Two very different instances of religious/caste patriarchs intervening in civil society have come to the fore in the last couple of days. Both are Anti Constitutional. And, its about time the Government and the System said religious oppression in the name of Religious freedom be damned – the Constitution comes first.

The first instance was the Khap Panchayats that has been flexing its muscles for quite some time – excommunicating and killing without consequences. They have got Navin Jindal to tow the line now.

Mr. Jindal has said

“I and my whole family respect the years old traditions and rituals of khap panchayats. My house is their own home and they can come there any time. I am just like their own child and I can never go against them; rather I always need their blessings.”

Navin Jindal, if you remember, is the man who went all the way to the Supreme Court for the right of Indian Citizens to fly the Indian Flag, and won .

Mr.Jindal has forgotten that the Indian flag represents the Indian Republic. And, the Indian Republic is enshrined by the Indian Constitution . The Indian Constitution states:

14. The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.
15. (1) The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.

If the Khap Panchayat had its way – it is not just same gotra marriages that will be nullified, but there will be penalties to anyone who breaks caste rules . And, as all of us know, these rules – if applied to their logical conclusion – will lead to the Hindus getting their equivalent of the Taliban.

I wonder if a Member of Parliament who is so ready to violate the Constitution has the right to be in Parliament !

The second instance of the Constitution being violated, is the Deobandi’s – who have declared that it is haram for women to work

“It is unlawful (under the Sharia law) for Muslim women to work in the government or private sector where men and women work together and women have to talk with men frankly and without a veil,”

If the fatwa is followed through to its logical conclusion, it would mean that Indian citizens who are Muslim women cannot be the President, Prime Minister, Member of Parliament. They can’t work in a Hospital, a Call Centre, a Hotel. They can’t teach in a co-educational school, they cannot work for a NGO, they can’t work as engineers…. This essentially means that women are barred from most professions except sweat shops where they can sit with other women and sew stuff at cut price rate.

In both cases a bunch of patriarchs want the world to bend to their interpretation of religion, and honour …. I hope that in both cases this is the straw that breaks the back of an communities that have kept quiet — and rise up to delegitimise both the Khap Panchayats and the Deobandi’s. The best way to destroy them is to stop listening to them !!

And finally – i hope everyone remembers that the reason Krishna wasn’t invited to Rukmini’s swayamwar was because he was a Yadav and she was a Kshyatriya princess.

Let us also remember that the Prophet Muhammad’s first wife was Khadijah bint Khuwaylid – a merchant who employed him.

Those who have proclaimed themselves as guardians of religion and tradition seem to have forgotten their own religion and tradition :(

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The Mylapore (Mayil – peacock; ooru – city) is possibly, my favourite temple. When I am in Chennai i visit Mylapore everyday, sometimes twice a day – much to my family’s amusement. When in Mumbai, visiting temples is not a part of my daily or even weekly routine. I manage a little roadside temple every so often – but it isn’t quite the same as going into a largish temple complex, and just sitting and absorbing the peace.

kapaleshwara_

The Kapleshwar Kovil – main entrance. Also called as the Mylapore

gopuram 2

the motif of peacocks are prevalent thro’ the temple. It is said that Parvati took the form of a pea hen to woo her Lord in this sacred spot.

A temple complex, rather than a single Temple, The Mylapore temple houses shrines for all members of the first family of the Universe.
(Shiva Parvati with Ganesha & Kartikeya there are shrines for all in the complex – along with a shrine for the navagraha)

Gopuram 1

Around the temple complex sit a number of vendors of pooja material.

flower seller 3

One of the great things about this temple is its absolute cleanliness. No water on the floor, no need to look where you are going – in the fear of stepping on something yucky.

The temple pond

The Dhwajastambha is at the entrance near the pond – golden, seemingly touching the skies and totally impressive.

The Dhwaja Stambha
(the Dhwajastambha – or flag pole – at the Temple)

There is something about this temple which makes me feel completely in balance with the universe. Possibly the fact that there is so much piety and surrender in the space.

Lighting the Lamp

and, finally – possibly my favorite carving – the blue goddess

blue goddess 2

obviously the heavens don’t believe in size zero :)

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The first thing that strikes you – when you set eyes on Borobudur is – ‘gosh that is large’. Rally – really gigantic. Frankly, it looks more like a giant spaceship parked on plain ground than a place of Buddhist worship.

borumbodur

The second thought that strikes you is that who the how the f*** did someone build such a gigantic structure in the middle of a nowhere – iti s built on top of a hill in the middle of a jungle- (while it is a tourist site now – an UNESCO heritage site to boot, but at the time that it was built – it was in the middle of nowhere).

view from the top

The third thought that strikes you (atleast it struck me) is how the hell I am going to heave myself, my camera and an umbrella through this height. (it was pouring) It is a long climb up – a really long climb The advantage of taking a camera along on a site like this is that you can pretend to be taking pictures, when you are actually catching your breath :)

borumbodur entry 2

(this is just one part of the stairs, there is an equally high and steep climb before this level)

But, if you have the stamina -this is amongst the most inspiring sites that you will set your eyes on – just make sure that you aren’t on a tight schedule. The beauty of a place like this, is not so much the climb to the top- as much as the strolling around, absorbing every relief, the ambience and the atmosphere. and, letting your mind wander and imagine what it could have been like, in the centuries gone by.

red umbrella2

red & stone !

Imagine a complex in the middle of a jungle, nestled between two active volcanoes. Imagine a structure so high – that you wonder about the how and why ! a structure which is a multi tiered temple – atop which sits a Buddha looking out for the world below – and you just about begin to imagine Borobodur.

view from the top sepia

There is something timeless and solid about the place – it looks like a Guardian erected by the ancients to keep us all safe.

the guard - dwarapalika

(dwarapalika – Borobudur)

When i visited Indonesia, back in May for the shoot of the documentary on Disaster Risk Reduction – this was a must visit spot. I needed footage for the film – that established the perilous nature of the area. I didn’t expect to see something so rock solid. Something that looked as thought it could survive any volcano, earth quake or tsunami that hit it.

golden entrance 2

Buddhanet gives you the data about the place –

The structure, composed of 55,000 square meters of lava-rock is erected on a hill in the form of a stepped-pyramid of six rectangular storeys, three circular terraces and a central stupa forming the summit. The whole structure is in the form of a lotus, the sacred flower of Buddha.

Obviously, from the ground level, it didn’t look like a lotus – however, you do see three very distinct layers that lead to the Stupa at the top. Each layer – apart from the top one is full of intricately carved reilefs. There seem to be zillions of panels (some 2000 odd) – each of which tell a story. You enter each layer througha gigantic arch

golden skies

At the first layer – the reliefs depict cause and action. What will happen if you do right things and wrong. These are more like stand alone panels – each of which depicts a certain cause & effect. almost like an ancient poster.

golden_

At the next level, there are stories from the life of Buddha. This particular one depicts Gautama and his abandoned wife (he abandoned her) Yashodara.

gautama yashodara

This one shows the Buddha teaching his students.

buddha upadesh

while these are beautiful, and you can gaze at them for hours trying to figure them out – the truly jaw dropping moment arises when you reach the top – the last layer.

stupa sepia

There are no reliefs here. Nothing to distract form the multitude of Stupas and Buddhas all in a circle. I just stood there and gaped. It was raining, thundering in fact. and it was very, very windy – and was kind of spooky. And, then it cleared – and i said “oh, my god” – and i wasn’t too far off the mark

view from the top HDR

I sat there at the top – for a bit and just meditated. there was a peace, serinity and a oneness with the universe that was truly soul caressing.

Do go there, if you get a chance. it is truly a visit to remember.

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From today, some reproduction of interesting speeches and writings. It is not about a writer’s block – i keep battling those – but more because these are readings / writings that inspired me at a certain point in life – and they still resonate.

My mother – a political scientist who taught Gandhism, introduced me to the writings of JP. Dad used to think that JP was a communist traitor,  – i think that he still does – so mom & i tend to discuss JP – if at all – kind of quietly. Here is one of my favourite pieces .

Jayaprakash Narain On Hindu Revivalism

At the root of all-pervasive problem of the crisis of character is the decline of religion. I wish to voice my serious concern over the state of Hinduism as it is found in practice. For the educated class, and more so for the young, it has no meaning except for certain ceremonies which are performed without faith to conform to social customs. For some important sections of the Hindu community, piety or religiosity is only a means to obtain divine sanction for unethical behaviour, such as black-marketing, tax-evasion, profiteering, etc. For the mass of Hindus, religion means nothing more than a few mythological tales, crass superstition, some taboos and empty observances.

Religion as a formative, humanizing, ennobling force hardly seems to have survived. The great movements of religious reform of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries have spent their driving force. The outer dead shell of Karma kanda is all that seems to be left of Hindu religion, and nothing or little of the inner core. In its outward form our religion still sanctions the hierarchy of castes, even the crime of untouchability.

Between word and deed there are contradictions that balk the imagination. It is not uncommon to meet the catholicity of Vedantism in words accompanied with the most narrow-minded caste observances in deeds. We talk glibly about the tolerance of Hindu religion, yet do not raise an eyebrow when men, women and children are butchered for belonging to another religion. Only recently, no less than a hundred murders were committed because, to begin with, a non-Hindu student, while protesting deep reverence for one of our departed national leaders, refused to garland his bust on the ground that his religion forbade every form of idol worship.

There is a good deal of current talk about Hindu revivalism. I believe firmly that for Hindu society, revival is essential if it is to put forth its best and reach its height of achievement. But the revivalism now taking place will push Hindu society further backward, and may incidentally destroy even what we have of the unity of our nation. The Hindu religion is a strange mixture of good and bad, sublime and low, the most emancipated thought and bigoted obscurantism. What happens to the future of Hindu society depends upon which of these strains are to be selected, nourished and propagated.

[Source: From the Convocation Address, Delhi University, December 23, 1966]

As a society, or as a people – we have given up the middle ground to religious fascists – be they of any hue or shade. We tolerate Caste Panchayats, and Honour Killings – we tolerate abuses against sexual minorities, and religious minorities, we stand by and watch assaults on freedom of thought and expression – and justify it in the name of ‘our culture’ :) ! I don’t know whose culture – it is definitely not mine !

funnily, i re read this on a day when i heard a brilliant debate between Christopher Hitchens & Stephen Fry on blasphemy.

it is going to be an interesting 2 decades from now – it would be nice to see the silent moderates (all of us) stand up against the minority of religious bigots.

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Shiva . Mahadeva. Shankara. The greatest of all Gods. The God who is beyond Space and Time. The God other Gods worship and venerate. Those who dont’ understand call him the Destroyer. But, he isn’t. He ends the Universe at the end of time so that life can start again. While he may not be the Creator of the Universe, he is most likely the Divine Father, who along with the Divine Mother, Shakti, creates the God/s who create and nurture the Universe. Atleast, that is what the Shiva Mahapurana tells you.

When I visited Indonesia recently, one of the places i visited was the Prambanan Temple.

temple complex blues2

i was aware that the Ramayan was very popular in Java. But, i did not expect to discover a full fledged Shaivite Temple complex in Indonesia.

But, it shouldn’t have surprised me – the  Cholas- great Shiva worshippers and a seafaring empire – had come as far as Sumatra – and it is not suprising that they left their cultural footprints in this beautiful place. The Prambanan temple complex reminds me a lot of the temples at Mahaballipuram – which are from the Pallava Era.

temple complex speia

The Javanese word for temple is Candi – and Candi Parambanan – or th Parambanan temple (pronounce bramanan temple) is one of the two major temple complexes you will find in Yogyakarta – the other being Borabadur – which is Buddhist temple complex.

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The temple is also called the Ramayan temple, because of the number of scenes from the epic that are carved in stone – on the outer walls.

carvings Shiva temple 4

divine ones reliefs

The Shiva Temple is at the centre and flanked on either side by the Vishnu and the Brahma temples. There are temples to the vahana or divine vehicles as well . the Nandi Temple is the first temple that you see when you enter the complex.

nandi temple 1

The Nandi Temple – is just ahead of the Shiva temple – as is customary. The structure is imposing – to say the least. The Shiva temple is supposed to have two smaller chambers – one devoted to Ganesha – his son; and the other to the great Rishi Agastya . I say supposed to, becasue the temple was cordoned off.

Shiva temple

The temples to the Trinity were damaged during the earthquake of 2006. They are currently being restored, stone by stone. ANd, it is a painstaking effort

little human - big temple

I am going back to Yogyakarta (i really love that name ) and to visit Prambanan Temple . The next time, hopefully, it won’t be part of a larger shoot and i will have time to absorb the majesty of that place.

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…. i realised when i was looking through my Flickr Stream, that i have more than a fair share of photographs of places of worship, of emblems of faith. Here are some of my favorites :

Praying

The Brahma temple at Pushkar is a rarity – legend claims that it is the only Brahma temple in Hindudom – though i have been to one in the South as well. It is said that Brahma – the creator of the universe, committed a great sin. And, he prayed to the greatest of all Gods – the God that Gods worship – Mahadeva to expunge his sins. And there by the lord’s grace sprung a lake – that washes off all sins. People come here from everywhere to pray for the soul of loved ones, who are no more.

The Worshipper
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Mendicant outside the Kizhaperumpallam temple

Orange, the colour of sacrifice. For many of us, a person wearing orange is a charlatan who uses religious symbols to get us to part with our money. but, in many temple towns – the sanyasis and sanyasins – those who have renounced the world – are just that. You wish to give, you do. You don’t – you don’t. they just sit there and see the world go by.

the smiling sadhvi
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Lighting the Lamp

What i find fascinating about relgiion is not the great edifices or the theology or the arguments for and against, but faith. Pure and simple faith. The fact that people believe that there exists a set of supreme beings who watch out for them. And, in many of my travels what refreshes me is not the fact that devotees reach out with fear to their God, but love and adoration. And, it is this faith that sustains ….

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This morning a bunch of Priests visited our house. Two of them seemed to be grihasta’s (householders), and one seemed to be a Sanyasi – he was wearing the saffron of renunciation. They said the shloka’s, blessed the family and left. They didn’t ask for dakshina, but we gave. This is a yearly routine.

Saffron connotes renounciation. The real sadhu’s and sanyasi’s – people who have renounce the world to focus on the atma (soul) and the paramatma (the translation would be God but it is an inadequate translation).

The Sanyasi
Sanyasi in Kathmandu – Pashupatinath Temple

There is a general respect towards people who wear saffron. It is assumed that they are Sadhu’s or Sadhvi’s (good people). But, in a land where religion is so much a part of everyday life, it is easy to fool people with saffron vestments. However, the act of wearing saffron means that you have renounced everything including family attachments, formal religion, including hate, including anger, including involvement in day to affairs of people ….. you belong to all, none belong to you, You have in effect renounced samsara…..

The Sadhu
Sanyasi – Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu

In most temple towns you see lots of people wearing saffron robes, not all of them are genuine. Most genuine Sanyasi’s and Sadhu’s will ask for nothing. Will not bother you. If you wish to offer food or shelter it is your prerogative. A Sanyasi and a Rishi are two different things. A Rishi is a learned person, not necessarily a Sanyasi. (s)He can just as well be a householder. A Sanyasi is not necessarily a learned person.

Both men and women can take renunciation. It is recommended that you renounce the world only after you have fulfilled all your duties and responsibilities. It is not meant to be a method of running away.

the smiling sadhvi
The Smiling Sadhvi – at Pashupatinath, Kathmandu

Sadhu’s and Sadhvi’s (sanyasi’s and Sanyansin’s ) are supposed to be calm, and even tempered. They are supposed to be at peace with themselves and the universe.

Mendicant outside the Kizhaperumpallam temple
Sadhu outside the Kizhaperumpallam temple, Tamil Nadu

And maybe that is why the involvement of sadhu’s and sadhvi’s in planting bombs causes me so much anguish…. They are desecrating the religion and the Gods by their actions….

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Spent a peaceful and quiet Diwali in Lonavala, catching up with reading, approach notes, the world and myself.

One of the themes that fascinates me, is the entire battle between Good and Evil, especially as it is represented in various mythologies. For the last year or more, i have been revisiting some of the ancient narratives – both the epics, and then the Bhagwat Purana, the Shiva Mahapuran. I began reading the Devi Bhagwatam‘, quite sometime ago, I finally finished reading it over the weekend

The Devi Bhagwatam is the story of the Devi – the supreme female goddess, the mother of the universe, the origin of all that lives including the Gods. She is beyond space and time and along with her mate Shiva are immortal. There are many Brahma’s, Vishnu’s and other Devas, but these two abide. She is the Goddess that even the Gods pray to – and her various manifestations – be it Uma, Lakshmi, Tulsi are the female Shakti’s that complete the male Gods. Without her the universe will be inert. It is for Shakta’s – the follower’s of Shakti – the single most important book of their faith, equivalent to the Shiva Maha Puran for the Shaivites and the Bhagwad Puran for the Vaishnavaites. The thing to undertand about ‘Hindu Gods’ is that they are an inter connected family who more or less live in peace with each other, help out each other and clean up each others messes.

The theme that runs through all the three purans is simple – devotion – God & Goddess are terribly devoted to their devotees – and the triumph of good over evil. What is also very clear is that mistakes can be made. Just because someone is a ‘God’ doesn’t mean that they can’t get it wrong, or commit ‘adharma’ or do plain wrong things. The purans are fairly matter of fact in describing these transgressions, and the atonement that various characters perform to undo their ‘adharma’. What is interesting is that anyone can be a devotee. The Asura’s are just as devout as the deva’s, and htey can be just as noble – if not more noble.

God’s – even the great God’s can be fairly irresponsible and amoral. Check out Brahma’s boons to a variety of Asuras’ which plunges the whole universe into chaos; or check out Soma’s seduction of Tara – the wife of Brihaspati, the teacher of the Gods – and her refusal to go back to her husband’s home; or read Indra’s behavior on a variety of things – from the seduction of Ahalya to the killing of Virat; or even the legend of Tulsi and Vishnu’s behavior to get her husband to lose the battle. All these are addressed in terms of right and wrong and the ‘prayaschit‘ that has to be performed to undo the sin.

if the books were written for the first time today, I am fairly convinced that the religious right will burn them and their authors. Hindutva’s absolute views on ‘Hinduism’ will defintely be at cross purposes with the Purana’s that take a more tolerant view of both Gods, Men & Women. When Tara – the wife of Brihaspati runs away with Soma, the Gods almost come to war. And when Tara personally refuses to go back to her husband and chooses the Moon God (Soma) – the Gods back down and tell all that the Tara has made her choice.

which brings me to the second part of my musings. If religion tells the story of the triumph of good over evil, or the triumph of ‘faith’ over ‘attachment’ – then how would the Gods & Devi deal with those who have appointed themselves as ‘defenders of faith’?

When i read about the rape of nuns, the burning of prayer areas, the torching of innocents in the name of God or Goddess , it is identical to the kind of stuff that is described in graphic detail in the Puranas. it is the tactics and the actions of Asura’s. And, it is scary that the so called defenders of Hinduism are adopting the tactics of those whom the Gods have traditionally destroyed….

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This morning I was in class teaching Media Studies. We were looking at different aspects of media — especially the ‘filtering aspect’. Dennis McQuail - media theorist – defines this as

…selecting out parts of experience for special attention and closing off other aspects of experience, whether deliberately and systematically or not…

And, then i got down to explain the nature of filters. For example, the ToI does not really believe in publishing news that will impact the self image of Indians on the front page. Senior members of the news industry have told me and all of us – go to any media event like FICCI Frames – that Indians don’t like watching news on Caste murders, political maneuvers and minority harassment. It does not jell well with this notion of India – the seat of tolerance, the seat of equality, the seat of culture, the seat of living in harmony. And, anything that takes away from this image is unappealing. So, Muslims or Christains attacking Hindus will make frontpage or lead story, where as the reverse will be tucked away. An Indian taking over a firang company will make front page news, and a firang taking over an Indian company will not. The Oscars or Brangelina will make front page news, but regional films that win a National Award or Caste murders will not.

The example that I used was of Priyanka Bhotmange – the 12th standard girl who wanted to grow up to be someone and join the army.. she and her mother were gangraped and murdered. And her brothers were brutalised and hung. It was just another murder that could happen anywhere in the country. Somehow filtering the gory and gruesome pictures off the front pages (or even the inside pages) helped to sanitize the crime. It also seemed to make us care less. If more people saw the pictures, then maybe the outrage would have been more.

The MSM didn’t even pick up the news, until it got too big to be buried. A couple of days after the verdict that denied the existence of caste in the murder of the family .. the story is as dead as the protagonists. No one – including the judiciary – wants to admit that maybe, just maybe – caste played an issue. We will rest content knowing a family was massacred and ‘justice’ may have been done. And we move on.

And, then one of the girls piped up and asked – why is the media quiet on Orissa ? And, the answer is the same. The bulk of the population are like ostriches – we don’t want to believe that ‘our’ people will kill, burn, rape and loot. Other people do it. Not us.

There could be another reason. And that is media bias. It is that news agencies are so infiltrated by Hindutva supporters that they spike the news that is unfavourable to the cause. Either that, or they are being run by morons.

I have suggested that my students go beyond the ToI and news channels for news – and look at other sources as well. And, while the whole truth may not be represented in the MSM, it is the start point to understanding any story. Read the Indian Express, Read the Hindu, read Tehelka, Read CounterCurrents, Read Atrocity News. Read what ever you can lay your hands on. All of them will contain biases – that is natural, the only unbiased person is a dead one! The truth will lie somewhere in the middle. What else could i tell them?

do check out Shivam Vij’s blog – he broke the Khairlanji story – and has stayed with it since.
Read the Tehelka coverage on Orissa.

And, Finally on Orissa –
if you are Hindu and reading this – maybe you would contemplate sending a message to the RSS and its allies. And, that is “This is not happening in my name. As a Hindu, I oppose this violence and hatred”. Just look at countries like Iran . Ordinary people didnt’ stand up against religious fundamentalism and look at the result. I hope and pray that India doesn’t become like that!

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Stuff that made me – in no particular order – think, chortle, smirk, snigger , slurp, nod my head wisely, with sorrow, and in a wtf mode. I shan’t identify which is what …coz it will be fun a year later to figure:

a) The Gender Divide exists in the work place in the US – not only in terms of salaries, but also in terms of power & decision making. There are surveys and action to back it up there, here it just happens. I was once told by a former (female) boss that a less experienced colleague was getting paid more than me – because he is the breadwinner. and because he had a family. I am female & single :( seriously).

b) The Great Fat Indian Wedding – at the BBC. They don’t quite know what to make of the former colony gone successful and rich. I sometimes think that they preferred it when we were poor & broke. That discomfort is definitely still there. Kind of the upper caste liberal discomfort when they have to share a table with the lower caste upwardly mobile. If it wasn’t so embarrassing to watch … it would be funny.

c) Would you pull the switch ? – a look back on the Stanley Milgram’s experiment’s

In a series of about 20 experiments, hundreds of decent, well-intentioned people agreed to deliver what appeared to be increasingly painful electric shocks to another person, as part of what they thought was a learning experiment. The “learner” was in fact an actor, usually seated out of sight in an adjacent room, pretending to be zapped.

and its link to violation of prisoners’ human rights.

d) News ‘wet’ dreams – Kay from Noose Media looks at the transference of political opinion in news reports.

e) Jabberwock’s review of Mahabharat is as entertaining as the series. I must admit that despite the kitsch i’m hooked by the series :)

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