For the good of every living being

During the Dussera celebrations. A Kannada TV channel (I think it was TV 9) interviewed the current Wodeyar couple. The interviewer was probably keen on getting some patriotism out of the couple. She asked if all the celebrations/poojas were being done for oLitu of the nADu (good of state, and by god, she meant Karnataka state only!). To which, the Wodeyar queen replied by quoting a Sanskrit verse and said that it was for the good of mukkoti jeeva rashi, that is, every living thing of every kind everywhere in the world. The interviewer could not understand, digest the scale of these traditional Indian rituals performed by Kings and Queens for the well-being of everybody. She comforts herself by repeating, "Oh it is for the good of the state." How pathetic! The Wodeyar couple emphasized quite nicely that the traditional mantras were asking for the good of everybody, of the 14,000 types of living beings. How expansive our traditions have been, and lo what they have to be reduced to by a generation too ashamed to grasp them!  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A man called P

P was a great guy. The care he showed to his grandmother, made me think that he was a loving guy. The girl who marries him was a lucky one, I thought to myself. "Jesus Christ", he would say every now and then, I carried that habit with me to India, and curse myself upon saying it. P's parents were separated. I looked closely at him, to see if it had scarred him. Nah, he said. And you? He asked. "I too was like you for many many years, until it got to me." He shook his head in dissapproval. I spoke of my research and told him it was about enlightenment. We began to say something about Meditation together. He then gave me what was the most cynical expression his face could ever conjure up, saying "it leads nowhere". I smiled. I wished some Buddhist or Zen techniques helped us connect things and take off from Patanjali Yoga. That would do so many people good. 6 years or so ago, my brother and I would have given that same cynical look to anyone seem...
Read more

Indian Women and the Pressure to look young

Image
With the buzz for anti-ageing products, have  Indian women   succumbed to the pressure of looking young? Is embracing your age out of fashion? By Sushumna Kannan The reach and influence of the anti-aging research-industry is enormous. It extends to preoccupations with immortality and an end to aging altogether. Promises range from “turn back the clock,” “look upto 10 years younger” to “youthful skin in 5 minutes” or “30 seconds” even. Websites that explain their technology accompanied by “it changed my life” testimonials are now on the rise. We are bombarded with products to use from our teen years itself and the side-effects debate seems to have been overpowered.  A common view is that using anti-aging products is a woman’s preference. For instance, Sarada Balaji, Fulbright scholar and Professor of English at Tirupati says, “ Women use anti-aging stuff since they are themselves inclined to look young. Moreover, they are easily influenced when they see other women ...
Read more

Talk at Women's Studies Dept., BU

In June, this year, I had the wonderful opportunity to speak at the Women's Studies Department, Bangalore University, thanks to my friend, Sudeshna Mukherjee. Sudeshna has been there for many years now, is a seasoned scholar, and steers the department beautifully. I spoke about my own research and how I had made some unconventional choices, quite fearlessly, stated what my worries were, and what prices I had paid and so on. I encouraged the students to list these even as they were doing their MA or PhDs. To know what is at stake before taking important decisions about one's work is definitively empowering. It was an interesting afternoon session, with students hailing from LSE to nearby villages. They had interesting questions for me on ideology, interpretation and feminism. I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Sudeshna--her insights into classroom dynamics, recruitment issues nowadays that plagues the Social Sciences and Humanities, and the surprises teaching Women...
Read more