Well this particular aspect of our Indian Society has always left me infuriated .. I've always denounced it since my childhood .. and even today when I notice people seriously discussing it , I feel an irresistible urge to display the mastery I possess over abuses and then plant a decent kick on their backs .. The movie ' Dasavataram' which I recently watched is no doubt one of the pathetic and wretched movies ever , but it successfully fanned the protesting spark me in to a bright flame which provoked me to pen it down..
The movie went back to the 12th century and portrayed the protagonist as a staunch ' Vaishnavaite' and the wicked king as a 'Shaivaite'. I was surprised to notice that the whole audience was applauding its way to glory when the protagonist uttered the words ' Om Namo Narayanaya' , which was considered morally offensive to the institution of Lord Shiva . He eventually gets tortured and killed in the most brutal way for hurting the religious sentiments of the king. Innocently , I turned to my cousin and asked her as to how different the words ' Om Nama Siva' are from those uttered by the hero. She then went on to explain the feud between the two communities - the Vaishnavaites and the Shaivaites. Strangely, I saw nothing heroic in what the protagonist did ( as opposed to what the audience felt). On the contrary, I was extremely appalled and felt that both the hero and king were supremely and equally insane. "How the heck could people belonging to the same religion raise voices over trivial arguments about sects ??? " ,was the immediate question which occurred to me. And then my cousin whispered into my ears " As if the society has changed today.." Is it not alarming that it's been 8 to 9 centuries hence and we are still the same ??? Hat's off to the determination and obstinacy of we people who have vowed not to budge from our stand and who have still chosen to wallow in a world infested with so called castes and religions.
The fact that people haven't changed an iota since centuries shoved me into a rude shock !! Any sermon or any seminar which we attend these days start off with the hackneyed phrase ' the advancements of science and technology are ...'. But nobody ever bothers about the maturity and broad-minded attitude which most people have failed to acquire over the times. Something more horrendous is the fact that even the educated lot is no better !! I still remember those early days of my college ,when people unhesitatingly came to me and enquired the caste I belonged to. Is it so important an attribute to be found out from your fellow classmates ?? I mean, as long as I am a human being with two legs and hands , how does the sect I come from ever matter ??? I definitely don't belong to the class of reptiles or animals , if the case were, would have seemed justified for a person to question my presence in the classroom . Yet another boon of the ' advancement of technology' are the social networking sites like orkut !! The 21st century's high-tech users with a so called 'cool attitude' have brazenly incorporated caste-centric communities which work for a 'very phenomenal' cause of bringing together people of the same sect, whose only goal would be to mindlessly glorify their respective classes. Worst still , they have no qualms in associating themselves with certain noble virtues , which they claim are categorical identities to their respective clans.
I was in for a sweet surprise on the day of Krishnashtami when I spotted my aunt's muslim maid paying her due respects to the footprints of Lord Krishna. When someone like her,who unfortunately couldn't get herself educated , could be so magnanimous and pure at heart , why is it that the fully educated class of people still resort to such atrocious gaffes ???
When shall we stop judging others by their castes ?? When will we begin to broaden our horizons of thinking ?? Why do I still notice people trumpeting the achievements of their class and demeaning the occupation of the others ?? Why is it that even the elite conform to the notion of endogamy?? How long would it still take for people to dump this abysmal concept into oblivion ??
Just imagine a world which is shorn of all possible communities and religions , which is complete with pure happiness and brotherhood and where all of us belong only to the species of 'human-beings'.
Let me now quote a dialogue from one of the superhits of telugu cinema which has enormously inspired me " Prapanchamantha oka kutumbam : vasudaika kutumbam" .. Is this realization going to elude us for the centuries to come ??? Hope not !!
The movie went back to the 12th century and portrayed the protagonist as a staunch ' Vaishnavaite' and the wicked king as a 'Shaivaite'. I was surprised to notice that the whole audience was applauding its way to glory when the protagonist uttered the words ' Om Namo Narayanaya' , which was considered morally offensive to the institution of Lord Shiva . He eventually gets tortured and killed in the most brutal way for hurting the religious sentiments of the king. Innocently , I turned to my cousin and asked her as to how different the words ' Om Nama Siva' are from those uttered by the hero. She then went on to explain the feud between the two communities - the Vaishnavaites and the Shaivaites. Strangely, I saw nothing heroic in what the protagonist did ( as opposed to what the audience felt). On the contrary, I was extremely appalled and felt that both the hero and king were supremely and equally insane. "How the heck could people belonging to the same religion raise voices over trivial arguments about sects ??? " ,was the immediate question which occurred to me. And then my cousin whispered into my ears " As if the society has changed today.." Is it not alarming that it's been 8 to 9 centuries hence and we are still the same ??? Hat's off to the determination and obstinacy of we people who have vowed not to budge from our stand and who have still chosen to wallow in a world infested with so called castes and religions.
The fact that people haven't changed an iota since centuries shoved me into a rude shock !! Any sermon or any seminar which we attend these days start off with the hackneyed phrase ' the advancements of science and technology are ...'. But nobody ever bothers about the maturity and broad-minded attitude which most people have failed to acquire over the times. Something more horrendous is the fact that even the educated lot is no better !! I still remember those early days of my college ,when people unhesitatingly came to me and enquired the caste I belonged to. Is it so important an attribute to be found out from your fellow classmates ?? I mean, as long as I am a human being with two legs and hands , how does the sect I come from ever matter ??? I definitely don't belong to the class of reptiles or animals , if the case were, would have seemed justified for a person to question my presence in the classroom . Yet another boon of the ' advancement of technology' are the social networking sites like orkut !! The 21st century's high-tech users with a so called 'cool attitude' have brazenly incorporated caste-centric communities which work for a 'very phenomenal' cause of bringing together people of the same sect, whose only goal would be to mindlessly glorify their respective classes. Worst still , they have no qualms in associating themselves with certain noble virtues , which they claim are categorical identities to their respective clans.
I was in for a sweet surprise on the day of Krishnashtami when I spotted my aunt's muslim maid paying her due respects to the footprints of Lord Krishna. When someone like her,who unfortunately couldn't get herself educated , could be so magnanimous and pure at heart , why is it that the fully educated class of people still resort to such atrocious gaffes ???
When shall we stop judging others by their castes ?? When will we begin to broaden our horizons of thinking ?? Why do I still notice people trumpeting the achievements of their class and demeaning the occupation of the others ?? Why is it that even the elite conform to the notion of endogamy?? How long would it still take for people to dump this abysmal concept into oblivion ??
Just imagine a world which is shorn of all possible communities and religions , which is complete with pure happiness and brotherhood and where all of us belong only to the species of 'human-beings'.
Let me now quote a dialogue from one of the superhits of telugu cinema which has enormously inspired me " Prapanchamantha oka kutumbam : vasudaika kutumbam" .. Is this realization going to elude us for the centuries to come ??? Hope not !!
4 comments:
You chose a nice topic which needs to be seriously considered nowadays. I guess ppl feel happy if the segregate themselves into groups and fight! It is kinda weird, coz whatever created this universe definitely did not create these communities
loved the title re .. i was expecting more on dasavatharam .. hehe .. i thought u would completely blast on it .. nevertheless another good post .. but try to keep them short .. ur blog is killing most of my valuable time .. i jz forget everything and keep reading ur blogs .. :-) i seriously recommend u to go to an editorialist and show ur work dude .. fluant it when have it in u .. ALL THE BEST .. !!
I like this post ra. Especially your expressing the concern over my-caste-first attitude. I had seen Dashavataram, was infuriated while listening to the First song.
i loved the sarcasm u've dropped in each time u pushed the strong opinions accross to the readers and the chivalary u bring accross each time is beyond words
n ya undoubtedly i could relate myself with ur say....it rather gave me a sense of contentment and i view a ray of hope now
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