On Ram Navmi day, i was curious about the significance of this festival... So as my helper was cleaning the room, i asked her about the relevance of Ram Navmi..
Well, she told me everything about Ramayana, probably, but left me more curious about this day as i couldn't relate the day to what she said.
My room mate and i did laugh about the fact that she was responding as if i had asked a question to a kid, who doesn't know the answer but still tries to reply with much confidence on his face and feels that yes, i have fooled the person... But i had not been fooled.. Rather it probed me to question myself that we observe festivals and follow the traditions without actually knowing the significance...
I don't know whether that is right to do or wrong... We do celebrate, are happy and enjoy the festivals but in a way, we are we creating myths, superstitions for our future generation like our ancestors left for us...How?? Because we ourselves don't know the reasons, significance and facts for them..
We keep fast for days and months, that is fine considering that we are saving food for those who don't get to eat anything at all... But i think we should also be clear why are we keeping that fast, significance of the same and we should also have a choice whether we want to keep it or not rather than just blindly following the socially accepted trend...
And yeah, i asked later in the evening about the significance of Ram Navmi to my mom and she gave a relatively convincing answer that on this day Ram ji was born..
But another question arose in my mind that whether Ram ji is a figment of imagination of people or is it a reality??
Well, you can oppose my views and question them but let us have a healthy discussion on this theme because i feel it is important to question!!!
p.s---> I don't have a bias against Hindu religion but since it is politically correct to talk about one's own religion and be critical about it rather than talking about others and ending up being labelled as COMMUNAL... I am not so...
But that also doesn't leave people of other religions to think about it and comment..
:)
Thanks for reading!!
I have myself been in the same situation a lot of times, and I understand that it's difficult to write about such issue too as you always feel that it might offend someone else. I am not religious, I do not consider myself as a Hindu.. I don't wish religion to be a part of my identity. Though it has been a long journey, lot of questions and after considering a lot of things I came to this decision for myself. But this doesn't mean I don't respect others rights to practice their religion, what bothers me is when I am seen as a person with no moral grounds whenever I express such views. I feel that this is completely wrong and ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteComing back to your post, I completely agree that it's no use following things blindly because most of the people aren't convinced themselves as to why they are doing a particular ritual. It's about time we question things which are deep inside us..
well i knw dat u r a barawala nastik and its tru in d sense dat we really dont knw much abt our religion.we blindly follow odrs and start blivin in dem wich is not ryt.if u ask me, well der z a power but i really dont c it in any form.dats my blif. again wonderful piece of wrk but i knw dere r ppl who will definately oppose to dis. but nevr mind. i stand by u alwz :)
ReplyDelete@ Neeru: Yes, i completely agree and i do feel that one should have a choice to practice or not to practice religion.. And next time somebody questions you about this, get into a healthy debate and i m sure the person will atleast try to respect ur beliefs... We do not want to change anyone's belief...Do we? We want them to question their own beliefs and the change will itself follow..
ReplyDeleteIn this way, we are not inducing a change according to our whims and wishes... Its good if a person has some beliefs and if by praying he/she gets a mental relief, burns out one's stress or anything... I might dance to do that or i might sing...or i might write... I think dis scope and respect of individuality should be there if we want to live a good life... We have to stop criticizing and start respecting and questioning... Dat z wat i believe z d ryt thing to get d discussion started with...
@ Banani: I respect ur beliefs darling and i know how practical and rational u r wid ur beliefs... Love u for encouraging me al d tym...Miss u..
i think this is not just about good wishes we should consciously try to propagate rational and scientific world view. no doubt religion is reactionary.it is taking humanity back to stone age. it might have had some progressive role for primitives when there was no science. we have to clear all smokescreen of religion. i think a book by Richard Dawkins titled 'The God Delusion' is of great help for all category of agnostics and for those who atleast accept logic...
ReplyDeletejust read the piece and also the comments and could not stop myself from getting into this argument. But first the historical evidence. There are historical and archaeological evidences (apart from the Adam's bridge) to suggest that there are ppl who responded to the calls of Ravana, Raam, etc etc. But i think what we have got confused here is the fact that Ramayana and also mahabharatha are both epics and forms of prose which are always prone to be written with plenty of euphemisms for the protagonists....so we can set aside all thats fantastic in both the books. So it is a story of a Prince from Ayodhya who had a wife who got abducted by Ravan (ruler of lanka)and who required help from Vaanars...period. (For your interest you could also do some old fashioned Sanddhi vicched of the hindi word vaanar......it might ring some bells....) Many dravidian theorists have and not without evidence debated that Ramayana is also an anti dravidian pro aryan piece of work.
ReplyDeleteSecondly and more interestingly i am captured by the point by one of your friends who says that i dont think iam an HIndu...well etymologically Hindu refers to anyone who is born or who shares a parentage of people who are born on the eastern side of river Indus or sindh. very similar to the concept of HIndustan which does not mean that India is a land of some people who mistakenly take the right to call themselves "HIndu". But that is a long debate and will take up much more space than this dialogue box....Moot point whether you like it or not by definition you are a hindu! ohh yessnot the commonly understood term but the original word....
final point- Rama was real but maybe not like what the "sangh" parivaar would want us to believe and so were hanuman ravan......etc etc
A really well written piece...I so agree with you that for most of us- our generation- festivals are just what we celebrate without knowing why...and I think for people who are open about questioning religion festivals are just a time to get together with ones family and celebrate. And yes if only we knew for sure whether God or its various forms are true or not life would have been much simpler for people who are open to question things....
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