Define Brahman

In one of my usual browsing sessions today, I came across a wiki article that raised a very elemental question.

What is the authenticity of the rituals that we follow today in the name of religion (Hinduism in particular)? More precisely, who is a Brahman?

There are copies of the Bible and Quran in certain museums but a complete collection of the Vedas/Shrutis is unheard of. Online archives of the same are of dubious authencity. Perhaps it is largely owing to the early origins of the same. However, the question remains as to the validity of our rituals and ceremonies.

Is a Brahman caste a result of heredity? Or was it meant as a class/distinction granted to meritorious students in the gurukuls? It is a known fact that not all Brahman children are brilliant and vice versa. Therefore, how is it fair to deny the right of our scriptures to our meritorious counterparts simply because they are not conferred the Brahman caste?

The learning of the Vedas was a closely guarded secret for ages. The same has been passed from one generation to the other mostly by word of mouth. Granted that such individuals were learned men of the highest order. Questioning their integrity is definitely a no brainer but what about the interpretation of the shrutis from one generation to the other?

It is an accepted fact that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. If Brahman is a product of heredity, why then were Brahman women denied the right to scriptures by the so called brahmins? We know for a fact that women like Gargi, Maitreyee, Khana and others were conferred the Brahman title and elaborate thread ceremonies were performed for them by the rishis. So where did it all change and why? If Brahman is a result of an unbroken line of male descendants and progeny which undoubtedly is a factor of two (of which one is deliberately kept ignorant), what is the guarantee that the resulting gene will be of the highest order?

Coming from a "unbroken" Brahman family where women are treated equal if not superior to men, I have had the privilege to question our roots. I find it depressing when people are rejected as proper alliances in our family simply bcoz of their caste. I am a devotee of Krishna and find myself increasingly being drawn to the teachings of Sanatana Dharma. Is there a clear answer to all my questions which will resurrect my complete faith in the caste system?

transliteration ;-)

The European Commission has just announced that English will be the
official language of the European Union. German, which was the other
possibility, narrowly missed out.

During negotiations, the British Government conceded that English
spelling had some room for improvement and accepted a 5-year phase-in
plan that would become known as "Euro-English".

In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly this will
make sivil servants jump with joy. The hard "c" will be dropped in favor
of "k". This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less
letter.

There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the
troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f". This will make words like
fotograf 20% shorter.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted
to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.
Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have
always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the
horibl mes of the silent "e" in the languag is disgrasful and it should
go away.

By the 4th yer pepl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with
"z" and "w" with "v".

During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining
"ou" and after zis fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensibl riten styl. Zer
vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu
understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru.

Und after zis fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German; lik zey vunted in
ze forst plas.

English is easy

I am lucky to have a father who is a convent educated walking-talking dictionary of the English language. He created the basic platform for me to learn accent free English. I was lucky again in my schooling where my teachers spoke excellent English. I have often been complimented on my English by people of different races. Not all of us are that lucky I know, yet....

How difficult can it be to speak fluent English? Why do most Indians have a mother tongue influence only while speaking English but can converse like a pro in other regional languages? What can be so difficult about speaking accent free, grammatically correct sentences in ENGLISH???

I have nothing against those who choose not to learn English. In fact I am proud of them and think of them as true Indians. At least they have an identity. I love all Indians who travel to foreign lands knowing just their mother tongue and force foreigners to decipher their signals. But what about those who choose to learn half baked stuff and cannot even carry it off?

Why then do we get angry when a white skin mocks our accent yet choose to keep quite when he speaks ridiculous Hindi (and do not give me the cultural values crap). Why do we at all respond to foreigners who do not even bother to bring a language dictionary along on their trips to India? Meet the same foreigner in Spain or Italy or Russia or for that matter in Afghanistan and he will have invested in a local language dictionary.

Meet a Russian or an Israeli and u know he/she understands perfect English, but will not speak the same out of sheer pride for their own language.

Are Indians greedy? Do we really still nurture a slave mentality? Questions like these result in heated arguments in the so called "intellectual" communities. When will we face up to reality? How long will it take for Indians to discover their true individualities?

The woes of a Bengali Boy

Hilarious! A must read.

"In this post I will attempt to alert people to a great injustice that is being perpetrated upon the sons of Bengal. So you thought they were wimpy to begin with. Far from it, my friend. Their current state is a result of years of conditioning by the oppressors - namely the women. By using a variety of psychological weapons, they have reduced these fine men to what you see today.

Today we focus on the first weapon in their hands - the nickname.

When a son is born into a Bengali household, he is gifted with a resonant, sonorous name. Bengali names are wonderful things. They convey majesty and power. A man with a name like Prasenjit, Arunabha or Sukanta is a man who will walk with his head held high, knowing that the world expects great deeds from him, which was why they bestowed the title that is his name upon him.

But it simply will not do for these men to get ahead of themselves. Their swelling confidence needs to be shattered. How can one go about it? This task is left to the mothers of these lads and is accomplished by the simple act of referring to the boy, not by his fine-sounding real name, but by a nickname which Shakti Kapoor would be ashamed to answer to. Their are some rules for creating nicknames, which need to be followed. They are -

1) Nicknames must have no connection to the real name. Arunabha cannot be called Arun. No, for that would be logical, and such things are anathema in the world of women. Instead he shall be called Bhombol. If possible, the nickname and real name must have no letters in common, but an ancient alphabet proves to be the constraining factor there.

2) Nicknames must be humiliating. If you are a tall strapping boy, with a flair for soccer, an easy charm and an endearing personality, then you shall be nicknamed - Bhondu. And every time, you have set your sights on a girl, and are on the verge of having the aforementioned lass eat out of your hand - your mother will arrive and pronounce loudly - "Bhondu, chalo". The ensuing sea of giggles will drown out whatever confidence you had earned from that last winning free-kick.

3) A nickname must refer in some way to a suitably embaressing incident in your childhood that you would give your arm and leg to forget. If it took you a little too long to shed your baby fat, then years of gymming will not rid you of the nomenclature - Motka. If your face turned crimson when you cried as a toddler, you will be called Laltu. When you turn 40, your friends' children will call you Laltu Uncle. Even age will not earn you the right to be taken seriously thereafter.

4) Different members of the family will make up different nicknames - each more embaressing than the preceding one. If one member of the family calls you Piklu, then another will call you Mitul, and another will call you Jumbo. The humiliation multiplies.

5) You will always be introduced by your nickname until people forget you had a real name. Ranajoy might have taken on a gang of armed men single-handedly, but Toton really didn't have a chance. After a point Toton will completely take over the beaten body of Ranajoy,
weighed down by the pressure of a thousand taunts.

This strategy is surprisingly effective. Ask yourself - would you take Professor Rintu seriously? Or put much weight by the opinion of Dr. Bubai? Or march into battle under the command of General Thobla?

The power of the nickname has scarred the psyche of Bengali men everywhere. It follows them like a monkey on their backs. That too, a monkey with a flair for slapstick, that was gifted to them by their own mothers."

Rooted

I am a probashi (non resident) Bengali. Born and brought up entirely in Hyderabad.
Until about 3 years ago, if someone criticized Kolkata for its impoverished conditions, I would have supported their views wholeheartedly. But not any longer. I agree, that in comparison to other metros, kolkata is sadly lacking on several counts, especially infrastructure!!!

However, there is absolutely no way in which any other city in the WORLD can be "THE CITY OF JOY" other than kolkata. And these are not my words, they are DOMINIQUE LAPIERE'S.

To understand the dilapidated condition of this historical city, u must first read up its history. U talk of expansion, infrastructure malls, industry, maintenance.....Remember the number of times, this very city was chosen as the capital city by different rulers time and time again?

Remember the time when this little city had to accommodate an exodus of refugees from Bangladesh and Pakistan? Remember how this glorious city of ours provided food, shelter, clothing, work and prestige to our homeless brothers and sisters?

U complain of lack of space!!!! Answer this question first - where would any of us b today, if Kolkata had not given our ancestors space then???

U want to know of industries here!!!! Kolkata houses the largest and possibly the best leather industry in the country!!! It has jute and cotton industries as well. And why wud u want to build industries in a city where every inch of land is cultivable!!!!

Check out the week magazine article of June 2006. It has an article on the rising industrialists of Bengal. From leathers exports to jute mills, from packaged food to cutting edge technology, we have it all!!!! AND NO THEY R NOT MARWARIS. They r very much "BENGALIS"

There was a time when I too complained of the such things as dirt, ill-maintenance, potholes, open drains, dingy roads, pollution, rickety buses, dark alleys....so on and so forth....

I was loathe to visit that beautiful city every summer. Never understood its beauty before. Never saw the beatific smile of the poor child, bathing on the road side.

Today I know what I have missed! Don't go by first impressions, they are not always right! Look around the city on foot if possible and u'll simply fall in love with Kolkata.

Despite all that apparent disarray, Kolkata is a shopper's paradise. A unique city that houses the filthy rich and the sickly poor with equanimity. Why do u think, that despite such under development, the richest Indian "Mr. Laxmi Narayan Mittal" celebrated his wards marriage there?

Show me one other city that can match up to Kolkata's variety of sweets and delicacies!!!
Show me just one more city where u get to eat a stomach full of "Bhaat, dal and Macher Jhol" for just Rs 8!!!!! Show me one other city where u actually get merchandise below the prescribed MRP (which is as it should b).

Show me one other city where the entire community comes together to celebrate one single festival on the scales of our DURGA PUJO. Not even Mumbai can come close to it.

I request u to read the novel "shei shomoy" or "THOSE DAYS"(in English) by Sunil Gangopadhyay before ur next visit to kolkata. It will possibly help u to understand Kol better. It certainly did help me. Remember, there is more to kolkata than meets the eye. Don't blame the lack of infrastructure on the city. The blame lies with incompetent old fools who used to pass by as politicians earlier.
Check up on the development of the city in the last couple of years and u'll b proud to b a part of the city.

Of course, non-resident Bnegali's like me will probably choose Hyderabad or other metros over kolkata, but we have absolutely no right to criticize this splendid city.

Food for thought

* The President of India DR. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam 's Speech in Hyderabad ... *


Why is the media here so negative?

Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our
achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success
stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why?
We are the first in milk production.
We are number one in Remote sensing satellites.
We are the second largest producer of wheat.
We are the second largest producer of rice.
Look at! Dr. Sudarshan , he has transferred the tribal village into a
self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements
but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters. I
was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the
day
after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The
Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a
Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert into an orchid
and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The
gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the
newspaper, buried among other news.

In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so
NEGATIVE? Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign
things? We want foreign T. Vs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign
technology.

Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that
self-respect comes with self-reliance? I was in Hyderabad giving this
lecture,
when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal
in life is. She replied: I want to live in a developed India . For her,
you and I will have to build this developed India . You must proclaim. India
is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation. Do you
have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance.

Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read; otherwise, choice is
yours.
YOU say that our government is inefficient.
YOU say that our laws are too old.
YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage.
YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke,
The airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination.
YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.

YOU say, say and say. What do YOU do about it?
Take a person on his way to Singapore . Give him a name - YOURS. Give him a
face - YOURS. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International
best. In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in
the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground links as they are. You pay
$5 (approx. Rs. 60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim
Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU come back to the parking
lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or
a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity... In Singapore you
don't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public during
Ramadan, in Dubai . YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered
in Jeddah. YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange
in London at 10 pounds ( Rs.650) a month to, 'see to it that my STD and ISD
calls are billed to someone else.'YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph
(88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop,
'Jaanta hai main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son.
Take your two bucks and get lost.' YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell
anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New
Zealand .
Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo ? Why don't YOU use
examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston ??? We are still
talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system
in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and
cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an
involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the
same here in India ?

Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay , Mr.
Tinaikar , had a point to make. 'Rich people's dogs are walked on the
streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place,' he said. 'And
then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the
authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the
officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressure
in his bowels?
In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job.
Same in Japan . Will the Indian citizen do that here?' He's right. We go to
the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility.
We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do
everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the
government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all
over the place nor are we going to stop to pick a up a stray piece of paper
and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms
but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms.
We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and
toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity.
This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to
the public. When it comes to burning social issues like those related to
women, dowry, girl child! and others, we make loud drawing room
protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? 'It's the
whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my
sons' rights to a dowry.' So who's going to change the system?
What does a system consist of ? Very conveniently for us it consists of our
neighbours, other households, other cities, other communities and the
government. But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually
making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with
our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far
away and wait for a Mr.Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a
majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away.
Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their
glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to
England . When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out
to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and
brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape
the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is
mortgaged to money.

Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great
deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too.... I am echoing J. F.
Kennedy 's words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians.....

'ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA
AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA
WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY'

Lets do what India needs from us.

Forward this mail to each Indian for a change instead of sending Jokes or
junk mails.

Thank you,

Dr. Abdul Kalaam

Not necessarily true but definitely a fun read

A is for Awpheesh (as in Office). This is where the average Kolkakatan goes and spends a day hard at work. And if he works for the 'Vest Bengal

Gawrment' he will arrive at 10, wipe his forehead till 11, have a tea break at 12, throw around a few files at 12.30, break for lunch at 1, smoke an unfiltered cigarette at 2, break for tea at 3, sleep sitting down at 4 and go home at 4:30. It's a hard life!

B is for Bhision. For some reason many Bengalis don't have good bhision. In fact in Kolkata most people are wearing spectacles all the time.

C is for Chappell. Currently, this is the Bengali word for the Devil, for the worst form of evil. In the night mothers put their kids to sleep saying, 'Na ghumaley Chappell eshey dhorey niye jabe.'

D is for Debashish or any other name starting with Deb. By an ancient law every fourth Bengali Child has to be named Debashish. So you have a Debashish everywhere and trying to get creative they are also called Deb, Debu, Deba with variations like Debopriyo, Deboprotim, Debojyoti etc. thrown in at times.

E is for Eeesh. This is a very common Bengali exclamation made famous by Aishwarya Rai in the movie Devdas. It is estimated that on an average a Bengali, especially Bengali women, use eeesh 10,089 times every year. 'Ei Morechhey' is a close second to Eeesh.

F is for Feeesh. These are creatures that swim in rivers and seas and are a favourite food of the Bengalis. Despite the fact that a fish market has such strong smells, with one sniff a Bengali knows if a fish is all right. If not, he will say 'eeesh what feeesh is theesh!'

G is for Good name. Every Bengali boy will have a good name like Debashish or Deboprotim and a pet name like Motka, Bhombol, Thobla, etc. While every Bengali girl will have pet names like Tia, Tuktuki, Mishti, Khuku, et cetera.

H is for Harmonium. This the Bengali equivalent of a rock guitar,.take four Bengalis and a Harmonium and you have the successors to The Bheatles!

I is for lleesh. This is a feeesh with 10,000 bones which would kill any ordinary person, but which the Bengalis eat with releeesh!

J is for Jhola. No selfrespecting Bengali is complete without his Jhola. It is a shapeless cloth bag where he keeps all his belongings and he fits an amazing number of things in. Even as you read this there are two million jholas bobbling around Kolkata, and they all look exactly the same! Note that 'Jhol' as in Maachher Jhol is a close second.

K is for Kee Kaando! It used to be the favourite Bengali exclamation till eeesh took over because of Aishwarya Rai (now Kee Kando's agent is trying to hire Bipasha Basu).

L is for Lungi, the dress for all occasions. People in Kolkata manage to play football and cricket wearing it not to mention the daily trip in the morning to the local bajaar. Now there is talk of a lungi expedition to Mt Everest.

M is for Minibus. These are dangerous half buses whose antics would effortlessly frighten the living daylights out of all James Bond stuntmen as well as Formula 1 race car drivers.

N is for Nangto. This is the Bengali word for Naked. It is the most interesting naked word in any language!

O is for Oil. The Bengalis believe that a touch of mustard oil will cure anything from cold (oil in the nose), to earache (oil in the ear), to cough (oil on the throat) to piles (oil you know where!).

P is for Phootball. This is always a phavourite phassion of the Kolkattan. Every Bengali is born an expert in this game. The two biggest clubs there are Mohunbagan and East Bengal and when they play the city comes to a stop.

Q is for Queen. This really has nothing to do with the Bengalis or Kolkata, but it's the only Q word I could think of at this moment. There's also Quilt but they never use them in Kolkata.

R is for Robi Thakur. Many many years ago Rabindranath got the Nobel Prize. This has given the right to all Bengalis no matter where they are to frame their acceptance speeches as if they were directly related to the great poet and walk with their head held high. This also gives Bengalis the birthright to look down at Delhi and Mumbai and of course 'all non-Bengawlees'! Note that 'Rawshogolla' comes a close second !

S is for Shourav. Now that they finally produced a genuine cricketer and a captain, Bengalis think that he should be allowed to play until he is 70 years old. Of course they will see to it that he stays in good form by doing a little bit of 'jawggo' and 'maanot'.

T is for Trams. Hundred years later there are still trams in Kolkata. Of course if you are in a hurry it's faster to walk.

U is for Aambrela. When a Bengali baby is born he is handed one.

V is for Bhaayolence. Bengalis are the most non-violent violent people around. When an accident happens they will fold up their sleeves, shout and scream and curse and abuse, "Chherey De Bolchhi" but the last time someone actually hit someone was in 1979.

W is for Water. For three months of the year the city is underwater and every year for the last 200 years the authorities are taken by surprise by this!

X is for X'mas. It's very big in Kolkata, with Park Street fully lit up and all Bengalis agreeing that they must eat cake that day.

Y is for Yesshtaarday. This is always better than today for a Bengali (see R for Robi Thakur).

Z is for Jebra, Joo, Jipper and Jylophone

Questioning part 2

Ravan ke amra shobai boli kharaap, rakhos etyadi.

Picture this - ekta normal, brave, hot blooded...loker boner keu jodi naak kaan kete day, to she ki taar protishod nebe na???

Ete ravan er dosh ta kothay?

Surpanokha to lakshman ke khali biye korte cheyechilo. Lakshman (a frustrated soul) politely request ta decline korte paarto ki na? Ekta meyer naak kataar ki dorkaar chilo? .
Now u may wonder je aami Lakshman ke frustrated keno bollam? First of all, biyer porei nijer bou ke chere 14 bochor er bonobaas kaat te holo. Seu abaar nijer sautela bhai er jonno. Bou ke chere boudi'r pechone jawa ta loke aajkaal kemon jeno nojor diye dekhe . Kono sherom bravery awards o pelo na. Meghnath er ek teer ei kaat hoye gelo. Shei Hanuman to the rescue ....ke sanjivani aante holo....

Hanuman er o religion niye ektu confusion acche...doesn't hanuman rhyme with suleiman, rehman, englishman???

Ne more thoughts ????

Questioning the questionable

Aaj office e ekta daarun discussion holo kichu colleagues er shonge...about Durga Pujo. This is purely fun and is in no way meant to hurt sentiments. I being pretty religious myself treat this as just a humorous anecdote.

Discussion ta ki theke shuru holo bolte gele onek time lege jaabe, tai jist tai likhchi. Mot Kotha holo je amra je eto ghota/bahaar kore Durga (Goddess Durga and her Family) pujo kori proti bochor, taar theke amra ki shikkha pai?

Durga as incorrectly believed is not really the wife of Shiv (Durga and Parvati are different entities). She is actually an embodiment/culmination of the powers of all gods/goddesses.

Therefore, that makes Parvati a very frustrated wife . Then comes the chequered pasts of all of Durga's children...

Ganesh - Created by Parvati from bath cosmetics, decapacited by Shiv, added with a makeshift elephant head, obese and last but not the least - married to a BANNANA tree (of course coz he wasn't getting married otherwise...)

Saraswati - Another frustrated soul...frustrated with extreme knowledge, skill and beauty (some details are edited to make this family safe).

Kartik - Born from a reed, adopted by Shiv, extremely good looking/decorated and figure conscious, Likes flashy vehicles, out & out playboy (or probably impo----), never married till date.

Lakshmi - Gorgeous and wealthy, married to a philandering husband, never had a family of her own despite being her husband's so called favorite.

Last but not the least SHIV - Indulges in all vices, keeps dressing to a minimum, has questionable associations/hangouts, takes his consort along everywhere even when he is with his wife!!!

Eto kichu shotteo, amader purbo purush ra (undeniable WISE MEN) emni ekta family ke pujjoniyo keno bole chilo??? Aar tai jodi hoye tahole western culture ke noggonno keno bolechilo? Double standards er maane ta doubly dubious hoye geche.

P.S - Please keep future comments lighthearted and humorous as that is the only intention of this post.

My friend revisited

Summer holidays always meant a trip to my mother's hometown. It is a quaint district town in West Bengal and has a charm all its own.

There is a little temple nearby that my grandparents would take me to everyday. The deities (3 of them) in the temple are actually our family deities which we could no longer maintain owing to financial reasons.

My favorite amongst the three, ever since I was a toddler, was a life sized, blue colored little child who stood with his legs crossed at the ankles, holding a flute at his lips.

Granny would tell me several stories about that child who did a lot of mischief when he lived in our home.

Sometimes the child would go out early in the morning and steal fresh peas from a Muslim farmer's crop and sometimes just hide our belongings and return them only when he was offered a pack of salt!

Being a quite child myself, I enjoyed listening to such mischievous activity of someone who I thought was my age.

Today I no longer have the time to go to my hometown and gaze at that lovely face. I console myself with a little golden idol gifted by my father. I keep my Gopal/Krishna at my desk and offer him all sorts of goodies that I personally like. My Gopal loves chocolates, biscuits, chips, cold drinks too, apart from the usual fruits and sweets.

I wonder why we restrict our offerings to God to and sweets only. Don't we get tired of eating the same kind of food everyday? Why then do we restrict God from eating tasty food when it is he who provides us with the means to eat tasty eats?

I learnt sometime back that in Iskcon they feel the same way as I do. Perhaps someday I shall be able to bring my little friend to some temple in Iskcon where he will no longer have to make mischief to eat better stuff.

Meanwhile, just hold on Gopal.

Am I fallback from a different era?

Have never been much of a TV person ever. For a change however, I watched a documentary today. Have been feeling really depressed ever since about the condition of our society at large.

Why is there such duplicity and selfishness amongst the young generation today?

We are the first to critize our parents when they fail to provide for some of our needs. Towards the end of the their lives when they need us most, we happily send them to old age homes and consider having done our duties!!!

Why does marriage between two individuals not result in a happy union of two families as well? Why are we so selfish these days that we marry someone thinking only of our selfish needs and forget all about our parents?

Why are women unable to treat their in-laws with the same love and respect as her own family and vice-versa? Why do men feel burdened when reminded of their in-laws?

We talk management mumbo-jumbo like - "Take responsibility of your actions", "Owe upto your responsibility", "Be responsible", "Take up more responsibility" - and all of that crap without ever understanding the meaning of the word responsibility.

Where are we headed with such escapist & materialistic attitudes?