I paced up and down, confused and demented by so many thoughts that came to my mind. I felt like a centipede who when asked how he manages to walk with so many legs, ended up on his back trying to intellectually figure it out. I got a copy of my own Bhagwat Geeta with an English translation to get an answer to my questions from the book of life. My fascination to read Geeta, died after I was constantly reminded of taking my shoes off before reading even if it was freezing cold, to read it only inside the temple and not lying on my bed, and to read it just after the bath and not anytime before or after. I don't remember the last time I went to a temple or touched the feet of an idol. Sometimes, once in a blue moon, my friend asks me to accompany her to the temple and I, out of my sisterly feeling for her, end up deviating from my route.
My trip to Maheshwar and Omkareshwar was more of a "just get the hell out of Bhopal" thing than a pilgrimage. Trying to figure out where my roots lie has got me more entangled and puzzled. I don't understand Hinduism, nor do I understand why there are so many idols to bow to when every other person around you claims, that God is one and omnipresent. That simply means God resides in every heart, so why not just bow in front of every other person? Why do we have to discriminate so much, first on the basis of caste and now on the basis of categories of General/OBC/SC/ST?
What difference does it make if I wash my hair on tuesdays, thursdays and saturdays? I don't understand why the priest is stuffed with food for 11 days when the servant that works in your house is made to go away empty stomach or just a banana to feed on to.
I kept searching for answers as to why Raven was evil-minded even though he was well versed with all the 4 Vedas and 6 Upanishads from which he got his name of Dashaanan or the man with 10 times the brain power? Why someone who abandoned his wife sceptically is still considered Parasme (most superior)? Why the religion which recommended renunciation on a deer skin and which considered slaughtering of a horse as a good will gesture to the new king can hang on to the myth of being a respectful culture.
I kept looking for solutions till I started watching "Bharat Ek Khoj". A culture with so many ifs and buts has seen and been crushed a lot. From Vedvyas to Chanakya, from Akbar to Shivaji, every other individual has remixed the songs sung from a long time. Being the off-springs of the same father, we are still strangers. "We The People" are still "you" and "me". But things have changed now and some things still need to change. Its high time people open their eyes and not force others to close their eyes and become blind.
My trip to Maheshwar and Omkareshwar was more of a "just get the hell out of Bhopal" thing than a pilgrimage. Trying to figure out where my roots lie has got me more entangled and puzzled. I don't understand Hinduism, nor do I understand why there are so many idols to bow to when every other person around you claims, that God is one and omnipresent. That simply means God resides in every heart, so why not just bow in front of every other person? Why do we have to discriminate so much, first on the basis of caste and now on the basis of categories of General/OBC/SC/ST?
What difference does it make if I wash my hair on tuesdays, thursdays and saturdays? I don't understand why the priest is stuffed with food for 11 days when the servant that works in your house is made to go away empty stomach or just a banana to feed on to.
I kept searching for answers as to why Raven was evil-minded even though he was well versed with all the 4 Vedas and 6 Upanishads from which he got his name of Dashaanan or the man with 10 times the brain power? Why someone who abandoned his wife sceptically is still considered Parasme (most superior)? Why the religion which recommended renunciation on a deer skin and which considered slaughtering of a horse as a good will gesture to the new king can hang on to the myth of being a respectful culture.
I kept looking for solutions till I started watching "Bharat Ek Khoj". A culture with so many ifs and buts has seen and been crushed a lot. From Vedvyas to Chanakya, from Akbar to Shivaji, every other individual has remixed the songs sung from a long time. Being the off-springs of the same father, we are still strangers. "We The People" are still "you" and "me". But things have changed now and some things still need to change. Its high time people open their eyes and not force others to close their eyes and become blind.
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