Tuesday, November 22
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. ~Attributed to Harry S. Truman
Yep our very own BMTC ( Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation ) previously known as BTS has been applauded for its amazing service by a few European countries. I just hope the people who applauded the system never get to travel in one of our buses. It’s a government run agency as compared to other districts in Karnataka, where the bus service has been privatized.
Last weekend when I was in Mangalore, we decided to visit the beach and watch the sunset. The sea shore was a mere 20 kms from my cousin's residence and we had to catch the local private bus. The first thing that strikes you when you are in Mangalore is the roads. They are so narrow .I kept pointing this out to my cousin and he just shrugged his shoulders. I doubt if the one way streets in Bangalore are this narrow. ( Vc shakes his head.. these Mangaloreans are crazy). The frequency of these private buses is commendable. As it was a Sunday all the buses were empty and I was glad to have found a window seat. Surprise .. there were no glass panes in the windows. The ticket prices were pretty cheap and I was astonished to know that it costed Rs 4 for a 20 km ride? In Bangalore its Rs 10, sigh* the price we pay for development, which of course is not visible. The competition to pickup passengers is quite fierce in this part of the country .They have their own rules and one of them is “Bus number 1 should immediately move on when bus number 2 approaches the bus-stop “. I also noticed that the buses had weird Christian names some were just plain unpronounceable. All said and done Mangalore has an amazing transport service.
We reached the seashore in 20 minutes with just a few stops, Unlike Bangalore where we have a bustop every 2 kms, in Mangalore its like 5 kms.According to my cousin Bro.. people in Mangalore like to walk !! ( When he said this he had this sly smile on his face ... was he making fun of us, Bangaloreans ? Grr) .
We were just in time to see the Sun call it a day ..and then the moon immerged from the clouds accompanied by Venus and Mars...The small shipping boats bobbling up and down were a treat to watch.
At that magical moment all I wanted was an Alistair MacLean novel and good old Kenny G playing in the background...My cousin on the other hand pointed out that the atmosphere was just right for meditation . Can you believe that !!
Continuing with the weird and fascinating Mangalore trip , I should mention that there are 2 types of rice prepared here for dialy consumption. One is the white rice which we all are familiar with ,the second one is called boiled rice , its reddish in color and the grains are much bigger than the white rice. Somehow my relatives never allowed me to eat the boiled rice .It seems it makes you fat and has no taste. We do add this to our idli and dosa batter.
As I couldn't visit any hotels I won't be able to comment on them, but I do know that hotels in Mangalore have the best Gadbad's. It’s an ice-cream which has numerous layers of fruits, nuts and icecream.They serve it in tall glasses and give you a loooong spoon.
The weather condition in my native is weird , though I loved the cool breeze in the mornings and evenings , the afternoon weather is hot sticky and humid . If you want to lose weight go stay in a coastal town.
Oh I almost forgot !!. When we were having a peaceful time on the seashore watching little kids trying to catch red crabs , I casually asked my cousin :
Me : Hey Nanda , what is the reason that the priests in your temple insist that we remove our shirts when we enter to offer our prayers? Does it have to do with the caste system ? Are they trying to find out if the devotee is a Brahmin by looking at the sacred thread ? Will he be given special treatment ?
He : Where do you come up with these questions? ( He smiled) My answer to your question would be that regardless of what your status ,caste or creed is or whether you are wearing a shirt worth Rs 200 or a Louis Philippe shirt worth Rs 2000, when you stand before God , we are all equal. What are we, but a mere mortal.
Me: If we Indians are so secular and embrace all other religions why wasn't Sonia Gandhi allowed to enter the Guruvayur temple ?
He : Where did this one come from ? I believe it was politically motivated.
Me: Nope not satisfied. But tell me Mangalore has the biggest Mosque in south Karnataka and has the best colleges which are incidentally run by Christian missionaries. Has there ever been any tension or communal violence between the Hindus ,(who I must point out support the Communist party )Muslims and the Christians ?
He: (Shakes his head and I think he said : this guy is crazy ) No , we are peace loving people and dislike violence of any kind.
All this in just 2 days of traveling ? I think I would have written a book if I had stayed for a month :) .
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Buses remind me...
A guy boarded a bus in Bihar to go to Bhagalpur. He asks a person standin next to the bus.
Guy: "bhai, ye bus bhagalpur jaati hai na?" Man replies "Haan ji" The guy not too sure goes to see the front of the bus and.. finds an old bent board that says 'jabhalpur'. Satisfied he gets into the bus and finds a seat. Few minutes pass, and he casually asks his neighbor "Aap jabhalpur ja rahe hai?" The man says "Nahi, Aurangabaad" He is aghast. He turns around and asks the guy sittin in the seat behind him. And the back-seat man replies "Jabhalpur" He asks another and that person says "aurangabaad".Now he is confused..
So he hurriedly gets down and finds the conductor..and asks.."bhaisaab, ye bus jabhalpur jaata hai?"
The conductor replies "Aap andar baitho! abhi 5 minute mei tai ho jayega!" Then he shouts " Jabhalpur jaane wale haath uthao! aurangabad jaane wale haath uthao!Nagpur jaane wale haath uthao!"
Now tats democracy in Bihar! So imagine how much u wud hav learnt in 2 hours travel in bihar...
oh yeah, the icecreams :)...one gadbad stall was right in our office cafeteria in mangalore :)...that was fun :D...as for buses without windows, hmmm a practical solution to overcome the humidity...kind of AC, we used to call then ;)...roads aren't that wide, but lots of roads are built using concrete instead of bitumen, which is pretty good for a city.
hmmm...religious customs ?....err...i was born an atheist, religion changed me ;), and now i am confused...i'll be quiet :D
Actually, Vc, I can answer your question about equality and secularism.
In the old days, the wise people wanted to devise a way of organizing society for the maximum prosperity of the whole. You see, you can't have all farmers and artisans in the society; you need traders and scholars and rulers. This is the origin of the caste system.
However, the caste system degenerated into tightly drawn lines, with a "hierarchy", and the ones with more material wealth held the ones with less wealth in disdain. You can see that this is evil, and also harmful for society in the long run.
The solution, of course, is in the spiritual. We have a number of customs to remind us of our equality before God: the example that you mentioned in this post is one. Another is wearing Vibhoodhi and Kumkum: these signify to us that we are all of the same blood while we live, and we will all be ash when we die. Without exception and without stratification. We are all equal before God. We can all achieve Moksha and escape the cycle of death and rebirth, by good actions. Hence, you see, it is what you do within the restrictions of your station that actually matter, and not the station itself.
Somewhere down the line, people started forgetting the significance of the customs and the symbols, and they just continued following them blindly. Sonia Gandhi was not allowed into that temple because the people who take such decisions are ignorant of our own culture and tradition of equality for all religions and nations. Religions like Christianity may assign derogatory terms ("pagan") for people of other religions or beliefs, but Hinduism does not.
there is plenty of violence in Mangalore... remember surathkal riots in 1997? declared curfew for 3 days... apart from communal violence, it is haven for the mafia (read dubai mafia)... petty gang wars are very common... the most commonly used phrases are probably "peTTig barpanA?" "gate-da pidaay balla... bokka toopE!" atleast those were the first sentences i learnt :D
that said, mangalore is a fun place. sometimes feels like a city with a small town mentality, but fun nevertheless.
S
Div : Thank you for sharing that joke !! Have you been to Bihar too?
You amaze me every time I read your comments.! Democracy is a bit crazy at times ..
Jagadish dude: If you want to talk about God and " all the other hmm things" :) you have landed in the right place. My young friends Sp and Kirthi will throw light on that subject, currently Sp's blog is filled with some amazing stuff.. Check SP's ( Prashanth) comment on the caste system....
Sp : You took the words out of my mouth ( keyboard actually ) . Thank you for that amazing explanation .What are your thoughts on idol worship ? I believe during the Rig Veda , people worshipped nature and not idols. How did this transformation occur ? True we follow numerous customs without even knowing the significance of it….
Soumya : Isn't that you ? KaDenaBeNki ? "peTTig barpanA?" "gate-da pidaay balla... bokka toopE!" That was so funny ...I believe that is the first sentence in Tulu I have read on the net !! . Do you converse in " tulu " ?
Oh yes I do agree with the Dubai Mafia influence...hmm .. maybe I should ask my cousin to explain further....
Interesting....very interesting ….
Vc, watever made u separate idol worship and Nature worship, when i say they are all the same.
Initially, ppl who lived worshipped Nature and its forms. This is called Sanadhana Dharma. These ppl worshipped Sun, Nature, Animals, Trees.. everything. Were there any temples during this time? No. becase these ppl were essentially nomads. They never stayed in one place. But, as they become more learned and culture started to take its form..they learnt to cook food instead of going in search for it. That is when colonies started forming.If u wud just notice, every single village, town (no matter how small it is) has a temple. Infact, it is just the other way around. Every single temple was built first, and the colony was established around it! When ppl gathered together to settle down in a colony, they first built the temple.
What do u notice the first thing abt any temple? It is vast, with huge walls. There is an outer boundary and then an inner boundary after which the real shrine is found.
In olden times, temple had better architecture than any home, because it was supposed to be the main social place for the folk! Ppl gathered in temple for all festivals. At times of calamity like floods, ppl took refuge inside the temple. It was big and it cud hold all the ppl of that village! It was like a fort! The belief that God protects us is what led to idols kept in this temple. If u notice ur grandma making savories for puja, u see her take a small block of da paste and make a triangular formation on the stove. Then she starts cooking! What is the concept? We believe nothin starts witout God's blessings. Same goes to temples. U build houses in a colony, not before building one for God.
-divster
Now, why the need of havin idols worshipped in temples, when we worship nature?
I already told u y having a form of God in temples was important. All idols r only carryin concept. Was ther sumthing special abt that stone? Yes, there is.
Idols are made out of "Panchaulagam" (five metals) The main three are gold, silver, copper.. and the rest two i dun remember, but it changes frm temple to temple. The idol was made and kept inside the shrine by chanting mantras. This is to invoke the God, who is everywhere in everywhere form, to also be in this form. Nowadays, idols r made out of stone. But, the power of the mantras r such that the stone after its kept in shrine is considered holy. The idols also had 'abhishekams'. Wat for? It was to have the mixture of all that milk, coconutwater, curd etc pass thrugh the five-metal-bound idol.. tats supposed to hav immense nutrients to it. U can notice in sum temples the abhishek water is sweet, sum a bit salty n so on.
As culture developed, just walkin out and prayin to Nature with all the distractions around was not possible. The meditation atmosphere was no longer present in the houses. So, the temple was the main meditation centre! We all can study sittin at home, but now we have schools and institutions. Why? Bcause studying there in that atmosphere creates the mood. Same concept. Now doctors ask u to do yoga, to take mornin and evening walks. Hinduism never preached this. It was understood to visit temples in mornin and evening. It was understood to do the namaskaram on temple premises (as part of yoga).
No, the temple is not just built for the sake of 'worship' It was built for the society! Jus like Hinduism is referred to as a way of life, temples also play a part in our lifestyle!
-divster
No temple was started with rules and regulations. As colonies developed and muslim kings took over, muslims arrived. Then later on Christians. I believe, for sure ther must hav been sum kind of hassles which pushed the ppl of the temple to put up rules and regulations..(for the sake of safety). Each temple has its own rules and regulations (based on what circumstances it had to face..)
Now, comin to ur post as to why some temples in karnatak and kerala (that were quite old) regained the customs of men removin their shirts. See, i dont know the real meanin behind it. But, here's a gud way to look at it.
If u guys know how namaskarams r done by men and women, then u do notice that its different. Men were told to lie fully on the ground and his chest and forehead shud touch the floor. For his chest to touch the floor, he has to remove the shirt. This is how the old custom started.
While women were told to bend down and touch only their forehead to the ground. Never shud the chest or the womb touch the ground. Both were considered very sacred due to the motherly meaning. The womb is often referred to as 'garbam'. If u notice, all temples hav this very most inner room where the idol is kept, and that room is called 'garba-graham'(graham=house). So u see, women were thought of as quite sacred and holy then.
:) I know i had to write 3 posts for this. But, i hope it wasnt too much info. Sorry abt that!
-divster
Wow !! you just took a class on hindu temples :). Maybe you can throw somemorelight on the Triangular concept..
Wait a min i found a few loop holes in your theory ...
You will do no such thing , young lady !!
Oye yahan kya ho raha hai..Vc's blog has gone serious. Now that was something I would never have expected in this millennium.
hehe! i sensed vc gettin romantic these days.. so i decided to send him in this serious purgatory ride to keep his mind occupied.
im so thoughtful aint i?(a bit too thoughtful at da moment. :P)
(blushes red)
**stares at the damage done to vc's blog**
shakes head..sigh
OMG. Just what did u say? Vc romantic? Holy Yorkshire Rippers!!!
hmm...some stuff written by prashant makes sense. However, "pagan" is not a derogatory term, but is used with a negative connotation.
Divster has enthusiastically explained a lot of stuff. hmmm, clears a lot things.
However, when i said i am a little confused, i did not mean that i have a problem with customs/religion. I guess i have deliberated on it quite a bit myself, and have more or less realized that customs overtime tend to get absorbed as part of the religion. Hence religion to a great extent is a mixture of preachings, customs and time. questioning the verasity of these customs could help one understand it better, but following a custom as part of one's religion is what i term the 'time effect'.
for example, venturing out on the day of a solar eclipse is not well taken as per our customs. in reality it was formed probably because people dont accidently look at the sun, which could cause damage to their eyes.
Often we misinterpret customs to blind beliefs. I see it as a way to protect ourselves from the unknown. some could look outrightly ridiculous, but unless we carefully try to understand what the real meaning is, we'll never know what its purpose is..
prashant is right on the caste stuff he has mentioned, considering that chanakya was a proponent of the caste system. then again people miscontrued it over time and used it to discriminate people. Basically dignity of labor sadly took the back seat somewhere down the line.
My belief in god does not extend beyond the limits of the earth itself, so religion has no chance anyway in the scheme of things. I cannot imagine God is THE protector, since the question of God's existence is as mysterious as our's itself. How did the universe come into being in the first place ? yada yada yada...call me an atheist, deep inside all of us are !
My view is that we'll never know the real meaning of a given custom until we force ourself to understand it, for in the big picture, we are but an unknown entity in the universe - the last thing we can say we know all about.
A wise man once said "Do not question the existence of god!"
..that's because he did that all his life and didnt find an answer, so asked us to go about our work instead of the thankless pursuit.
What are my thoughts on idol worship? Well.... I have my thoughts, but I'm not sure how many people will agree with me here...
Faith, by definition, does not have form. Yet, as human beings, we all *need* a symbol to give form to our faiths - kind of an abstract way of bringing it into tangible reality. You can explain the 3 facets of God: Creator, Protector, Destroyer to people, but people will not worship them or even understand them unless you give them form. Idol worship is essentially a means of teaching spirituality to the masses. They need something they can identify with, when they pray to Lord Vishnu for protection.
The other part of it is Divya's explanation of temples. The idol gives perceptible sanctification to the temple. As the house of the idol, a temple becomes the house of God for the people. Hence it becomes a place where they can find solace.... and lots of other things. If you tell people that God is everywhere and you can find solace by just praying, no matter where you are, it simply doesn't work that well.
Yet another part of it is what my Mother calls "vibrations". Have you ever felt a subtle change wash over you when you enter a temple premises? Do you feel a sense of calm and detachment, which is harder to find elsewhere? Have you ever entered a temple grappling with problems, but left with a sense of acceptance? And all this, in spite of the fact that you absolutely don't believe in God, leave alone Hinduism. My Mom says that all the rituals for the sanctification of the idols have a physical significance in bestowing an aura. The repeated prayers and rituals performed at the temple keeps up the strength of the aura. It is believed that it also helps in healing. Of course, there is no proof for any of this, but I wouldn't be too quick to discount it as nonsense. Somethings are to be experienced, to be believed... until then, be open minded.
The changeover from nature worship to idol worship is actually the herald of a completely different phenomenon - the lessening of our awe for the elements. In the olden days, man was at the mercy of the elements. Once he could build good shelters from the rain and the wind, and learnt to tame fire, etc, worship of the elements became relatively less important. You will notice that there are no idols representing Agni, Vayu, etc. Thats because we already know their form.
The other aspect of it, Divya has explained.
I know that people will have a lot of objections to this stuff, but they just happen to be my opinions at this point of time, and are subject to change.
Vc ignores the comments where he is accused of being Romantic by the Yorkshire Rippers. Wait a second Kirthi how do you know they were Holy ?? eh how how ?
I believe I have ruffled a few feathers here :) lalal lallallaaaaaaaaa
J : I still remember my granny asking me or rather sternly warning me against venturing out during the solar eclipse.I believe the scientific reason would be the harmful UV rays emitted by the Sun and the bacteria .Go figure that out :) and of course losing your sight trying to watch the "Diamond ring" , without suitable goggles is the other reason.
But Jagadish ,ondu chikka doubt kanappa, why do you keep pointing to the fact that you are an atheist :) No offence intended.Kirthi says I’m an agnostic hah !!
By the way your blog " My Melee "which simply translates to "About myself" is funny and the situations are just too good.I should point out that your Road Ro(a)meo is my favorite post and I'm sure you won't be surprised that your famous post "IT is not like that ! "....yavaag foreign ge ?" came to me via a forward mail.( long back).Looking forward to more such interactions :)
Elaborating on Sp's views : The idol is just a symbol, a form, with which the mind can be connected and concentrated upon. Besides idol worship gives immense freedom to an individual to worship God in his own way. This gels well with the true traditions of Hinduism which gives unlimited choice to its followers to approach God in whatever form they choose to worship Him. Don't you think praying to an idol lets you concentrate completely in one single direction ?
Oh I completely agree with the " vibrations " and "auras" that we feel in temples . Hey wait a min but I felt that when I entered a church recently.hmm.. maybe it was because of the childhood memories, the brightly lit candles and the huge empty hall.How do you explain that ? Is it only in Hindu temples or will we feel the subtle change in any holy place of worship, like a mosque ?
( Psst SP feeling Patriotic? You do remember we had a wager where I said that you would pen or rather type a post on Patriotism )
Your explanation on the vermilion and the ash, Div's gyan on the "namaskarams" v v interesting .. I wonder why I never thought of them in those terms.. Vc shakes his head.
Your disclaimer :) haha ... By the way why would people object to your thoughts ? eh ?
Don’t worry Ketaki won’t drop by my blog.( uhahahahaa)
Oh now all my office colleagues are sending me mails on " spiritualism and finding the inner GOD " .. Can you believe it ?
Quoting from the Gita :Sri Krishna says “Gataasoon agataasoon cha na anushochanthi panditaah” – Wise never worry about things which come & go (meaning temporary things or illusory things of the illusory world).
How apt is the title of the blog "In the spider-web of facts, many a truth is strangled." .
:D...hmmm, no no i am not an atheist...i just believe selectively :D....
yeah, i tend to be agnostic too, though i have favorites among gods :)....so that makes it two :D..
thanks for the comments on my posts....glad u liked the road ro(a)meo post :D...i haven't improved in my navigation skills yet, but at least i tend not to lose my way more often :D....yeah the other post created some stir...unluckily for me my cousin got a copy too :(...uncle came running to me and took me to task :D
Hey, hold it, I never said anything patriotic!! This is slander! Blasphemy!
Did you say the K name? (SP peers around cautiously)
I've heard that quote before *sigh* wish I could learn sanskrit again... been more than 7 years since I studied sanskrit.
Sp its Samskritha ( rama rama andavaaaa ) che che!!
So when can i expect the post on P ? what's with you and Ketaki ...she's such a doll isn't she ?( Vc gives a furtive smile )
J :enjoy madi...
uhahah..nice try ..
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