Americans do some things very differently!

I have lived in the homes of at least 25 American families & it still amazes me how certain things are done very differently in USA (as compared to us in India).

[1] Electric switches in that country need to be pushed "up" to be switched ON [2] the traffic moves on the right side of the road [3] stepneys (spare tyres) in the cars are smaller than the other four tyres [4] almost all drivers will STOP & then proceed at intersections even when they can see nobody coming in from any direction [5] people will smilingly wave their hands at perfect strangers [6] they will use the Internet to find out any & every thing including the time at which the next city bus will arrive in front of their house situated on one of those non-descript streets [7] pedestrians can themselves switch on the "red" traffic light before crossing the road [8] every floor of a hotel has an ice cube machine - the cubes are copiously used [9] one drinks water straight from the tap - in hotels one is advised to do so from the tap in the wash basin -something which Indians can never digest [10] ordinary corn flakes are eaten without sugar [11] people actually believe in weather forecasts and act accordingly [12] the country uses FPS (ounces, pounds, miles, Fahrenheit) system even today [13] handicapped people can automatically get into and out of city buses sitting on their wheelchairs (with a mechanised platform that moves in and out of the bus and which is controlled by the driver through an electric switch) [14] city buses and some trains have a special facility to load bicycles inside or in a rack in the front of the bus [15] when new born babies are transported back home from the hospital, the parents have to buy a special seat and learn how to strap the baby inside that - parents are actually not allowed to carry the baby home without the nurse certifying that they are adept at this [16] presidential election results in a particular state are declared even when voters in another part of the country are yet to vote [17] public libraries lend latest books and CDs absolutely free of cost- you just have to produce a proof of residence.

All these however pale into insignificance compared to the system that is prevalent to handle death in a family. I once stayed in the house of a "funeral director" and what I learnt there remains etched in my memory - so different it is to what we are used to...

(1) One has to obtain a licence to function as a funeral director and have enough working space in the office to embalm and store dead bodies in a mini - morgue (refrigerated facility).

(2) A funeral director is like a "turn key" service provider who takes care of everything related to a funeral like (a) booking a burial place; (b) selling coffins and inside linen - these are available at widely differing price according to the quality and workmanship; (c) transporting the dead body from the place of death (usually a hospital) to his office; (d) carrying out the functions of a mortician (beautifying dead bodies);(e) arranging the funeral procession including the priest; (f) arranging the meal that follows the funeral, and other related activities.

(3) Given the family system prevalent in USA, an old couple usually approaches a funeral director to sort of do an "advance booking" for their own deaths. They pay the necessary charges to ensure that somebody (remember their sons and daughters are not staying with them) starts all processes after their death. I was told that the number of cremations in USA is increasing and therefore the funeral director also has to offer this facility to his clients and this includes handing back the urn containing the ashes of the deceased.

(4) Contrary to what we do, a dead body is not brought to the residence of the concerned person (once again probably because there is no one at home). The funeral director's work really starts from here. On receiving information, he arranges for the body to be picked up and brings it to his mini morgue where it is embalmed for long preservation.

(5) Close relatives are then contacted to fix a suitable date for the funeral. My "funeral director host" told me of a peculiar case when one of the dead person's sons was out of America on a vacation with his family and wanted the funeral to be fixed only after about 15 days because he did not want to abort his vacation. I could not think of anything even remotely similar to what happens in India. The mini-morgue is also necessary to take care of such situations

(6) The family of the dead person then sends his or her best clothes to the funeral directors' office so that the dead person can be made to look at his best. The mortician now takes over and beautifies the dead person (lipstick, rouge, face - powder, hair neatly combed, a three piece suit, necktie, etc). All this has to be ready well before the funeral.

(7) The funeral director then makes all arrangements for the funeral procession on the decided date - he provides the special van to carry the dead body in the coffin. The job is really completed when the coffin is finally lowered into the grave.

(8) The meal that follows brings the whole process to its conclusion.


I am not sure if anyone of us would like to die in USA.

Can suicidal terrorists ever be controlled effectively?

I watched (on TV) the events of last week at Mumbai with increasing disbelief, horror and a sense of doom until I was engulfed with helpless depression. I hated the shrill tone of the "breaking news - reader" but couldn't stay away from it. I've never felt more guilty - having dinner while watching TV. Try and imagine a guy bursting through the door of
your dining room and spraying everyone with bullets - even the thought is terrifying.

A week later, everyone including my vegetable vendor (सब्जीवाला ) seems to have become an expert on how terrorists could be contained. Solutions to the present problems are being formulated at paan -kiosks (पानठेला ) in about five minutes. There is "sound" advice for everyone - Obama, Manmohan Singh, Zardari, Osama, Vilasrao, both the Patils and for anyone else who wanted it. Much before it was published, our cook told us how some hidden RDX had still not been located and how 3 or 4 terrorists had still not been accounted for and how the whole drama could be repeated. Reams are of course being written by experts and simpletons alike on how this was a systemic failure and about actions that needed to be taken to prevent a recurrence.

Can any nation stop suicidal terrorists bent upon creating mayhem - I don't think so! In hindsight, it is easy to say that all warnings should have been heeded. Most of us would have protested, had each "red alert" (which probably turned out to be nothing) delayed even as mundane an event as our reaching office or home. Statistically, there are bound to be more false alarms in this business, but even one major event like what happened at Mumbai would throw us back into paroxysms of fear and harsh criticism of those who manage these things. But surely we need to create a system which makes it hell of a lot more difficult for those rogues from holding us at ransom like they did last week.

• I think it should be mandatory for home ministers at the state and central level to be army or police professionals. There is no need to tolerate nincompoops who adorn that chair only because of their loyalty to other nincompoops. In fact, even the finance and defence ministers should compulsorily be professionals. Let the party in power find such persons and get them elected.
• The incumbents for these ministerial posts [home, defence, finance] should face a televised interview from a parliamentary committee comprising of MPs and experts before they are confirmed in their jobs. Come to think of it, we do not select even Managing Directors without a grilling interview but gladly accept these minister - managers [who control hundreds and thousands of times larger assets that those MDs and CEOs] just like that. Let us hear from an incumbent home minister what strategies (other than abiding by whatever 10 , Janpath says) he plans to employ, to keep us safe.
• Let us have compulsory military training (before graduation) for one year for all youth. Mukesh Ambani has hit the nail on the head. Government will get a large resource to deploy for disaster management and / or surveillance and the young ones, a 'once in a lifetime' opportunity to discipline themselves. Many of these recruits will surely get attracted towards making a career in the army or police.
• Let us thoroughly modernise our police force. I read somewhere that in the last decade, more policemen have died in course of duty than the number of army - men and that on an average 2/3 policemen die everyday. Let us give them the best equipment, higher salaries, substantial insurance and anti terrorism training. Let not any sanctioned post lie vacant in their organisation structure. Let the money for all this come from less important things like travel subsidies or even a small "terror surcharge" on each commercial transaction (much like the Bangladesh refugee tax). On the flip side let us ease out those pot bellied, good for nothing मुन्सीजी (policemen).
• Let batallions of NSG be stationed at strategic places so that every corner of India is reachable in maximum two hours.
• Let's instill discipline in ourselves. Let us (a) not break red lights; (b) not display our connections to higher ups when caught violating a law; (c) understand the importance of time; (d) improve our concepts of public hygiene; (e) reduce our indifference towards what is publicly good; (f) not curse policemen doing their duty [like implementing naka-bandi (नाकाबंदी) for example]; the list is really endless.

If you think this belt-tightening is uncomfortable, just imagine you are sitting in that restaurant and visualise the "thud" of each bullet as it passes through your body.

Why politicians cannot be honest?

The dictionary definition of the word "politics" is: sum total of activities undertaken to remain in power - I hope you have noted the absence of any moral or ethical tinge to this definition.

I vividly remember how sad I had felt [I was only about 14 years old then] one afternoon when we received news of President Kennedy's assassination at Dallas. From his debonair looks - an ideal family - beautiful & rich wife, he appeared to be an honest person & a role model, at least to a young teenager like me - thousands of miles away. Some years ago I read in Reader's Digest [the report was based on declassified information - apparently USA has an endearing rule which compulsorily declassifes all information after 30 years] that President Kennedy's family was deep into bootlegging and running brothels - in fact his Presidential election was financed mainly from this income; that he himself was a womaniser [though this last one isn't particularly deplorable by moral standards prevalent in that country]. I was reminded of a saying in Marathi : दिसत तस् नसत (things aren't as they appear) and realised that this is absolutely true for politicians everywhere in the world.

Politicians do not have an opinion of their own: They do not like to be painted into a corner because one never knows when one will have to come out in support of something that is diametrically opposite (remember everything is justified to remain in power - let principles go to hell). By nature therefore they have to be "chameleons" - changing colours and pretending as if they were on the winning side all along. So we have Congress aligning with Jayalalita once and with Karunanidhi immediately thereafter only to talk again to Jayalalita, if the situation so demands. LK Advani's support to Pragya who is an accused in the Malegaon blasts was also finalised by the BJP think tank after a market research indicated that there is a groundswell of sympathy for her amongst Hindus in the country. The acid test for a political party before finalising its stand on any issue is to ask itself "Will I get more votes if I say so?" and never "What is the truth?" It is absolutely true that politicians make strange bedfellows. In a lighter vein somebody has hit the nail on the head by saying that "a politician shakes your hand before elections and your confidence thereafter.

Politicians are dishonest when it comes to MONEY: They are after all "human" and like मेनका enticed विश्वामित्र they too are surrounded by so many monetarily corrupting opportunities, that they would need to be super humans, not to succumb to these temptations. The vicious circle is perennial because laws reducing corruption need to be passed by these very politicians - who will ever agree to kill the golden goose? Those who appear "honest" have carefully cultivated that image and ensured that they never got caught. Approving illegal things to be carried out by ones henchmen does not absolve any senior leader from the blame. Political parties in a coalition government routinely demand certain ministries based on their estimate of how much unaccounted money they could generate. There is no end in sight to remove this malaise unless we fully empower departments like Central Vigilance Commission and remove "crime investigation" arm of the police from under a political appointee like the home minister.

Power corrupts: Unless we have fast track courts to settle all cases of corruption against politicians (realising that they indeed are the fountainheads of corruption) , they will continue to live in the safety of their self given immunities and mock the laws of the land. The immense power that resides in them due to the public offices they enjoy must be accompanied with maximum accountability. So intoxicated with power they sometimes are that all opposition is sought to be silenced -the nexus with criminal elements is a natural offshoot. An apolitical judiciary outside the influence of these politicians together with quick disposal of cases should be able to mitigate this problem considerably. However as recent exposures suggest, the judiciary itself is falling prey to this malaise.

Politicians forget that they have been appointed and not anointed: The immense political and monetary power is addictive. Soon politicians think they are Gods. It is aptly said that diapers and politicians need to be changed often and for the same reason. Experts in political science call this "anti incumbency" factor. Raj Thackeray has amply demonstrated that to be on the front page of all leading dailies of the country, you do not have to buy advertisements like corporates do. The easier method would be to smash taxis (belonging to someone else) and beat up others. I think he has shown sharp business skills in cornering costly newspaper space by creating news rather than buying ads.

Friends, I sincerely feel that politics is a universal vocation where success demands intellectual and monetary dishonesty - don't ever think corruption in politics is restricted only to India. Do send me your innovative suggestions on how to tackle this rot and also your ideas about how to motivate honest people to enter politics so that the "average honesty" of this group creeps upwards??

Should same - gender marriages be allowed in India?

On Saturday 15th November, over one lac people in USA demonstrated by holding public rallies all over that country to pressurise state and federal governments into passing clear laws that would allow gays and lesbians to have full rights to choose their life partners (of the same gender, obviously) and enjoy the same rights as married - heterosexual - couples. I guess if a similar event was to take place in India, the rally would have demanded quotas for gays and lesbians in IITs / IIMs / government jobs and so on.

Leave alone marriages, Indian law does not even sanction homosexuality - as if sexual habits are controllable by promulgating GRs (government resolutions). Same gender sexual acts are considered illegal and hence punishable by imprisonment. Imagine the government telling everyone tomorrow that it is compulsory to derive pleasure only by eating Shrikhand (श्रीखंड ) and anyone eating रबडी will be summarily arrested. How can anyone, least of all the government, dictate what the sexual preferences of an individual should be - unless this leads to some kind of a law and order problem?

Do we realise that if we allow same - gender marriages, adoptions will increase & that's a crying need today. I am not suggesting that such marriages should be thought of as a "solution" to the problem of orphans (who ironically are mostly unwanted and abandoned children of heterosexual couples) but surely increased "adoptions" would be a welcome offshoot.

The supreme court has recently opined that a man and a woman "living together" will enjoy (along with their children) the same privileges that traditionally married couples do. I guess we will just have to tweak our present laws a little more to cover same gender couples.

Will same gender marriages or live in relationships be sanctioned by religion? Since there is so much hypocrisy in religion, I don't think this will ever happen. In recent years, the church has found it extremely difficult to justify the child abusers amongst its clergy and has reportedly settled many cases, "out of court". Most religions give great importance to celibacy knowing fully well that they are going against natural human inclinations that have been ordained by their own GOD. There is no evidence to suggest that celibacy leads to higher spirituality. Religions will therefore always condemn same gender marriages as something "satanic".

For once, I must support our health minister in his crusade for gays and lesbians - Dr Ramadoss otherwise gives us very few occasions to root for. Let us live and let live....instead of persecuting fellow human beings for something which is really none of our business and over which they have no control.

Can you figure this out?

There are certain things which I have never been able to figure out and am actively seeking your help to understand. Please feel free to post your comments - these would go a long way in clearing my muddled mind.

Do you know how old Ravana was, when he was killed by Lord Rama?According to Valmiki, Ravana was 20,000 years old when he died. Being a scholar and a great devotee of Shiva, he is supposed to have done penance (तपश्चर्या ) for 10,000 years before being granted the boon of "near - immortality" [At the end of every 1000 years, Ravana would cut off one of his 10 heads. GOD finally relented at the end of 10,000 years, just before the last head would have been cut off. Ravana would otherwise have surely died and this would have given a wrong signal to other devotees]. Can anyone really live this long? Was Ravana then an actual person or a character in a story??

Why don't Life Insurance companies consult astrologers before selling a policy?For times immemorial, astrologers have claimed that they can predict the future of an individual from his horoscope (जन्मपत्रिका) [which incidentally is a very scientific document showing positions of various planets in different constellations, at the time of birth of that person]. A company that sells life - covers would be extremely keen to know the approximate date of death (मृत्युयोग) of the client - doesn't it ask us to go through all kinds of medical tests to assess if we are fit enough to be sold a policy and to reassure itself that we won't conk off after paying just a premium or two, putting the insurance company to a big loss? Why doesn't LIC, take the help of astrology, to save itself from potentially crippling losses?

How can a ghost (अतृप्त आत्मा ) return to haunt?It is popular folklore that if a person dies with some desires unfulfilled or some injustice un-avenged during his lifetime, his ghost comes back to haunt that location or somebody, until those desires are quenched. Now when a person dies, his brain, which is the depository of his entire life-time memory, also dies. Let us presume for the time being that his "spirit" (आत्मा ) does escape! I can never figure out how that spirit can remember details of what it was before death. The spirit cannot have a memory of its own since all memory of life before death has already been destroyed along with the brain.

Was Kansa (कंस मामा ), Lord Krishna's uncle, a fool? If you or I had known that our sisters' eighth child was going to be our nemesis, wouldn't we have killed the sister [am presuming that we possess the necessary cruelty like कंस did] instead of waiting for her to deliver eight children? To make matters worse, if कंस did not have the guts to kill his own sister, why should he have gone out of his way to house her with her husband ( देवकी and वसुदेव ) in the same prison cell? Did Kansa, who was a king, have an IQ much below average?

Why did prominent Kauravas (कौरव ) have foul names? Did their parents (धृतराष्ट्र and गांधारी ) know that these children were going to grow up into scoundrels. Which mother would name her sons दुर्योधन or दुह्शासन - words which basically have negative meanings?

How do Jain families keep their homes, free of pests? Now we all know that Jains have a fetish when it comes to killing any form of life. They go to great lengths to achieve this (by being strict vegetarians, eating dinner before 7 pm, going around with a cloth around their mouth and nose - even sweeping the street lightly before taking the next step). How do they keep their homes free of pests - do they never use 'Baygon' for cocroaches, 'Mortein' or 'All out' for mosquitoes? Do they never sweep out the cobwebs?

If GOD (परमात्मा ) is निर्गुण and निराकार ( a spirit without any desires or form) then how come HE has his favourite vehicle (वाहन ) - food - flowers - days? If all this is indeed symbolic then how come we are unwilling to deviate even an inch from the prescribed rituals (मोदक and red flowers for Shri Ganesh, for example). If GOD is the creator of the entire human race, why does HE have to marry in order to beget his own children (Shri Ganesh and Kartikeya to Shiva and Parvati, for example)? Or is it really the other way around - have human beings created GOD and ascribed to them, these "human" qualities?

There are other queries but I will stop here. I keenly await your reply.

Should prostitution be legalised?

Prostitution is rightly called the oldest profession. Since the time human beings started living in communities, various kings / governments / leaders have tried to banish it - using all powers at their disposal - but at best, have succeeded in just "sweeping it under the carpet". What is so repulsive about this commercial activity that brings out the worst hypocricy inside us?

[1] Can it be banned? : I don't think we even need to discuss this. It has survived every legislation and instead of diminishing in magnitude, has actually prospered. Since it is closely related to basic human instincts, laws are bound to prove ineffective. Have we been able to , for example, ban sale and consumption of alcohol in Wardha district? An administrative ban on prostitution is just not implementable - period!

[2] Does this profession morally corrupt the society? : Since every town and city in India has a "red light area", this question is superfluous. If you think closely, very little of the corruption that we have imbibed in our life-style could be attributed to this profession. Some of our movies would have a far more corrupting influence and we don't seem to be overtly worried about them. 'Strong family ties' is one of the main pillars of our culture. I don't think it is so weak for us to get unduly worried. Do we decide not to send our children (say for higher education and greener pastures thereafter) to the WEST (where there is immensely more "social - gender -mixing") just because we are afraid that the society there will corrupt their morals?

[3] Does the profession exploit the poor and the uneducated? : Well, there are parallels and we don't seem to be worried much about them. Are we not trying to tackle the problem of "child labour" which seems to affect a similar segment of people? And oh yes, what about freedom to convert from one religion to another? Isn't this a problem restricted to the downtrodden? Has anyone approached you (educated and financially well off) to market their religion? So if we don't seem to mind people selling their souls why should we be so worried about some deciding to sell their bodies. If prostitution is legalised, forcible induction of nubile girls (who have been lured with other promises) will actually come down because it will be easier to detect and punish people who perpetrate such crimes. The traditional image of a heartless pimp (as projected by Bollywood movies) will actually improve. Legalising prostitution will remove the veil of secrecy (because so much hanky panky goes on in this vocation) and actually help the players involved.

[4] What about the fear of spreading AIDS? : By legalising this profession, we will be able to tackle this problem far more effectively. Every commercial sex worker (CSW) will have to possess a renewable valid licence. Appointed medical experts will actually be able to ensure that AIDS does not spread.

[5] Will recognising this trade be a blot on our conservative culture? : We look down upon (a) consumption of alcohol; (b) eating of non veg food; (c) smoking and (d) infidelity in marriage - as the worst that a person can do to tarnish the image of our conservative culture. All our epics are replete with multiple examples of all these alleged vices. By arguing on these lines, can we not be accused of selective amnesia?

Friends, I am all for giving this trade a legitimate status. The advantages far outweigh the minuses. Imagine CSWs getting loans to spruce up their place of business, being included in government national health care schemes, enjoying provident fund and other benefits, enjoying some schemes that will educate their लावारिस children and in general being able to hold their head higher than what they can presently do.

I predict that the number of commercial sex workers will actually come down once these changes are brought about. Now isn't that what we want to happen?

Do Blessings (आशीर्वाद) or Prayers (प्रार्थना) really work?

The mildest form of blessing is the casual "good morning" that we utter when we meet someone and I guess the strongest one is the traditional अष्ट पुत्र सौभाग्यवती भव् (May you beget eight sons and may your husband be alive) given to a newly married woman. Do you think that these or other blessings would come true just because they have been uttered in sincerity and goodwill by the giver?

There is no doubt that the giver of blessings is your well wisher but does he or she possess some power (it will have to be supernatural) to determine your future? If this was so, why would we have ever worked hard to achieve our objectives? It is obvious that receiving blessings makes us feel good so we readily convince ourselves that they are indeed going to come true. There are some amongst us who hanker after "blessings" - they would go out of their way (a visit to Shirdi or Tirupati?) to receive them in the mistaken belief that this act will somehow ensure success in their venture. There are others who get addicted to this process and keep seeking opportunities to ask for blessings - for nothing in particular (If you don't know where to go how will you ever reach there?). You must remember that projects succeed because of your thoroughness and hard work and they fail because you goofed up somewhere. Blessings only make you "feel good".

We often "pray" to an Almighty power (now you have got to be religious to do this because the existence of such an almighty power has never been demonstrated under neutral conditions) for success, wealth, happiness, even 'rains' and many times for the defeat of our enemies (though these enemies are creations of the same almighty power). We must have prayed thousands of time in our life but have you ever statistically calculated the rate of success of our prayers? In your business, would you choose a media for your next advertisement before analysing the enquiries that the last one generated? It is obvious that we pray more for our own satisfaction (at having done our best) than really achieving success in whatever we are requesting the Almighty power to do for us. So brain washed are we that if inspite of our sincere prayers, things do not happen as intended, we never blame the Almighty ( Henry Kissinger once famously said "the advantage of being a celebrity speaker is that even when you are boring the audience to death, they feel it is their fault).

Blessings and prayers do give us a sense of calmness and composure (मनः शांती) which eventually leads to better performance but we must understand that they could generate a false sense of security. For adults, I would strongly recommend meditation (ध्यान) which generates the same kind of mental strength without the side effects.

WHAT IF THIS REALLY HAPPENS?

I am a fan of Jules Verne, the famous writer of science fiction. If you read his books (written about 100 years ago), you will be spooked at how close his imagination was to the way things have turned out to be. So this week, I decided to let my imagination soar into the realm of what looks impossible, today!

I would be happy to receive inputs from all of you about many implications of these wild thoughts - if they were to really come true, some day. Don't think logically - let the dreamer inside you take over.

What if men could become pregnant?

• It would be a boon to working couples. They could take turns at getting pregnant so that their careers did not suffer.
• This could be the magical breakthrough to achieve genuine gender equality.
• Men would also be afraid of getting raped by a woman. They will be back home before it is too dark.
• Will fathers become as loving (as todays mothers are) towards their offsprings?

What if we had "thought controlled" devices?

• Imagine, you just have to look at your cellphone and remember your friend's telephone number and presto... it reads your mind and starts dialling.
• Doctors have been telling us that our brain works on minute electrical impulses so we require some genius to amplify those micro voltages and then make normal electronic devices (like the cell phone) work.
• Indian Airforce would love it. In modern dogfights between two sophisticated "fighter planes" it is really a question of which pilot presses the button and releases the missile first - "technology" decides everything thereafter. The missile could now be released, the moment the thought of doing so gets formed in the pilot's brain.
• I could connect a LCD projector to my brain and project on screen, the view of river Thames which I can clearly recall from my last visit to London.

What if "memory" could be transplanted from one brain to another?

• We routinely transfer data from one CD to another so what's the difference here? We could now produce thousands of "CV Ramans" and "Einsteins".
• Colleges and entrance examinations would no longer be necessary. Imagine downloading, say the entire MBBS syllabus, into the brain of the person interested in becoming a doctor. Spending years to study for a degree would be a thing of the past. Colleges would only have Ph.D. students doing research on hitherto unknown aspects of a subject.

What if doctors could remove the brain and keep it functional, even after a persons' death?The brain of a Nobel laureate in say Physics could continue grappling and solving complicated problems in Physics, long after the person has passed away. I remember having read somewhere that this is really being researched.

What if politicians start behaving honestly?

I think I am now really letting my imagination get the better of me. This has neither happened in the past nor will happen in the future (न भूतो न भविष्यति )

Do you agree with your religion's philosophy??

Do you know the philosophical tenets of your religion and more importantly, do you agree with them?? Or do you just take pride (गर्व से कहो ...) in being a Hindu (or Muslim, or Christian, or Sikh, or Parsi) knowing fully well that it was a mere statistical accident that you got born in this family of yours. Now don't confuse rituals with philosophy. For example, reciting shlokas and worshipping (सत्य नारायण की पूजा) in the prescribed manner does not make you a better Hindu. Have you ever tried to find out what makes your religion, philosophically different from others?

Let us make a beginning. Let's identify the main principles of Hinduism and I would request my friends from other religions to inform us "bullet points" of what their religion's philosophy is!

1. Rebirth: (पुनर्जन्म): A person is reborn, depending on his deeds of the previous birth. The highest form of birth is as a human being but as a mark of punishment for your bad deeds, you could get reborn as a cocroach or a dog or whatever...


2. Salvation: (मोक्ष): Everyone should aspire to behave so well in a particular birth that he / she gets out of this cycle of rebirth. You would have then achieved the final salvation. Rebirth is thus a "reward - punishment" mechanism.


3. Principle of non - duality (अद्वैत ): Hindu philosophy postulates that everything in this world is a part of the same entity; it even extends this logic by stating that the "creator" (निर्माता ) and the "creations" (निर्मिती) are one & the same thing. According to this tenet, there is thus no point in hating others - they are really a part of yourself - does the right hand ever hate the left hand??


4. Destiny (नसीब): Our destinies are pre-written by the creator and we are mere pawns on a chessboard playing out our life as decreed by HIM (GOD is always a male). Is this why we Hindus are a laid back lot, convinced that we can't change what is pre-ordained for us?


5. Extreme Tolerance: Hinduism should really be a delight to all modernists who value their independence above everything else - [a] it admits that their could be other paths leading to GOD; [b] it gives complete liberty to its followers to choose any GOD of his/her choice & their are many to choose from; [c] it does not have strict dress or appearance codes; [d] it allows you to use your own methods of worship; [e] it does not want to 'market' itself and spread amongst those who do not belong to its fold; [f] it is so liberal that it even sanctions atheism as a legitimate pursuit.


6. Living life "fully": It decrees that the four life stages viz ब्रह्मचर्य (before marriage) , गृहस्ताश्रम (married life and raising a family), वानप्रस्थाश्रम ( delegation of authority to children and spending time in contemplation) and finally संन्यास (detatchement from family and renunciation of worldly pleasures), have different objectives and need to be lived and enjoyed fully and robustly.


7. Fully concentrating on the process of achieving your objectives without excessive botheration about the end result: This is the famous teaching of Bhagwadgita (कर्मण्ये वा धिकार्स्ये माँ फले तू कदाचन). A person is called upon to perform different duties in different life stages and these thoughts should really be his guiding principles.

Now this is what Hinduism stands for. Truthfully, I would personally agree to only 5, 6 & 7 of the above. Next time I am filling up a form which asks me to state my religion, I should honestly write 40% Hindu (3 upon 7).

I eagerly await similar inputs for other religions.

Purity Rings - the latest FAD

I am amazed (& that's an understatement) at this latest obsession that seems to have caught on in the western countries. Times of India reported a few weeks ago that youngsters in the west (read USA) are now flaunting PURITY RINGS (पवित्रता की अंगूठियां) worn on their fingers (thank GOD for that) as a confirmation of their virginity and also their intention to guard it zealously until they found a suitable life partner. Now I thought India had a copyright on that philosophy. I had heard of chastity belts being used by kings in the olden days when they went to war and wanted their wives to remain faithful during their long absence - but this concept of purity rings just took my breath away.

How did such a thought take root in a society that is so obsessed with SEX? The average age of boys having their first sexual experience in these nations is 12. Fidelity in marriage is ordained by the church but looked upon as an un-necessary burden diluting personal freedom. Anyone who has not used the back seat of a car for their "aaahs and ooohs" during a date, is considered positively backward. Here the biggest worry of a mother of teenage daughters is about the efficacy of the pill that she mixed in her daughters milk, before she went on her date. One night stands are as normal as drinking a glass of water when you are thirsty. While we in India are aping all this in the name of modernity and self liberation, how can our role models ditch us like this and be so prudish and oh .. so backward??

I see two reasons for this चमत्कार.

1. Elementary economics tells us that the price (and perceived value) of an entitiy that is abundantly available goes down. Private consensual SEX is indeed abundantly available in the West since their are no taboos like in the East. This self denial like सोमवार का उपवास will surely elevate the status of the act and that of the (non) doer.
2. The more likely cause is the fear of AIDS. Having a single partner, making sacrifices for him (like preserving ones virginity) have therefore gained a lot of importance.

These days, I scan Times of India every day for a report that writes about how करवा चौथ has become a rage in America and how married women are actually praying to have the same husband in the next seven births (I know Christianity does not approve of this पर ज़रा मेरी भावनाओं को समझो). I am worried though that by the time this happens, Indian mothers of teenage daughters would be fretting about the quality of the pill they put in her Bourn vita before she left for a date.

Are women second class citizens in India??

Chandigarh may be one of the prettiest cities of India but what I read last week makes me feel that it is probably one of the "ugliest" too. It has the dubious distinction of having the worst gender ratio in the country ( 877 females per 1000 males). Delhi our national capital and Haryana that otherwise prosperous state are the two other regions in the top three of this list of shame. Prenatal gender-determination is a crime according to a law passed many years ago but it seems female foeticide is rampantly practised in these areas. This is one national problem which is caused as much by the rich & educated as by the illiterate & poor. The law of demand and supply has already taken over in these North Indian states - girls now command a monetary premium (reverse dowry) & brothers are sometimes forced to share a common wife, just like in MAHABHARAT - (though for entirely different reasons).

Do we as a community have a "return on investment" kind of approach when it comes to our natural preference for male children?? Are we so guided by this बुढापे की लाठी philosophy that even mothers agree to abort girl foetuses ( like scoring a self goal)?

Females have been discriminated against in every society (encompassing all religions) during the progress of human civilization - the main reason of course was that males wrote all the rules. Did you know that females got the right to vote as late as 2006 in Kuwait, 1971 in Switzerland, 1946 in Belgium, 1945 in France, 1928 in Britain and 1920 in USA? Females are barred from becoming a Pope or even an Imam in a mosque and are generally accorded an inferior status in rituals of all religions. Have you ever heard of a female शंकराचार्य? It is estimated that over 60,000 women were once burnt by Christians by branding them as witches. In the Hindu system of सती, women were literally murdered and then glorified. Islam even today refuses to grant alimony to a divorced wife. Politically, all parties are so blatantly hypocritic that for years they have been proclaiming gender parity but when it comes to reserving 33% seats for women in parliament, they turn a completely blind eye towards the issue.

Coming back to the burning problem of female foeticide, we have seen that mere passing of laws has not worked - maybe we should allow capital punishment to be given to such offenders. But I really think that the time has come for religions to "pay back" for the years of gender - disparity that they have been indirectly advocating. It is high time that opinion leaders like रामदेवबाबा , श्री रविशंकर , आसारामबापू & all शंकराचार्य loudly declare that :

[1] Any Hindu family that demands dowry during marriage will be ex-communicated; [2] It is not true that moksha can be achieved only when a SON lights your funeral pyre - a daughter is equally eligible to do so; [3] Anyone found aborting a female foetus or assisting such an act will be ostracised and no one will have रोटी - बेटी का व्यवहार with such families.

Religion has such immense power over people's minds that it is capable of bringing about this social transformation - unless of course if the religious leadership is itself not convinced about gender disparity being an issue worth paying attention to.

Blowing off candles on a birthday!

According to Indian culture, extinguishing a burning light (ज्योत बुज्हाना) is considered very inauspicious. So strong is this belief that in most Indian movies, a flickering & finally dying lamp is symbolically used to warn the audience of someone's impending death. Why do most of us then encourage such an act on a birthday - which is considered an auspicious occasion??

I sometimes wonder why adults should consider their own birthdays as occasions for celebration. Adults normally celebrate "achievements" and you did nothing to bring yourself into this world - did you? It is ok for your parents to celebrate your birthday - you are indeed their achievement. Moreover each passing year brings us closer to the FINAL DAY - if anything, this should be a day of contemplation ( I almost said "condolence"). Birthdays were ok when we were kids - drooling for those gifts & chocolates.

Let us come back to the mystery of extinguished candles! This is actually an ancient Greek custom which we have copied without really understanding its significance. According to the original practice, the birthday boy / girl is supposed to close his/her eyes and make a silent wish to GOD before opening them and blowing off the candle. The smoke from the extinguished candle which rises upwards is supposed to "carry" that wish to GOD.
Don't ask me why only the smoke (visible to the eye) can carry your wishes to GOD and the hot fumes (which also rise upwards while the candle is burning, but are invisible to the eye) cannot!

Can you now tell me why we use only a cake to stick those candles in? Why can't it be a can of श्रीखंड or शीरा or some of those other mouth watering Indian पकवान ?

Significance of प्रदक्षिणा (परिक्रमा) in a temple

Most of us follow religious rituals blindly without making efforts to understand why we are called upon to do things in a particular manner. Our elders never explained things to us when we were young (they probably were never told by their elders) & we seem to be continuing the (in)glorious tradition. Religious practices are sacrosanct and analytical discussions are strongly discouraged but I sincerely feel that if we are expecting real or perceived benefits out of them, we should not shut our eyes under the excuse of being faithful to our ancient culture.

Two things about the प्रदक्षिणा need some explanation: [1] What extra benefits are expected to accrue by going round the idol in a temple? Why isn't just standing and praying sufficient? [2] Why do we go around in the clock-wise direction only?

Many relate this practice to the mythological story of how Ganesha won the race against his elder brother Kartikeya (when both were challenged by their parents - shiva and parvati, to go around the world in the shortest possible time) by just doing a प्रदक्षिणा around his parents and claiming that they were indeed his world. Devotees in a temple are surely not a part of any race and going around the world (the idol) does not have religious significance in terms of any salvation that Hinduism wants us to achieve.

The crux of this practice is summed up in the following two liner

यानी कानी च पापानि जन्मान्त्रक्र तानी च
तानी तानी विनश्यन्ति प्रदक्षिण प् दे प् दे

Roughly translated, it conveys a beautiful idea. While going around the idol, you are calling upon GOD to ensure that with each footstep that you take , HE cancels or destroys one sin that you have committed in this or previous births. Obviously many of my friends who take pride in going around 11 times must be BIG SINNERS since they require so many more steps to cancel all their sins. This also explains why one has to go around on foot while doing प्रदक्षिणा.
Whether the sins actually get cancelled is besides the point... shouldn't the believers have this thought at the back of their mind while doing the प्रदक्षिणा ?

Now friends I want you to investigate and tell me why we must go around in the clockwise direction only?

Jana gana mana - the meaning

Rabindranath Tagore himself has strongly denied that the poem (which incidentally has five stanzas - the first one of which was adopted as the anthem) was written in honour of King George V, the then ruler of British India. We must therefore leave it at that.

It is true however that Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru chose this to be the national anthem instead of "vande mataram" because [1] He did not want the new nation to begin on a controversial note as would have happened due to strong Muslim objection to bowing (vande..) to the motherland (mataram) because Islam prohibits doing so before anyone other than Allah - (I think the objection persists even today) & [2] The ease with which "jana gana mana.." can be understood, sung and played by a band.

Amit Shesh in his comments has rightly said that probably because of the difficulty in a lay person singing the US - star spangled banner - it is mostly confined to expert renditions at football matches. Now for the full verbatim meaning:

जन गण मन अधिनायक जय हे , भारत भाग्य विधाता
May you , the leader of leaders (adhinayak) of our people, communities and minds and the determiner of Bharat's destiny (bhagya vidhata) be victorious (jaya)

पंजाब सिंध गुजरात मराठा द्राविड उत्कल बंग
Here everything is obvious except maybe Utkal (Orissa), Bang (whole of undivided Bengal including present Bangladesh and the seven north eastern sister states) & Dravid (whole of south India

विन्ध्य हिमाचल यमुना गंगा , उछ्छल जलधि तरंग
We have here two famous and representative mountain ranges and description of the oceans which have high rise waves (uchhal tarang). All this is basically describing our country so that we ask all of it to be blessed.

तव शुभ नामे जागे , तव शुभ आशीष मागे
We awaken oursleves taking your name and we ask for your blessings

गाये तव जय गाथा
We sing the story (gatha) of your victory (jaya)

Here onwards it is a repetition of the above words until we end the anthem with a clarion call for his victory (jaya he ...).

So our national anthem is a sort of prayer (to the almighty GOD - the determiner of our destiny and the controller of our souls) to bless our nation.

Jana Gana Mana... our national anthem

I am amazed that most young Indians (& I think old ones too) do not know the actual meaning of our national anthem. There has to be something seriously wrong with our education system, if this is the end result. It is also a prime example of how we attach a lot of importance (pseudo, as it actually turns out to be) to standing at attention (even in cinema halls before the movie begins) to show respect to the national anthem & virtually treating this act as some sort of a measure of our patriotism - without understanding how exactly we are praising our motherland. I challenge all you bloggers to send me the meaning (verbatim) of the entire anthem. I would of course be glad to post it here but would first like all of you to try and find it yourself.