand of religion would condone.

Freedom of Expression is a basic right that cannot be taken away from anyone and those radicals who seek to do so cannot claim to be doing it on religious grounds. These people need psychiatric treatment and a thorough explanation of how civilized society is supposed to function.

It is not that I’m supporting the bloggers without knowing what they wrote. It is easy for a writer to become a terrorist and even if an assumption is made that they wrote something that could and did hurt religious feelings, I think the due process of law in Bangladesh could have taken care of the matter. In any case, writing anything against anyone is no reason for violence and it certainly didn’t make these two bloggers legitimate targets.

Radical behaviour has become quite the norm, not only in one country but across the board. Fanaticism is rampant In India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, the entirety of Middle-East Asia, Northern Africa and Europe as well. Tolerance and co-habitation seem to be ideas of the past as different coloured flags are followed by the same weapons, murdering people with the same colour of blood.

Every day is 'Good Friday' in India

For those of you don’t know what Good Friday is, it is the day Jesus was hanged from a cross and killed. Just to make it clear, it isn’t literally a ‘Good’ Friday. The Vatican just thought it would be funny to confuse the rest of humanity, who, to this date, still very considerately text Christians ‘Happy Good Friday’. Well done Vatican, well done. I’m sure at least one Cardinal still tells this joke at the annual Papal dinner and the rest of them can’t stop chuckling.

However, the point is that Jesus died and the scriptures may say that he died for the sins of humanity and that it was foretold and that he had to pay the price to save mankind. This is what religion says. Now, if we just take it from the Roman and Jewish perspective, the man was stirring up trouble; Plain and simple. He was the whistle-blower who debunked old laws and gave the people something new to believe in. He spoke with an air of authority before those who weren’t used to people even looking straight at them. He defied almost all conventional rules and went even against the judicial system to protect adulteresses. He touched patients with leprosy and entered the house of a damned tax collector. That is why he had to die.

Shown here: Jesus whipping the crap out of money-changers in the temple of Jerusalem.
Image Courtesy: Google Images.

How many of you don’t know a person like this? How many of you haven’t seen stories of people in India trying to do good, punished for their deeds? Haven’t you seen whistle-blowers killed or jailed? Haven’t you seen honest officers transferred or killed? Haven’t you seen activists jailed or killed? Haven’t you seen leaders blown up for instigating revolutions?

Prophet – Sage – Leader – Activist – Son of God, whoever you are… if you go against those in power, you cannot live very long.

Jesus was a dissident of sorts. He strove to bring people around to the idea of thinking about what was right and not follow religious leaders blindly. It was the movie ‘Oh My God’, but playing out 2000 years back. Jesus spoke on law reform, commercialization of religion, better healthcare, and upper-class hypocrisy among other things. 

Son of God or not, the man Jesus was a revolutionary of his time and just like him, anyone who stands up to cry foul is shot down just like he was. The only difference is that Jesus was nailed to wood and today, revolutionaries and free thinkers are either buried in or burnt on wood.

Breaking Chains of Religious Hatred

One unfortunate result of this brilliant communication application called Whatsapp is that overzealous and people of a more religious mindset keep sending novenas, rosaries, prayers, deep cries for help from the depths of their hearts and sometimes messages that are deeply intolerant towards other religions. Sometimes, the last type of messages almost makes one believe they’re part of “ISIS Public Relations Group”. And this is not to single out any one religion; these types of messages come from across the board and are sometimes wrong on so many levels that sometimes an argument automatically erupts even though deep inside one knows that it’s like talking to a wall.

Image Courtesy: Google Images.

Apart from the harmless prayers and the propagation of religion, the things that really are disturbing are messages that call for a radical shift to stop the perceived persecution of a particular religious group whose traditions (read: holidays) are being eliminated by the government in conjunction with fringe elements who wish to convert the nation into one religion.

There is a strong call to action in these messages that is almost frightening to someone who understands the kind of repercussions that can accompany these messages once they are kept bombarding to the general public. It creates the kind of schism that can lead to a deep seated hatred in the long run and as someone who lives in a city that’s already seen brutal religious violence in the past, it is horrifying to read these messages and makes one wonder at how things have gone so bad.

Messages informing of attacks on places of worship and forceful conversions take a turn towards absolute outrage that has been unseen in India before. Allegations on television debate shows are one thing and the active radicalization of those who wish to live in peace is another. It only goes to reinforce the fact that religions are always going to be violent, however peaceful they might appear on the outside. This is not a comment on entire groups but radical elements that fester inside and are reactive to even minor infractions by others.

These are no better than the terrorists who age open war upon society. In fact, they are even more dangerous because they wage their guerrilla warfare through communication techniques and so subtly that the recipient might not even realize the shift in their mindsets until it is too late and sometimes not even then. In the media, this is known as the ‘magic bullet’ or the ‘hypodermic needle’ theory where the masses are fed an idea without their realization or recollection of the same.

It is important to see through such messages for what they really are before forwarding it to other people so as not to ‘break the chain’ of “prayer” as mentioned therein. This will not only stop the spread of hatred coming from diseased minds but also ensure the peaceful coexistence that India claims to be so proud of.

Got Married... Almost

That means I didn’t, relax Dad.

Valentine’s Day, the one day of the year that commemorates the commercialization of love. That’s so cute. The flowers, the cards, the balloons, the chocolates, the dinner, the sex and everything that comes with it. The day when lovers tend to love each other more than usual and use it to express it in 

various forms.

However, it is the individual choice of each and every person how they want to celebrate this day. Whatever my thought about this day, I respect that fact that others would like to enjoy it, and rightly so.

Sorry, sorry, sorry no… it is against INDIAN CULTURE! STOP! What is this entire western culture thing that you young people are doing? Not nice! This is not what we do. NO!

That’s what some radical fundamentalists in this cultured country of ours believe. And so they declared that any boy and girl seen together on this day would be married at that very instant. It’s as if they were roaming around with a pundit and marriage register around town!

Well OK but what about people of other religions you ask? What other religions they ask? There are other religions in India? Wrong! There is only one religion in India and everyone must get married in the customs of that religion. Period.

Image Courtesy: Google Images.

I was roaming around town the whole day with the gang which included ‘girls’ too. I did something even more blasphemous in the evening, I was hanging out with just one of my female friends and I kept telling her that we could be married at any moment if she hung around any longer. But kudos to her, she said that she didn’t give a rat’s arse about the “Keepers of Culture Corps” and even in the worst case scenario of us getting married; I would be a good bargain. She said that. Really! Come on, you can’t make this up!

Fortunately, nothing of that sort happened.

In your face punks!

Legitimate Targets

Two days back, the wife of a terrorist leader was captured by the Lebanese armed forces. This came three days after the wife and child of another terrorist leader were captured by the same army. Whether this says something about their intelligence source or is pure dumb luck is another matter; what came after these arrests is what is really amusing.

The latest arrest was of the wife of a regional al-Qaeda commander who is apparently very upset about this particular development unlike al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIS), another terrorist group, who didn’t even blink at the arrest of one of his wives and a child.

The al-Qaeda guy however, lost his cool and declared every woman, child and man in Lebanon legitimate targets for his terrorist operation. He demanded his spouse be released or the holding forces be ready to face his mighty wrath that would befall anyone within the blast radius of his ‘holy’ bombs.

Commander, with all due disgust, allow me to explain how you’re just stating something that is so passé that even the guy sending your message to the army is chuckling at your naivety.

Image Courtesy: Google Images.

Did you really not blow up innocent people before this? Have you never sent suicide bombers to blow up a busy marketplace or a place of religious worship before? Do you not already have the blood of innocents on your hands and on your soul? Have you not blackened your heart with the funeral fires of thousands of people who died because of your fight for ‘God’?

How can you say that these innocents are legitimate targets now? Was massacring them illegitimate before? Then why did you do it? Do you deny it? No? Why am I not surprised?

How do you expect God to be proud of you when you try to forward your vested interests in His name? You do not want people to fear God, you want them to fear you. You want to give reason to your madness and so you keep telling yourself, your mindless followers and the world that what you’re fighting for is a ‘holy war’ and not to make yourself king of the mountain.

You are no better than the ‘legitimate’ dictators, both, ruling and deposed. In fact, at some level they are better than you because they make no pretence of the fact that they want power. You cower behind your imaginary excuses and the lie atop the bodies of the slain with a ‘legitimate’ reason.

You talk of legitimacy? You have no right. Your wife is probably safer in the army’s hands than are the possibly hundreds or thousands of women that your brainwashed ‘holy warriors’ have raped and murdered to satisfy their ‘holy’ selves. You cannot speak of legitimacy. The very word is dishonoured by being present upon your tongue.

The only thing legitimate by human standards is for you and others like you to hang for your crimes against mankind.

The Battle for all Mankind

Months have passed since this blog saw a post on its virtual wall and still readers are hoping to see something worthwhile here. I am honoured. With this post, I’m hoping to be back on the Blogosphere with the same zeal that I entered into it with.

The world is going through a rough phase, a very rough one. Humanity as a whole today has the curse of battling two adversaries, both capable enough to wipe them out or corrupt them to a degree beyond which it would be virtually impossible to go back to life as it knows it. Both are also incapable of shaking the human spirit and will if world chooses to come together and fight the pincer attack that Mother Nature and human nature have encircled us with.

The two-pronged attack brought about by the pride of man and his greed is a test of human commitment and co-operation at the highest level. This test can either force us to withdraw into ourselves even more or come together to fight an enemy of the entire race.

The Ebola virus. Credit: Google Images.

On one hand is the dreaded virus that has affected more than 10,000 people and threatens to overrun the human race if not contained and decimated. On the other hand is the radical religious group that threaten to plunge the world into the third World War in order to establish its caliphate in the Middle-East. Between the both of them, they are capable enough to make sure that we are either decimated or at the very least, set back by decades in terms of advancement. And, if one were to use the other in propagating its means to achieve its ends, it’s going to be even more dangerous because if the virus has killed so many people in its natural form, it is unimaginable to think what havoc its weaponized form could cause.

And at this time, when international co-operation is in the best interests of the world, India, or rather its government has decided not to be part of any coalition battling these killers. Neither has it sent forces to battle the terrorist threat, nor has it sent medical personnel to battle the Ebola virus.

Proposed Islamic State Caliphate. Credit: Google Images.

The Islamic State’s influence has already reached India and it is just a matter of time before Ebola does and nobody who is Indian needs to be reminded of the fact that we are not in a position to contain an epidemic of such proportions, and we will not be in such a position for a very long time. Help begets help. If not out of compassion, the Indian government needs to send help to fight on both these fronts to make sure that they never reach our doorstep.

We are non-aligned in war, but need we be non-aligned in every international coalition? Can we not recognize the need to take active prevention measures before an action by the enemy forces a reaction that may be too late to prevent the loss of life that is inevitable in a nation such as ours?

For long we have remained the Switzerland of Asia but perhaps it is now time to recognize that if we want to be recognized as the South-Asian powerhouse we claim to be, we need to step up and do something to prove it. This is not a battle for the USA or Africa; this is the battle for mankind.

The Chosen One (Guest Post)

On the 17^th of January 2014, my one and only invitation to write a guest post for another blog materialized when my post, ‘The Power of Division in Religion’ was published on Namrota Mazumdar’s blog, Coffee Beans. Ever since then I've been pestering her to write a guest post for mine, not because I had to compensate for her asking me, but because it was only then that I had understood the concept of having a guest on the blog.

Namrota is one of the best bloggers I've read in this one year of blogging. She is one who puts all her energies into creating a post that is not only engaging but also which conveys all she wants to say in a limited number of words. I can safely say that she has never disappointed her readers, especially me; such a wordsmith of high calibre is she. I am privileged to have her on my blog and what with a post that has implications such that might horrify the best of you.

The Chosen One! Lucky Orphan…

By Namrota Mazumdar

Life duels within a little body that has not seen the world for say more than a couple of years is thrown in the dark and cold well of categories. Categories with tags like lineage, legitimacy, religion…etc. The reason behind such spiteful action is that the child has nobody in the world to call his or her own. The child is an orphan. And the couple who is there to choose a baby to make their own…to call their own have their preferences listed already.

They don’t have children, Mother Nature was harsh on them and for some medical reason they can’t conceive a baby. So, they are at an orphanage to pick a baby. Now when it’s in their hands to select their child, they put forward their tiny list.

No medical problems
Must belong to their religion (caste doesn't matter, they aren't sectarians; blessed souls)
Legitimate birth (How can a couple from a good educated family bring home a child born out of rape or out of wedlock?)

Not much they are asking, are they? God bless them!

Not everyone is so much privileged to have their choice materialize. Like the husband once mentioned to one of his kin, who thought otherwise about their list, we go to buy apples we pick the lovely red juicy ones. Handsome thought I must say, putting babies and apples side by side, the best fruit known to humanity…remember the saying, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”. How many of us get to choose our children, eh? Lucky couple! And what perfection personified parents the chosen one would be honored with. The child would grow up with their values and principle and carry forward the purity of humanity the foster parents preach and practice. Lucky child!

So, maybe it’s not cold and dark well nor the action is spiteful, is it? I take back my words and gracefully bow down to the couple and their likes. 

The Illusion of an Enlightened Populace

Election time is here again and though it will be my first time at casting the ballot, I’ve seen many an election since I started getting a sense what it’s all about. And I’ve seen a lot in these few years, it’s actually hard not to. One would have to be totally cut off from the real world to not notice what happens in India when the pan-Indian ‘Musical-Chair’ game begins.

I notice nothing different this time around. Maybe it’s early to say so, maybe it isn’t, but from what I’ve managed to gather from here and there, it seems that our beloved khadi-dhoti mantris are up to no good as usual. They haven’t changed their tactics one bit and what’s more, they’re all adopting the Gujarat Election campaign module – dividing people on communal lines. Yay! Good old religious divide; it never ceases to amaze me.

Image Courtesy: Google Images.

Now I know that India is a multi-cultural society that can never live in peace and harmony, which was the main reason to divide the sub-continent into two nations, but seriously, it is 2014, not 1950. One might think that living in such a large cauldron of cultures and traditions, the people might have decided to finally mingle together to make a Superpower-ed soup, but no, that hasn’t seemed to happen yet. And this is not my perception; it is that of our uneducated but sincerely experienced and seasoned politicians who still think that telling the masses that it was ‘only’ Muslim soldiers who won the Kargil war for India will ensure them the minority vote bank.

But that is just one example, allow me to state another. So this guy who rides a Bicycle in the most crime-ridden state of India, run by his son; says that rapists should not be hung because boys make mistakes. It is their ‘hot blood’ that gets to them I suppose. I don’t mean to malign the name of an entire state but when a politician campaigns against the death penalty for rapists in a state where it is wildly rampant, one begins to wonder about how this guy is planning to win an election. If you’re going to get votes by forgiving rapists, and the next time around God-forbid murderers, it does say something about the state you’re campaigning in.

And so it is that the largest democracy in the world goes to the polls amongst strong and decisive campaigning by everyone: Parties who do not have suitable candidates, parties who have only one candidate, parties who have too many candidates and parties whose candidates resign and sit on the road, because that’s what the common people of India do.

Best of luck India! Sigh!

Religion as a Brand

It was at a recent summit which I attended that I had a speaker mentioning that religion was rather like a ‘brand’ of the company God Ltd. He elaborated a little, not to inform or influence or hurt the public’s sentiments in any way, but to get us thinking about the same.

Image Courtesy: Google Images.

I admit, I for one was stumped when he first mentioned this metaphorical example but when I pondered over the subject, I did indeed realize that his words might have been true in a way. The various religions indeed are all different paths to the Almighty, the power in the heavens, Bhagwaan, Allah, the All Father, the Everlasting Flame and so on and so forth. That power may have different names but I like to believe that everything humankind worships is one single entity morphed into different forms by human imagination through time and culture.

Hence, by that logic of mine, different religions do seem to be the brands of a single corporation operating at different places according to one’s folklore and collective histories.

As I gave more thought to this theory, the more intrigued I got, even more so when I actually managed to pinpoint some things that had been said at the summit. There are parts of brands that are irrevocably linked with it, and the same seemed to be the pattern with religions. Here are some of them:

Logo:

Each religion seems to have its own logo. If the religion does not have a definitive one, individual deities certainly seem to do. In case of a monotheistic religion, the one deity also seems to be represented by a certain symbol that can, in my view, be considered a logo.

Jingles:

Each religion has its set of jingles if not one. These jingles may vary over time and language and across cultures if the religion is widespread, however, they do exist. They are also known as hymns and bhajans. It sometimes happen that these jingles may closely resemble those from other religions but that only seems to happen if two or more religions are interspersed within a common population.

Colour Schemes:

Each religion also does seem to have its own colour scheme, the colour worn by those who serve the deity. Of course, these are also bound to variation over time, space and cultural orientation. But still, a common colour scheme is usually apparent in organized religions, may they be large or small. It would be partial to name the colours of only a few religions, so abstaining would be the best option.

Brand Ambassadors:

Almost all religions have brand ambassadors in the form of prophets; the messenger who interprets the works of their deity and pushes everyone along to promote their religion as one does a brand. They have usually traveled places, helped people and persuaded people to follow their brand of God in the past, that’s where I draw my reference from.

Hence, I’ve come to accept the fact that religions are in fact different brands enticing people to choose their particular road to eternal salvation. That does not of course mean that any brand is better than the others. This post has not been written to hurt the religious sentiments of people of any religion. It’s also not to offend the Lord, obviously. It is just a harmless observation on situations presented in and around us. This post is a work of fiction and is supposed to be treated in the humorous way in which it was written.

Forced Colours

The pan-Indian festival of Holi is upon us. On this day, people play with colours, water and whatever colouring agents they can lay their hands on. Others celebrate it by beating their husbands with sticks. But usually, it is done with colours.

People in my part of India and especially my city are mad for Dhuleti. Actually Holi is the serious festival and Dhuleti is the fun one, so most of the people in my age group are more interested in the day after Holi. People stock up on colours days and weeks before the event. It is the day when everything is forgotten. Religions, caste, creed, age and sex go out of the window for this festival caters to one and all. No grudges are held, no limits are drawn, and it is a complete free-for-all. Even people who don’t know each other throw colours on each other and on passersby going down the road.

Image Courtesy: Google Images/Thomas Hawk.

But this joviality is also a problem. Sometimes it just goes overboard. People tend to do things they would never do normally. Things they would even abhor and not be seen doing in other circumstances. But the colour is their mask, their protection from the roving eyes of the world. They can do anything and everything; it is the day when Dr. Jekyll willingly sets Mr. Hyde free to do as he likes.

But not everyone wants to play with colours. Some have reasons and some don’t, but they know that they don’t want to play. And that is the problem. People just won’t accept the fact that someone doesn't like to or want to play with colours. It is a given that everyone has to compulsorily do so. Along with all the joviality and fun, people also seem to lose their common sense and sensibilities on that day. They don’t tend to think of the reasons why people might not want to join in the loads of fun that their having.

It never seems to occur to them that there may be a myriad of problems, physical, psychological and societal, that may prevent people from having themselves coloured like the canvas of a four year old.

Now, it may seem from above that I don’t like colours. Wrong! I love colours and till I finished school, this used to be my favourite festival, but then something painful happened in the festive week that scarred me. I can no longer celebrate this festival without horrible memories of that incident giving me nightmares. Just like me, I’m sure there will be others suffering a similar fate. People with reasons they cannot tell anyone, others who cannot express. People like us just tend to say “NO” and expect people to respect that decision. It seldom turns out that way.

I’m writing this post in the hope that all those who read it will be compassionate to those who do not or cannot play Holi. I do this in the hope that on that day, people enjoy, but don’t force people to enjoy. And I hope and pray that everyone has a safe Dhuleti.

Teaching OR Preaching?

[Missionary schools, of a number of religions operate in India with a view to bringing up the children of their particular religion with a religious learning along with state-approved education. The young ones are taught the ways of their creed and are helped along the way by the holy ones who think it is their duty to bring up the next generation with as much piety as the previous one.

But there is one problem, not all children in some of these schools are of the same religion. People from across the cultural spectrum send their children to missionary schools.

One tolerates because one HAS to, but one accepts because one WANTS to. If children are educated in the way that they develop as citizens who view their fellow men beyond the boundaries of religion, I believe the world would be a better place to live in.

Religion aside, it is widely accepted that sending one’s children to missionary schools ensures better manners, better language skills, higher moral values and above all, a better human being.

Note: This post is written on the basis of my observations only. It is based on my understanding of missionary schools, not of one but multiple religions. This post has not been written to hurt anyone’s religious sentiments. This is also not a post against any missionary institutions. Anything and everything debatable or hurtful written here is purely coincidental.]

[This is my article for the Youth Connect magazine. You can read the entire article here: Missionary Schools: Teaching Or Preaching?]

The Power of Division in Religion (Guest Post)

[The communal riots in the Central African Republic (C.A.R.) are not recent news. Muslims and Christians had been living in a state of unrest since its colonial power, France, granted them Independence.

Though we have seen it in India too, strained relations between Christians and Muslims seem a farce to me because it is widely believed that that the two religions along with Judaism had sprung from the same well. 

But today, Jews are fighting the Muslims, Muslims are fighting Christians and so on and so forth. 

Why?

One word: Power.]

[This post has been written as a guest post and you can read it on the Coffee Beans blog. This blog is authored by my very first blogger friend, Namrota Mazumdar.]

Of Archaic Traditions & Modern Culture

In almost every religious legend I've heard or read about, it is said or written that first a Man and a Woman were created into this world to procreate and populate this world. It is always been a belief that a man and a woman are the ideal pair and in the natural order of things, these two creatures should meet and propagate the human race. Well, one can understand the concept but what is it about that people are so against two people of the same sex loving each other? First of all, there is no further need to populate this world. Secondly, there is absolutely no record of any God mentioning that homosexuality is unnatural. On the other hand, I believe there are records and stories about homosexual love in great civilizations of the past.

History intrigues me and forces me to ponder upon what has changed so much in the near past which has led to the persecution of those who love.

Have we become more morally conscious as time passes by?

Have we a greater understanding of the workings of the mind of the higher being?

Have we knowledge of all what was meant to be?

And for that matter, who decides what is morally correct?

The decision by the Honourable Supreme Court of India to criminalize homosexuality by overturning the decision of the High Court of Delhi has left the liberals, the gay community and modern thinkers aghast and frustrated at the blatant disregard for the fundamental rights of Life, Liberty, Equality and Expression that constitute the foundation of the Constitution in this nation.

Image Courtesy: Google Images.

It is not only the Justice Department, but also the Parliament of this country that should be held in contempt of the basic human rights that the people of this country were promised at the time of Independence from the British Empire. The compilers of the Indian Constitution, in their futuristic vision, left provisions in the same in order that with changing times, outdated laws and their sections may be amended to accommodate the changing times and be compliant with the wishes of the people. But alas! The representatives of the people represent only a certain section of the population and totally ignore the rest.

Image Courtesy: Google Images.

Today, there are religious leaders who claim to be messengers of God, saying that homosexuality is against the Almighty. That in public interest (to save our souls), the country must not decriminalize homosexuality. There are also precedents in history where people have tried to control the people by this very fear.  

King John of England was forced to sign the Magna Carta, a charter by the Barons to limit the monarch’s powers which were held by divine right.

King Henry VIII of England challenged the divine right of the Pope and instituted the Church of England, where he became the Head of the Church.

Adolf Hitler, through a painting of Jesus in his resemblance, believed that he had divine right to rule the world. We know what happened there.

And so, surprisingly I have come to the conclusion that ancient human civilizations were far more advanced than given credit for. Modern culture has been doing nothing but alienating people and creating divisions in society. Go figure!

VolksWagon Durga

So it’s that time of the year again when people who are neutral to both parties, have to decide where to go; to Garba or to Durga Puja. I had to make such a decision this year because of two reasons, the first being that the majority of my friends are Bengalis and the other being that the place I used to go to watch Garba, cancelled at the last moment due to torrential rains (that came out of nowhere).

So, this was the year of the Mother Goddess and so we went around visiting all the Bengali associations organizing the puja, clicked a lot of photos, ate a lot of chicken and also prayed a lot wee bit.

One of the main places we visited continuously over the days was quite close to my place and one of my friends was involved in service at the alter there. The first thing we noticed as we entered the place was a stall containing two shiny new cars of a certain company that had played a major role in sponsoring the event. I was amused and so was my friend because we were hoping to test-ride that very car the previous day. How curious! An omen? Maybe… Anyhow, we proceeded within and payed our respects to the Mother Goddess after which turned directly to the awesome and highly over-priced food stalls that one usually finds at such occasions. This became a routine for us and every day we couldn't help but notice the cars right at the entrance. We held our tongues at the religious sentiment of our zealous friend but one day we simply couldn't restrain ourselves and we told her what we had envisioned for Durga Puja next year. Goddess Durga riding a car instead of the Lion and running over the Demon Mahisasur.

Her reaction? Well, let’s just say that if she were Cyclops, we’d be charred remains of human beings; that’s how she looked at us. But after a moment she looked towards the massive statue, glanced at the cars and burst out in a fit of laughter that assured us that we were not going to be kicked all the way home after all.

This incident however has drawn me to think of events and especially those of the religious kind, which have become increasingly more commercialized over the years. When we look at Navratri or Ganeshotsav or Durga Puja in this instance, I’ve felt that religion has not only become more politicized as we know, but even more commerce driven. Asking conglomerates to sponsor such events instead of collecting money from the religious; leasing out food stalls to restaurants and caterers instead of having community meals and putting up hoardings and banners at a place of religious worship are all signs that, according to me, is leading the youth away from not only religion, but also spirituality per se. when we youngsters see our God/s being sold out in such a way, we tend to wonder about the futility of it all. It is exactly contradictory to what is taught to us by way of religious education here in India.

How then can the older generation rightly claim that we, the youth, are not spiritual?

Don’t they see that they have lost us somewhere down the line?

But I think, on the brighter side, it is this very disillusionment that has allowed the youth today to think freely and that in my opinion is what is required today; to think fresh, anew, without the bonds of religion to hinder the progress of this nation.

Note: This post is not meant to be disrespectful to any religion, people or God/s. It is just my personal opinion on what I've observed in my vicinity. Any connection to people (living or dead) or Companies (and franchises) or Gods (and Goddesses) is merely coincidental and is not deliberately meant.

Divide and Rule?

It was a very pleasant day in my city yesterday. No sun, just a layer of clouds, a gentle breeze and a slight drizzle outdoors. All in all, I was having a pretty good day when my Dad asked me to watch the Newshour Debate with him. As everyone must be well aware, this show is hosted by the great and all powerful, people-empowering journalist, Arnav Goswani. That’s when my very peaceful day started going vertically downhill.

No, no, come on, it’s not always his fault. This time it was the panelists who made me jump out of my comfy sofa and scream at the very least three very horrible obscenities at the television screen before realizing that my mother was in the middle of her dinner. She looked at me sternly, but then she understood what was going on in my head and turned to face the television again.

This was nothing short of a miracle, that she hadn't said anything to my swearing at the dinner table. But she was worried and so were my Dad and I. What was happening on the debate was very unnerving. We listened in silent disgust as spokespersons from all the major political parties in India spoke eloquently in favour of the Caste system in India – in the 21^st century, mind you. They all backed up each other in saying that this revolting system was very old and ingrained into the minds of the people.

On the charge that was leveled against them of promoting caste based division to garner votes, they all refused vehemently but also urged that caste was there to stay, however evolved India would get and whatever ruling the Supreme court made. One of the panelists, I believe said:

“Jaati kabhi Jaati nahi” which means, “Caste never goes away”.

Today, every party claims to be secular. The ones who demolish mosques, the ones who burn churches, the ones who instigate the rivalries between groups, the ones who promote inter-caste violence and those who indulge in caste politics. Every Politician today is supposedly secular but the Public is not. That is what the leaders of the people have to say. Apparently, it is not they who are playing caste politics, it is the people, who are stupid and divide themselves among castes.

I’m not saying that they are completely to blame, nor am I saying that they are solely to be blamed. After all, we are all smart enough to gauge what is right and wrong. We have the ability to think and evaluate what is best for ourselves and our country.

Why then do we allow such opportunistic politicians take advantage of our gross stupidity in broad daylight?

Why then do we not caste our vote for something better?

Why not vote for results in development rather than our own group or caste or religion or sect?

Why bring down the future of the country for selfish motives?

Why not understand for once, this ‘Game of Thrones’?

These are the questions that haunt me as I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling… fearing for my country and my people.


I had written a post along the similar lines on the matter of caste being in the forefront of people's imagination. You can read it here.