This from the DNA:

An enterprising NRI doctor from East Godavari district has come up with a novel idea of an all purpose and inclusive housing colony for members of the Brahmin community near Hyderabad.

Resurrecting the traditional and conservationist ambience of the Agraharam from the Brahmin predominant East Godavari district, the colony will be spread over 1,200 acres on the city’s outskirts.

Branded Dhanwatari Agraharam, the proposed site is located 90km from Hyderabad on the Nagpur highway. All its 1,000 members are, well, Brahmins bound by the sale agreement with the promoters.

This includes observing the appropriate rituals and cultural ethos while they live in the independent homes being built for them. Smoking, consumption of alcohol and meat are forbidden in the colony.

The members should also not rear cats and dogs as these animals, true to their nature, hunt for flesh around the colonies.

Apart from sounding like a singularly boring place, it is possibly also one where most of the Hindu Pantheon will not gain acceptance, as many of them have vahans (vehicles) that are not only animals but also meat eating animals…….. the irony of it…..

I wonder whether, like in olden times, those who claim to be Brahmins will go from house to house and beseech - “Bhavati, Biksham Dehi ” - those who controlled knowledge (the Brahmins) were supposed to beg for their daily meal, so that the ugly world of commerce did not interfere with their “tapas” (endeavors).

There are whole localities in Mumbai that are ghettoized - there are zones that are exclusively Gujarati Hindu and vegetarian. Friends of mine in Bangur Nagar have to go and ask surreptitiously ask the grocer for Ram Phal — at which point of time he stealthily packs up eggs for them….. there are societies that are exclusively Muslim, go to Orlem and you will find it exclusively Goan Catholic … and so on…..ghettoizing always struck me as stupid - given our propensity for violence against a community or a set of ‘different people’… and it still strikes me that way……

Of course people have the right to choice, and to live the way that they want…. but i would assume that at a very basic level it is governed by the law of the land…..and this case,  more than others, where the exclusion is not explicit but implicit ( they will simply not sell you property) — seems to be very, very, on the borderline in terms of legality….

Technorati Tags: Brahmin, Hyderabad, Gujarati Hindu, Muslim, Goan Catholic

Tags: Caste, Hindu, India, Society

This from CNN IBN

Britain’s first state-funded Hindu school has come up with a unique definition of ‘practising Hindus’ as part of its admissions policy — those who pray daily, do voluntary work at temples, follow a vegetarian diet and abstain from intoxication.

My brothers and I would manage 25%. My mother , would get 75% , my dad would have been disqualified a long time ago.

I really wonder why the British taxpayer is paying for such a narrow definition of a religious school. In fact, why are they paying for religious education ?

Most Hindus, btw are non vegetarians. The vegetarian stricture primarily applies to the upper caste Hindu (read Brahmin) - and even those traditionally ate meat. I can pull out enough examples from Agastya to Vishwamitra … who were Brahmins & meat eaters….The school doesn’t seem ‘Hindu’ as much as some Gujarati Vaishnavite ISKON version of Hindu….. Trust an organisation like ISKON to take an exciting ‘God’ with an interesting personality and a colourful life — and convert him into something boring and judgmental.

Poor Kids…. they are never going to make good Hindus, and that is such a terrible thing to teach children … that you are failed ‘Hindus’

btw. The Bhagvad Purana is fairly clear that Krishna not only ate meat, but also drank Soma, Hunted, Loved, Married multiple times and was not averse to appreciating the female form…. I guess if he was born today he wouldn’t get admission in the school….:)

Tags: British, Hindu, Religion

Mumbai gets geared to welcome its favorite deity. Over the decades it has moved from being a Maharashtrian festival to something lots of others follow. This Ganpati is made almost in the style of Srinivasa of Tirupati - check out the tilak on the forehead, and the adornment at the back. This time last year, I took possession of the Lonavala house. This time two years ago, I was in hospital being operated for a gallstone. And the year before that SR, SK and I were running helter skelter trying to put on air our first show as a production house.

Tags: Ganpati, Hindu, India, Mumbai, Religion, Society

January Second, at about 5 a.m. on a cold desert’s winter morning, we drove down from Jaipur to Pushkar. It was my unlce’s 7th death anniversary, and my aunt wanted to offer prayers for his soul. The predominant colours along the journey were earths, a smattering of green and blues. Very few other colours in sight. The colours were stark, yet hypnotizingly beautiful. Everything in Pushkar - from the ‘holy’ cow to the sadhu (mendicant), the pujari’s (priests) to the camels, from the street singers to the lanurs - everyone and everything seems to be geared towards the pilgrim tourist. one man and his calf - a sadhu begging for alms on the streets of Pushkar - oops , trading blessings for cash. The holy cow on the steps of the temple - looking beatifically at the pilgrims who side step her to walk in. some great street food in Pushkar. Hot fried stuff on a cold winter’s morning- just what the doctor didn’t order ! Our guide told us that since this was a holy town, there could be no petrol pump here and people had to drive down to Ajmer to fill petrol. And Ajmer is not too far away. The car park where cycles, sumos, buses and camels jostle together for space. Pushkar is a visual treat - and if you are spiritual it is a great place to go to find solace. Even those who get after you in other temple towns, tend to leave you alone to your thoughts. I think that i would like to go back one day to Pushkar Pushkar Lake -where the bereaved, the penitent and the faithful ask for mukti (or liberation) from the cycle of birth and death.

The pious Pushkar Lake, believed to have been created by the falling of lotus from the hand of Lord Brahma. It is considered to be as old as the creation. The lake is considered as one of the most sacred spots, and believed that one dip in the waters of lake on Kartika Poornima is equivalent to performing yagnas for several hundred years.

A person meditating by the banks of the Pushkar Lake. Devotees at the Brahma temple, Pushkar While Rajasthan tourism claims that this is the only Brahma temple in the world, I have been to another in the southern temple town of Kumbakonnam. But the fact does remain that Brahma - the creator - is not really worshipped in the country. With a final look at the ghats, we drove off back to Jaipur to catch the Heritage on Wheels train journey. Luxury at its best.

Technorati Tags: Jaipur, Rajasthan, Kumbakonnam, Heritage on Wheels

Tags: Culture, Hindu, India, Photos, Pushkar, Rajasthan, Religion, Travel