My friends and I went for dinner to a friend's place and they had a small gathering at their place. The 'Hare Rama, Hare Krishna' group in London.
I walked in with four boys and I specify boys as that is of consequence. I sat within the gathering. I am a little vary of crowds. Never liked them much. Even when I used to cycle and drive I hated when I saw in front of me a huge bunch of people walking cause you never know when one might stray right in to your path heading for a definite collision. So coming back to the scene, I sat down near my comfort zone. Shashank in front and Lakshman on my side. Then this woman just behind me asked me to move to the corner where there was place. I sat and beckoned L to come nearer. His hesistance led to my eventual insight into the seating arrangement in that room. The men were sitting in the front and the women at the back.
I was completely stumped. I mean I am sitting in LONDON, a cosmopolitan city. Not India. Not in Chennai (I specify Chennai cause I have been to many of these ceremonies and the demarcation I remember from there...) Not in one of those conservative houses. In London!!! and I did not even expect this division here. I was slapped with the distinction. It was not that the men were in the front or the women were made to sit at the back but the fact that they were not allowed to sit together.
I heard the reason for seperation when I was in school and it was because "this is the age that you can easily get distracted". ACCEPTED. What about this age? When the man and woman are actually married? In these gatherings you come to pray to God. So who is bothered whether there is a guy or a girl sitting next to you. They can turn the tables on me and ask then why should I have a problem with sitting next to women away from the men. But then what about it when I am praying to God in my office, lets say with men colleagues around me? Am I getting distracted? Then I am cheating myself. But admist "distractions" if I can think and pray and praise the Lord THEN I have conquered temptation.
When temptation is in a chocolate, keeping it away from sight can ease your process of resisting temptation. But your character is only known when the chocolate is right in front of your eyes and yet you are not tempted. I know it cannot be acheived easily but its worth a shot isnt it?
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wel, don thnk tz exactly d temptation. juz tat it has been practiced like tat since gud ol' days. probably it started back wen men chanted d mantras n women used 2 help arnd wth thngs, so hafta move now n then wthout dstrbn d vibrations at d centre. tat probably explains y men r in d front n women at d back.
as many other practices, this also mite have had a valid reason tat either got lost along time r doesn hold gud nymore in d current world.
wat maters more is the dinner, hope u had a stomach-full ;)
grrrrrr.. i seriously hate all this! rituals did.. perhaps in some day and age have meaning behind them.. i swear i m intolerant twrds all this crap. why cant they apply logic and modify accordingly? i mean.. they change laws according to the society dont they? can u imagine if our rituals dont change.. i mean can u imagine another 100 yrs down the line.. societies will seriously be retarded..or they would have broken free.. sad state of affairs this..
i must say that i'm a little surprised that you were surpirsed that this happened in London. i strongly do feel that it is the "desi crowd" as they like to call them who are more stuck on tradition that we are in india. it is perhaps because that they live in a seeminly alien culture that they feel this need to rigidly follow the rules dictated by the rituals and tradition or they fear that their children will become like one of the "Shameless goras"
i have known many NRIs who are more rigid that we can ever be in india today. and things ARE changing here. trust me, they are. but i suppose you cannot expect like a zillion years worth of "tradition" to change in a few years. it will happen, but very slowly
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