one man's happy is another one's despair

I was recently reading a book that talks about the Jewish Holocaust during WWII. And one morning, it suddenly dawns on me that the term "grammar Nazi" must be quite trouble some for the people of that region. I imagine it would be difficult to hear that dreaded N-word being brandied about with such callousness, and being associated with humor.

Much like the Swastik, that we in India use for all things auspicious, must be bringing a chill into the hearts of those that were tormented by the Third Reich. I had always thought there was a difference between the two swastiks. The Hindu auspicious one was clockwise and square, while the Nazi symbol was on it's edge and anti clockwise. I recently discovered that this is not actually the case. The direction for the Nazi symbol was clockwise or anticlockwise both, and square / on edge is merely a matter of alignment.

So we in India are putting up this holy symbol with love and reverence all over the place. At entrances to our homes, on road signs, at temples, whenever we start some new endeavor, anywhere and everywhere. How does a holocaust survivor handle this when he/she visits India? How does the German that is trying to outlive the heinous acts of his/her ancestors deal with this? It would help to have some perspective wouldn't it. In India we at least know that the Swastik (in some form) is associated with the Nazis. A lot of westerners may not even know that it has a different connotation in India.

Sensitivity to another's beliefs and understanding perspectives is easier said than done. But I sure am glad the internet is doing this one thing right - showing us all that there are literally opposing world views that exist and the more we equip ourselves with knowledge, the better it will be. For all of us.

Read up, and be aware.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika

(Yes I know, this is a more preachy post than normal, but bear with me. Happens sometimes :))

out of sight, in your mind

I often wonder about the role abstinence needs to play in religion. Growing up in a Hindu household, we were exposed to the concept of fasting for religious purposes very early in life. My mother fasts at least once a week, and also during special periods called “Navratris” (literally meaning Nine Nights) which come twice in the year, as per the Hindu lunar calendar. These fasts are quite flexible, it isn’t as if you don’t eat the whole day – it’s simply a different diet. Fruits, some starches like potato, sweet potato, tapioca are allowed. Then there are the more severe ones “Karva Chauth”, “Chhat”, and a few others – followed in different parts of India – where you don’t eat a morsel or even drink a drop of water the entire day.

After I became more aware of “religion” and how different households function, I realised that the concept of Fasting as we knew it was quite alien to a non-Hindu. But I also realised that there are similar concepts of abstinence even among Christians (45 days of Lent before Easter Sunday), Muslims (Roza months), Jains (something called “Pradyushan”).

Which brings me to my question – how does abstinence help? In my mind, when I’m “forbidden” from having something – it’s the only thing I can think of! Very Adam-Eve-Apple-of-Eden-esque, I know. On a typical day, I may not even think of food or what to eat for lunch or dinner till my stomach actually tells me that I’m hungry. But on a day when I’m fasting, I wake up planning which fruit to eat when, I get random cravings for tandoori chicken during the day, every channel I switch to on TV seems to be playing a commercial for food.. So how am I in any way getting closer to God? I’m getting closer to insanity with all the cravings! A better way of getting closer to God would be to eat what you want, when you’re hungry and focus on other things in your life. In fact it may have originally worked the other way round – i.e. forget to eat when concentrating on something (work, religion, shopping, anything!) and inadvertently end up “fasting”.

I do however wholeheartedly endorse fasting as a way of controlling your diet! I certainly find it easier to resist the temptation of that yummy looking fried chicken leg when I’m officially on a fast, rather than when I’m on another one of those on-again-off-again-diets.

PS: I sometimes re-hash some topical posts from my earlier writings (here). Remembered this one as I geared up for the Summer Navratras this year.