Ladies !! Why not pray to Hanuman "Bhaiyya" ???

My lifelong search for the supreme power has led me to a way of life different from "idol worship". But I respect all those who practice it.

This post is for those people who believe in "a particular"  Hindu God and and are devout worshipers.  Some adore "Ganpati" (symbol of wisdom and trouble remover), some "Laxmi" (the symbol of prosperity), some adore "Saraswati" (the symbol of knowledge and education) and some others pray to Lord "Hanuman" -  the western world knows him as the "monkey God"  and he is the symbol of strength, power, wisdom, friendship. This post is for Devout Hanuman worshipers.

Now the thing is that Hanuman is said to have been "Bal Brahmchaari" (a celibate, since birth) some people who believe in Hanuman and worship him, also believe that it is only for men to worship him and women "MUST" keep away from his thoughts or his worship.

MY QUESTION : 

Why should women keep away from worshipping Hanuman just because he was a Brahmchaari OR celibate ? Is there only one kind of relationship between men and women ??

Logically, if a woman is being raped and she urges Hanuman for help, what kind of reply do you think he would give : 

" I will not help you because you are a woman"

Or 

"yes my dear sister/daughter even before you tell me, I will fight all the evil to protect all the innocent"

Which reply seems more likely to you ??

My conclusion, there is nothing wrong with the concept of women worshiping hanuman.

Why I made this conclusion, the points are listed below for further thought :

1.  A "brahmchaari" is a person who keeps away from sexual relationships.  But this does not mean that brahmchaari's do  not have sisters, mothers, adopted daughters and so on...

 So a Bramhchaari or a Baal-Brahmchaari can very well have women in his life with all the other relationships but not sex.  Hanuman, was no different.

2. Hanuman had a very good relationship with  "Sita" who was a woman and Ram's wife. He called her "sister- in law" with respect. (Literature says so) . Infact he even offered her to take her with him from Raavan's palace back to where her husband was waiting for her. This point supports my point number one. 

3. Hanuman is the protector of "good" and he fights evil. he will do it without any kind of discrimination because discrimination itself promotes evil.

If you think I have missed something, please make a comment and add your suggestions.

I am missing India !

American Junk Food

Indian Junk Food

It has been five months since I came to USA and now I am missing India like anything. May be other people who are away from their respective countries also feel the same ? That is why I  thought of expressing myself here on my blog. I was born in Mumbai and brought up over there itself. India is a big and a diverse country. I was lucky enough to have traveled many places in India with my parents over all these years. Travel being one of my hobbies I now miss the beautiful places that I saw in India.There is yet much to see and experience for me in America. But the way in which both places are beautiful is different I guess. Also, it is not easy to adjust in a country other than the one where one is born and lived all their life.Before I left India in June 2010,  I was very excited to come to the US. This was only the second time I was going to get to see another country (first one being Nepal which was geographically and culturally very close to India). I was also somewhat afraid of getting a culture shock which I never suffered ultimately  :)

Though the list is long I am trying to present a compressed one here (this list is of course besides the family and friends) :

What I miss about India :


1. Places of tourist interest, the Indian hill stations, mountains and rivers particularly of north India.


2. Eating the Indian chaat (Indian junk food) like paani puri, ragda, samosa and bhel....ooohhhhh !! (I knew I am going to miss it so I had lots of it before I left India)


3. The Indian railways which I extensively used to travel around India. (including the suburban rail of Mumbai minus the crowd).  :)


4. The monsoon of Mumbai.


5. My lovely stray babies in India whom I could have helped if I was there.


What I love about USA :


1. The dignity of labor


2. The polite nature of most Americans.


3. The freedom in this culture.


4. Equality.


5. The organisation in every place that I see around.


Image Courtesy : Google Images

Is there a connection between noise and celebrations ?

Once again I am going to talk in this post with special reference to our (Indian) culture in the present times and the "mistakes" that we make as a group. I am attempting to look in the minds of my fellow brothers and sisters ands understand the reasons for some of our peculiar behaviors.

The behavior of which I am making note here today is that, we tend to celebrate (it may be any celebration) with a lot of noise. We have a whole lot festivals in a year... the most recent one was “Ganesh Chaturthi" (Since I am in Mumbai therefore bigger celebrations for this festival). Like every year. There were visarjanas taking place on various days during this 10 day festival. There would be long Ques on the road with different mandals taking Ganpati for immersion and almost all of them bring a band along with them on the way to the immersion site. Not one, not two but multiple bands are playing at the same time… ending up in nothing but a cacophony!! These bands anyways do not play any meaningful music. It is really very sad that for different reasons, not one of them which are likely to be practical and factual, we behave in ways which are less civilized!

We are in society, and every society has some more vulnerable people like the old , pregnant women, people with hypertension or any other disease which makes them highly sensitive to noise, poor animals on the streets and in the homes (The hearing capability of most animals like cats and dogs is many many times more than us which makes them HIGHLY vulnerable to deafness or madness because of noise pollution during Diwali and other festivals).

I totally fail to understand HOW can be so insensitive towards the needs of those who reside alongside us and still call our self educated and civilized!! It is noteworthy that, in the modern world that man has created for himself, there are already enough sources of noise which are invariably harming the environment (therefore harming us). But many of these are factors are less controllable. The topic that I am dealing with here is the kind of noise pollution that can be totally avoided !! So are we trying enough to stop or avoid the harm that we can?

I thought about some probable reasons, why we as a community make our celebrations noisy:

1. Our thought process is such that, if we do not make noise (which many people call music) there is a subtle fear that we will be interpreted as "less happy".
2. We have never thought about other, more peaceful ways of celebrating.
3. Today when the world has started getting more aware about climate change and how we humans are causing it, we as a national community seem to be totally ignorant about it.
4. "Sensitivity towards the needs of others" has gone somewhere at the bottom in the list of our value systems, (and selfishness seems to have come up?) such that we really do not care as to how much we are harming others by some of our actions.
5. Probably some people might even be scared that if celebrations are not done in this particular way, the Gods may not be happy about it and subsequently we might get punished !! J
6. This way of marking and announcing our celebrations has now become a norm and to change this norm is becoming difficult for us.

Any opinions in this matter, specially by those who have experienced this factor? Comments are welcome and will be appreciated J

Just as I was writing this article, I realized that there was an NGO in Mumbai city -"Awaaz.org" working towards this cause. This is what they have to say about this issue.

Picture courtesy : Sundaytimes.lk

Understanding the meaning of "SAAT- PHERE" (seven steps) in a Hindu marriage

I was born in a Hindu family. Since my childhood I have always seen various Hindu customs and rituals being performed. I have been to so many Hindu marriages of my relatives and have seen the same or similar rituals being performed in all of them. But I rarely understood the deep meaning that these rituals are supposed to have, the reason why they are being performed since ages. I rarely saw the pundit (The priest) explaining the meaning and significance of these customs while being performed.

I am not very aware of customs and rituals because personally I follow the religion of “Humanity”. For me the customs and rituals are less important as long as the person follows a “good character” (which all religions advise, though what constitutes a good character varies) and understands his or her own potential as a Human being.

Since I feel a social responsibility to do certain rituals, then it becomes my responsibility to first understand them beforehand because I will hate to follow them blindly! Keeping in mind that my own marriage ceremony is to be held in near future, I began to search for the answers for the questions I had in mind regarding the rituals that I will be expected to perform for my marriage.

Hinduism being a symbolic religion, most rituals and ceremonies have a symbolic meaning to them therefore, just performing the act is going to make no sense until the meaning of it is well understood. Anything done without this understanding, is supposed to be “Blind Faith”. Many times when I asked the seniors for the meaning of a particular ritual they would either get offended of they would say things like “It is to be done because it’s being done since ages and we are sure there is a meaning to it”. Yes, I am sure there is a meaning to it, but my concern is that anything done without its proper knowledge can be even harmful….for example: How do you know you are doing it the right way? If it’s done without reasoning and understanding then, it is blind faith and hardly has any meaning!!

Originally the Hindu-Vedic systems were very scientific in nature. They even did not discriminate between men and women, however this practice is very prevalent now by the people who do not fully comprehend the religion. I attempted to understand the meaning and significance of what I will be doing in a few months. “Saptpadi” OR “Saat Phere” which translates as “seven steps” in English is considered to be the most important custom of a Hindu marriage (and now I know why), so I dedicate this article to the same.

The “VARMALA” OR “Jaimala” is the ritual where the bride and the groom put garlands around each other’s necks. This signifies that the two persons have chosen each other as life partners. This is essentially a ritual performed by “Kshatriyas” (The warrior caste) in ancient times, however now I see it being performed in all Hindu marriages I attend.

Another very important ritual is “Kanya Daan” Which translates as “giving away one’s daughter to the groom [“Kanya means girl and “Daan” means “donation”].This ritual is performed by the father of the bride or the father figure in his absence. The groom recites Sanskrit Shloks about love. [Shlok is a small stanza usually in Sanskrit]

But the most important of all Hindu marriage rituals is “SAPTAPADI” referring to “SAAT PHERE” in general Hindi now-a-days. This ritual is the core of the whole marriage ceremony and couple is considered as married just by performing this ritual alone.

Saat Phere:

How it is done:

Some older person of the family ties a knot with one end of the bride’s clothing and one end of the groom’s clothing. Then they stand up to take seven rounds around the fire [called the Agni Kund in Hindi] one by one. These rounds are taken as the priest reads certain Sanskrit Shloks to bless the couple. The picture below shows the knot symbolizing the “Sacred wedlock”

The rationale:

“Fire” Or Agni is considered as Very pure and sanctified. Also, the Qualities of fire are such that, no matter how many times it is lit, yet it remains “immortal” and “young forever”. This is why I have seen people in almost all major religion of the world – Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and Buddhist and more… all use fire in one way or the other for their worship. Amazing!! How fire is considered important by multiple beliefs systems.

The term “Agni Pariksha” is commonly used in Hindi language which refers to “a very difficult exam”. Coming back to the point, because fire is considered to be so pure, immortal, young and sanctified, it is used as a symbol for the couple to solemnize their marriage with the seven promises. This is called “Agni Sakshi” which means “fire is the witness”. The promises thus made are considered to be immortal and the couple is expected to be MOST truthful and honest to each other in making these promises. Despite which, I am so sad to see so many promises being broken, where the wives are killed, beaten and tortured either psychologically or physically or both. And some husbands too!!

What are the seven promises: (Credit for this section goes to “Wikipedia”).

With the first phera, the couple invokes the Gods for the plenitudes of pure and nourishing food and a life that is noble and respectful.

With the second phera the couple prays for physical and mental strength and to lead a healthy and peaceful life.

The third phera is taken for the fulfilment of spiritual obligations. The Gods are invoked for blessing the couple with spiritual strength.

The fourth phera is taken for the attainment of happiness and harmony through mutual love and trust and a long joyous life together.

The fifth phera is taken to pray for the welfare of all living entities in the entire universe and for begetting noble children.

The sixth phera is for bountiful seasons all over the world. The couple prays for bountiful seasons and seeks that they may go through these seasons together, just as they would share their joys and sorrows.

With the last phera they pray for a life of understanding, loyalty, unity and companionship not only for themselves but also for the peace of the Universe.

In North Indian weddings, the bride and the groom say the following words after completing the seven steps:

"We have taken the Seven Steps. You have become mine forever. Yes, we have become partners. I have become yours. Hereafter, I cannot live without you. Do not live without me. Let us share the joys. We are word and meaning, united. You are thought and I am sound. May the night be honey-sweet for us. May the morning be honey-sweet for us. May the earth be honey-sweet for us. May the heavens be honey-sweet for us. May the plants be honey-sweet for us. May the sun be all honey for us. May the cows yield us honey-sweet milk. As the heavens are stable, as the earth is stable, as the mountains are stable, as the whole universe is stable, so may our unions be permanently settled.

Thanks for reading !!