I believe I can fly

Yes, I truly do. Even if the only way to do so is trust machinery weighing a few tons :-) I also like to think. Which is not the same as saying I do think. Thinking is an area of human activity where I have a lot of catching up to do.

Posts Tagged God

Fast, feast and God

Mar 6

Posted by The Practical Idealist in General | 6 Comments

I was having lunch with a colleague, and as I waited for him to join me at the table with the food ordered from the café, I was surprised to find that he was having only fruit slices for lunch. Being a good eater myself, I asked him what the matter was, and he said, between mouthfuls, that he was fasting today since it was Shivaraathri. He went on to add disapprovingly, still between mouthfuls, that they – the caterers – did not offer any upvaas food on this occasion. (Did you notice the oxymoron in “upvaas food”?)

It’s sometimes really funny what we do in the name of God. We observe fasts in deference to Him; we also feast, delighting in His victory over evil (ignore, for a moment, that God has no good or evil, since He is above all attributes). Is it normal that human beings can starve themselves as well as gorge themselves in the name of one Divine entity? Does it even make sense?

My take on fasts is that they are useful for us, humans, in two ways:

  1. they help us keep our taste buds in check
  2. they give our digestive system a break from their daily, almost non-stop routine
  3. they’re useful in developing some sort of self-control

What do you think? Is there any hope for human beings at all in the light of such oddball behaviour?

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Deities, statues and devotion

Sep 21

Posted by The Practical Idealist in General | 1 Comment

In Hinduism, it’s an accepted practice, and sometimes even recommended, to have an image / statue / icon of your favourite deity in your altar so that you something to help you focus your thoughts on it. There’s an elaborate set of rituals on how one must take care of such an object, which is considered not different from the very God whom it represents. In other words, the image / statue / icon IS God. For those of you coming from Christianity or other reasons, this may seem quite heathenish, but that’s quite all right, considering your credo. Anyway, it’s not my intention now to expound on idol worship and its pros and cons.

I’m here to talk about (rant, if you will) something that ticks me off. Quite a lot! With such a wealth of meaning behind the use of idols, it’s a disgrace when one dances brazenly in front of an idol, that too under the guise of devotion. It speaks of many things – stupidity readily comes to mind – but what I mainly think of is the insolence of the whole thing. Wait, let me come to the point.

It’s the Vinaayaka Chathurthi (Ganesh Chathurthi anywhere north of South India) season and in this moronic city, the morons take to the streets and start their kootthu (that’s revelry in Tamizh). If revelry is their primary motive, I wouldn’t be filled with so much loathing, but when they display the God’s idols and then play “Dhoom machaale” and then dance in a demeaning way to the beat of that song (a rather mindless one at that, I must add), I find that my tolerance has been breached. What takes the cake is the organisers of these so-called religious festivities get drunk in the nights before the revelry starts!

When are we ever going to learn to be truthful to a concept or an ideal? These humans! Yuck!

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