Stimulated by an article in the OP-ED page Hindu, my thoughts navigated to revolutionise d myopian attitude with which i viewed d "past". Past that dates back to centuries old, d past that passed onn the legacy of Myths & Legends wrapped wid a "fragile reasoning". A few minutes of thought tarnished the so-called "Decade long cherished Y's and Y'nots" posed to my mom, grandma and to all those who tried to defend the tradition.
Myths that have been reduced to the status of fairy tales, Legends that were supposed to be mystique are now mere thoughts that has been subjected to humiliation. The rich tradition, culture of the past has been estranged 'n the references from which is now ruled out as anachronistic 'n gibberish. Now lemme tel you why I came to such dramatic conclusions.
First of all lemme justify the title, which in many ways is the answer to my present attitude of the past (Many of my view points may be from a hindu-perspective bcz i have always wondered, criticised many of the belief'z tht haunted me as to y ppl believe such unreasonable rubbish). Analyzing a few facts tht everyone of us know from history texts or from elzwer(dose untolerable onez)...
The 4-caste system followed extensively.
Why women had to be secluded to suchhan extent 'n bestowed below a man.
Ghandhari gave birth to 100 sons (how- yu all know!!).
d concept of hell 'n heaven... 'n lotzz many.. this wil be an endless list...
'n onna personal note- how cud arranged marriages ever work!!(honestly, i've wondered for ages!!)
Now on my way to vindicate d sudden twistzz in my belief'z via...
Genetics-- genes get passed on to d offsprings. Environment is also another factor that shapes up the characteristics of a person. So a generation of ppl with similar traits 'n the environment that is presented to the child is apt for him to posess similar characteristics of the previous generation. In noway am I advocating or justifying the system to the core. But, somewhere i feel that it wasnt suchha nonsense. It bore some logic somewhere that people of that age were aware of such concepts. This is precisely what i'm trying to bring into d spot-light- "People of such civilizations had an insight by which they attempted to make societies simpler to manage, reducing the complexities".
Next, culturing a sperm and an egg in the rite environment s enough to giv rise to 100 offsprings. Referencing again- people of tht "yuga" juz did that. Next, My 19 yearz of experience wid d 'XX' chromosome subtly but strongly indicates me that women feel secure 'n happy(in deir deeper SELF ultimately) when their spouses win over them(howsoever intelligent & a feminist she might be). Its this feeling of accepting d man above her HAS been throughly used upon by generations till now!!
Another beautiful concept of evolution 'n Adaptation- I now seem to attribute reasons for happenings wid a note tht-- its juz evolution!! simple as it might seem!! But its absolute truth!! Proving pragmatically-- y do yu think social networking sites hav sprown up soo much lately!! bcz More ppl use it- throng for suchha place to get themselves public- d present society accepts it, Social networking has survived 'n wil still evolve. Birds evolved from Reptiles to suit their needs 'n to adapt to d changing situationz. Everyone of us evolve over a period of time attempting to get in sync wid the changing timezz.
Finally, "pyar vaqth se nahi, ussesa kiya jatha hain jissa vaqth guzarthe hain" - d defining dialogue in salaam-e-ishq. Its this magic that unites two strangers who get into d most beautiful institution called marriage wherein love blossoms unknowingly, but with all the genuineness 'n warmth.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
The Disguised Treasure
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4 comments:
Hmmm.. ur post reminds me of the famous book angels & demons... the close connection between religion,belief, myth and science.. infact believe it or not even the "soul concept" has a scientific explanation.. anyway nice analysis there... to be frank i dint expect a comp sci engineer to come up with this load of bio stuff.. other things which were news to me were... I dint know u knew hindi.. and the 2nd.. i dint know u were against arranged marriages... (ok i cud comment sumthing here... but nevermind) :-) :-)
actually wanted to include d soul concept, but d fear of getting too vague wid ma xplanationz stopped me!!
Nice one...very interesting...tradition has itz grassroots in common sense..Though i dint get ur view regarding the caste system,clearly.I guess the system made the society easier to manage,back then,but clutching onto it now is foolishness.Some things gotta change,and change for the best
That was a profound read. My response might be a bit long and boring but i dont want to take anything away from your post :) Just my 2 cents ...
(What was the article topic? could you find it in the online Hindu archives and link it here, I sure we would want to read it!)
Reading your post I realise you talk about so many social issues of the hindu society in India, but in a very veiled manner. Perhaps you think its strange to even think about these things in today times and perhaps you are not sure how your readers(the pseudo-seculars) will respond.
The 4 Caste system
When you quoted "People of such civilizations had an insight by which they attempted to make societies simpler to manage, reducing the complexities". it sent me thinking too. Im of the belief that man is "borne" his "nature" while he is still in his mothers womb. When a child is born, he has not only had 9 months of physical development but also 9 months of mental development! I have many reasons to support this but ill only mention two. From mythology: How abhimanyu remembered arjun talking about the secret of the 7 chakraviews to draupadi while he was still in womb. From real life: Two newborns why does one cry so much, the other does not. One turns out to be shy, the other would readily goto anyones arms. Why one likes to play with cars, while other builds paper planes. All these are signs have deeper meanings and reveal about a person. Ofcourse thats not all, man constantly attempts to refine and redefine what he is over the 90 years of post-birth he has to live through!
So I think caste system is a valid social concept which needed to be evolved or phased out. But it was abused over the years in the hands of higher castes which slowly and steadily changed the way people thought about various professions. Lot more needs to be said, maybe when we meet in person. Suffice to say i believe "Man is above everything else and his actions and life should be guided of him alone"
On 2nd tier status of women in India Society
Well this is a slippery slope and more often than not Ive been totally misunderstood, but hey what the hell! I think women today are increasingly beginning to question their status in society. In todays knowledge powered era it is not the physically strong who dominates. But think of those times without internet and times of hunters and farmers. Women have never had 2nd tier status, just different responsibilities. Its just men like to think that they do a tougher job(which ofcourse is wrong)and being dominating he tries to enforce this thinking onto women. But this is not the case in countless societies in india where women traditionally command supreme power and respect. The swayamvar practice is the ultimate testament of how much venerated a womans acceptance was in those times.
On arranged marriages
How could they possibly work!? Now think Just how could they possibly working all this time?
This generation has been made to believe by movies and corporations/media in the beautiful concept "somewhere someone and one special someone is made for you" and we try to wander endlessly trying to find him/her. I think is all bullshit. There is something called love, I AGREE. But attraction between man and women is both physical and emotional, the former being the more dominating element. Pheromones(your personal signature odour) like in all living beings(from whales to insects) is one of the major factors directing attraction. Think of how a man loses himself in a womans hairs, why kissing lips works more than any other region of human body. And here lies my argument that social networking today is not evolution, its a turn for the worse. Its unnatural to have personal relationships over the internet. Close your eyes, if your loved one passes by you, you will know. Science says its ur NOSE, thats the key. Funny?
Pyar and all beautiful concepts come after you enter the realms of the most primitive instincts which is common to millions of species(hence irrefutable). So i think society and behavior are all just garbs which we change over generations and hence its rather futile to talk over them. Basically we are just animals with few extra features.
I may sound cold, but when im not diving into the depths of the human psyche, I too am swayed by the warmth of relationships. My beliefs help me work around the equal measure of pain and restlessness that comes with the joy of having various human relationships that we have.
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