The rantings of an optimistic mind----Why Hindus worship the Peepal tree......

It pains me to see the newspaper full of stories about rationalists a.k.a atheists, their deaths, the Sanatans, the RSS and to top it all Hinduism or Hindutva trivialised by the self-appointed watchdogs of Hinduism. Hinduism being such a free religion, it has become very easy to have thousands of sects, guides, and leaders (read God men) and, equally easy it is to curse and swear upon your own religion. It is very fashionable and trendy to condemn your own religion if you are a Hindu. Also, nowadays I find people feeling embarrassed to even claim to be a Hindu. Hinduism has been very cleverly equated to saffronisation and that in turn is spoken about in whispers as if it were the disease about which no one talks openly.

Anyways, I am just attempting to write about very small traditions or you can call them rituals, which have lost their significance today and are ready to be buried as superstition. These are things which I feel uncomfortable discarding just because they are not trendy any more. I refuse to believe that my ancestors, thousands of years ago were fools who, without any thought made up some rituals at random, and then passed it on to us to be only rejected and thrown away. So, I am just making an effort to think what could be the scientific basis for these rituals. Some I have learned from people, books, internet and some I make up as I go, of course with a scientific or an over-imaginative mind. You are welcome to add, comment, suggest and criticise. I would encourage you to make me wiser.

I begin with why Hindus worship the Peepal tree. I used to ponder, why only the Peepal tree and why not Rose or Lily or some other. This tree which is not so common to find, finds mention in many of our holy scriptures. But I do not want to go into those legends. I simply state my reasoning below:

1.     I cannot establish its authenticity, but many people claim that it has been scientifically proven that Peepal tree can make oxygen even during the night. Even at night, it takes in carbon-dioxide and expels oxygen.

2.     If you look at the Peepal tree, it is a huge canopy like leafy tree with a long thick trunk and all the leaves just branching out. It looks like a huge umbrella, making it ideal for a large number of people to sit under it. Also the leaves, if you notice, have a hand-fan like structure, which, when the wind blows, make it a little stronger. So you will feel less hot under the tree than under any other tree. For that reason even Mangoes and Banyan are such trees and these trees also find an important place in Hindu culture.

3.     As per Wikipedia, due to the structure of the leaves, the leaves of this tree move continuously, even when the air around is still and no wind is blowing. Just imagine the blessing it is, in hot summers. That is why I love Hinduism; we attributed this movement of leaves to Gods residing in the leaves and turned it into something pious and worth preserving.

4.     The ritual of watering it daily and tying a thread around it could have been to promote many such trees in an era devoid of electric fans and air-conditioners. Make it into a religious ritual and it becomes easy to take care of community resources. It was that simple. 

5.     I think tying the thread could have been to support the weak trunk of the baby tree. Like we too have to do with the young plants which have not yet grown into a full thick-trunked tree, we need to tie its small weak shoots to give it support. And in an era devoid of nylon ropes, the organic 'soot' or cotton thread would break at times. So the ladies turned it into a religious ritual and that aspect of caring for the young Peepal was taken care of. 

6.     Also, the Peepal leaves and bark have numerous medicinal uses in the Ayurveda....an ancient Indian way of treatment.

7.     In ancient times people would construct a small seat like concrete structure around the tree called ‘chabutra’ for men and women, old and young to sit while the children played in the shade of the tree. This brought about a social connect among residents, which the air-conditioners of today cannot.

So weren't our ancestors wise enough to make it easy to promote such a useful tree by attaching some simple rituals with it? And with so many benefits attached to the tree why not promote it.

A not-so-good experience with Vidya Valley School

We returned to Pune on August 1, 2015 from Germany, but only after a short stay at my husband’s home town. The day we landed, which was a Saturday, we washed-up, got ready and went to Vidya Valley School for kids’ admission. We didn’t want to waste even a single day. We were pretty confident that the school would take back our kids as the principal Ms. Sengupta had herself assured me before leaving for Germany. We happened to speak to Mr. Gupta who already raised doubts about our son having to repeat a year. Anyways he called us again on Monday afternoon when the teachers would be relatively free and then they would test my son for concepts of class 7 (which he had completed in Germany). We promptly reached the school on Monday and after a lot of waiting we were told that my son would be needed to appear for class 8 tests. The students of class 8 have already finished a lot of syllabus in last 2 months and so they would be testing my son for the same. It came as a shocker as we had not anticipated this. Plus any sane person would understand that this is unfair on the child when one knows he has not attended class 8 for even a single day. Anyways the next day being Tuesday he was called upon to take tests in Physics and Bio. We came home and helped Vishnu prepare the entire 6-7 hours that we had in hands for these tests. He borrowed books from his friends and even got a test paper for Bio. On Wednesday he was asked to appear for Chemistry and Maths. We repeated this procedure for our son. In Maths too he got the test paper. Coincidentally he got the same papers for Bio and Maths. And these two subjects he performed extremely well. Oh! And yes my daughter too took a test for English and Maths though she is in grade 4. After this we waited more than a week to hear from them. My husband was getting frustrated and finally called up Mr. Gupta. Thankfully he arranged for us to meet the principal the same day. Upon meeting the principal (of course after a long wait) she said that my son would need to repeat class 7. This was a great disappointment. Initially they tried to pin it on my son getting the test paper in advance. But when we suggested a re-test or an interview then and there itself they diverted to reasons like a huge gap. The principal said that she does not know what Vishnu learnt there but here students have learnt so many other things like music, guitar ort etc. Well in this whole discussion the bottom line was that he will repeat and there is to be no debate. As Mr. Gupta is so fond of talking more and listening less we could not explain much, our side of the story. He said that now don’t go home thinking if it was a battle won or lost. Of course I will think it was a battle lost. Because you make me think that I made a mistake by shifting to Germany for a year. No one in this world should relocate elsewhere because then they will repeat the entire thing. My child might want to take a sabbatical or break later in his life for further studies or anything else. It is not required now to make him lose a year. And if we meant to hide the fact of getting the test paper of two subjects in advance we would have not asked our son to tell the truth if anyone questioned him. I can bet he must have scored better than 50% of the class who has done class 7 in VVS. How can the school guarantee that my son is not well prepared for class 8 while their other students are? Also his past records at Vidya Valley and his teachers will tell how sharp a kid he was. Plus this in itself is creditable that he scored so well after getting the test papers when he had only 6-7 hours in hand combined for two subjects to prepare. Only a sharp kid can prepare so well in this limited time even when you have the papers. Though, we know that he just went through those papers and did not just prepare the papers. We let him see those in the end when he had prepared the entire subject.

My son himself refused to go to VVS in class 7 because of shame that his friends will be ahead of him and that too for no sane reason. When we asked Mr Gupta and Ms Sengupta how they plan to tackle this psychological impact on my child, they said we will need to talk. As if all this talk will remove the bullying that will ensue. It looked as if they did not want to take him in the first place and were looking for a way to refuse. In his new school after just attending for a week, his science teacher told us that he is a very bright and positive child. She was surprised that VVS did not want to take him in class 8, because no school would want to lose a student like my son. Well that was enough for me. Ms Sengupta reasoned that Vishnu had not read any classics in class 7. Maybe not....but he had read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and done an assignment on it. He had enjoyed reading it and had got very good grades for the assignment. I can challenge the school to pick out even ten students from class 8 who are even capable of understanding The Alchemist. Most people read it in adulthood. Also when I told Mr. Gupta and Ms. Sengupta about this, both had expressions of surprise. Well I am clearly unhappy with the treatment meted out to us. But the thing is that one cannot challenge private schools as their authority is supreme. My son was probably underage, a fact I knew all along, but the school realised now and wanted to rectify at the cost of my son’s one year....just because they had overseen it at the time of admission earlier.

The whole episode has left a dent on my mind and makes me regret my return to India sometimes. It leaves me sour. The school had not responded to many of our emails that we sent from Germany. Though they themselves had asked us to write to them in advance.

Also I would like to mention that Vidya Valley school has not till date shared the results of my son with us......maybe because they have something to hide?

Bonn diaries 2

This incident occurred few months back when I was in Bonn. I had written it down but not posted it.

Today had a very nice experience here in Bonn. I was travelling with a bus back home from my course. In a very narrow lane the bus cut in too close to a cycle rider. As the bus driver drove on, the cycle rider chased him at full speed shouting something at him. I heard him say, "Haben Sie Führerschein?" Which translates to "kya aapke paas license hai?" In many such cases I have seen people resort to "tu-tadak". The bus driver stopped the bus and apologised profusely to the cycle rider. He explained that he had not seen the rider and he is extremely sorry for that. Wow! what a civility! Wish we had more such people in the world. As opposed to this, once, I had a bus driver shout at me in Bonn itself. We were travelling with a family pass which allows two adults, 3 children and a bike on the bus if it is not too crowded. it was night time and the bike could have been allowed. The driver did not know the rules nor did he know English. He did not allow us the bike and my husband had to ride the bike home. It was very upsetting. But in any case we wrote a complaining mail to the SWB for which we received a reply promptly. They apologised profusely and asked us to continue using the services. They stood by us and promised to have a word with the said driver and warn him too. This professional handling of a not so pleasant experience makes me wonder why can not everyone be so. Is it actually so difficult to apologise?

new chaar lines

I have returned from Germany about 3 weeks back. Ironically, my last post is about my first day in Bonn and the next one is upon my return from Bonn to India. The transition is always difficult. For me this 'akelapan' or solitude is difficult to express even though I am surrounded by family and well-wishers. Most of the time it brings out the poetess in me. Penned a few lines just a couple of minutes ago. Thought to immortalize them here ;-)

 भूलने का सिलसिला कुछ इस तरह से चला ,
निकली थी क्या करने मुझे पता न चला। 
यादों की यादों से जूझती हूँ मैं ,
अब भी ज़िन्दगी का पता पूछती हूँ मैं।

When I look back at what I created, I find that it aptly describes my state of mind. Maybe that is the reason it came out in the first place. I hope it does not get too boring :-(

My first day in Bonn!

I arrived in Bonn, Germany on 2nd May 2014. After a whole evening of sleeping, on Saturday, 3rd may, my husband took all of us out for shopping. He had the bare minimum essentials in kitchen, so replenishing my kitchen was the first step to survival in Bonn:). Anyways we were at the Hauptbahnhof (central station) bus stand waiting for our bus. I saw a woman walking down the street, probably drunk I guessed by her gait, singing all to herself. She stopped a few steps away from me and started talking to me in German all the while fumbling in her pocket for something. I just smiled; because smile can temporarily hide your inability to understand and speak that language. Then Eureka! she took out her headphones from her pocket and made some gestures while laughing, which I understood that she was happy to have found them. Then she directed a question to me in German and pointed to her forehead at the place where Indians/Hindus usually wear the Bindi. I said that I did not understand German. She asked me if I understood English and when I nodded my head she asked me pointing to the bindi, if I was Indian. I said yes. She further asked that was I married since I had the Bindi. I said yes to that. And then came the googly question her third and final, if I was happy to be married. I was surprised by the question but anyways I said, "Yes I am very much happy!". She just shrugged, raised both her hands in the air and said OK and moved on, singing to herself.

Later I was telling my husband about this incident since he had moved away to find out about our bus route just then and was not aware of this. I told him, in India nobody ever asks a woman or a man for that matter, if she/he was happy in her/his marriage. It is so much granted that they will be and even if they are not, they are not walking away from it just for that reason alone. A small cultural shock on my first day of arrival:)

Love 2 hate U

This is a new show by my favourite model Arjun Rampal and after having watched one and a half episodes I am nowhere near hating it. I think I have begun loving this show. Half the battle is won since I just swoon over Arjun Rampal. I know most of the people out there would want to kick me on my rear for liking Arjun Rampal. Unfortunately he did not turn out to be a good actor, but there is no denying he set the ramps on fire. Also, he came to the limelight with Mr. India's title and that was when I used to be a teenager. I took to liking him immediately and just loved watching him in song albums and advertisements back then. Anyways, more than Arjun Rampal I want to talk about his show.

He calls those people on the show, who hate a particular celeb very badly. He first makes the person vent out his hatred for that celeb on camera and then shows this tape to the celeb. And then comes the most interesting part......a confrontation of the hater and the hated. The episode that I watched had Chetan Bhagat and Farah Khan's haters. What an episode it was! Finally both the celebrities try to convert the haters to non-haters. They are then rated on the hater’s hate-o-meters.

I am becoming a huge fan of Chetan Bhagat these days and I somehow do not like Farah Khan. So these two people in the same episode were good to watch. I liked the simplicity and humility of Chetan Bhagat. He said it is important to come face to face with your hater also since it makes you humble. What a nice attitude. Also, when Farah Khan was shown the video of her hater who strongly condemned her movie Tees MarKhan, Arjun Rampal suggests that they play a prank on her hater. Farah says let us tie him up and make him watch Tees Markhan again. I just loved her sporting attitude. One knows that this aspect of mine is being hated and you go ahead and make fun of it. It all requires guts, courage and a very sporting attitude. Above all it requires being extremely sure of yourself. Right or wrong..... You are sure of yourself.

This could be a remake of some American show or something, but I love this Indian version. Short and sweet it does not drag for long hours and shows a different aspect of the celebs. It is easy to handle praise I guess but very difficult to handle criticism.
Keep watching Arjun Rampal.....oops Love2HateU:-)

Hanged to Death!

Today the morning started with the usual chaos and shouting that goes on every morning, the children have school and both of us have to reach work. I kept on hurling scoldings at my kids for not getting up on time, not preparing their school bags in advance and not getting ready in time. To top it all my domestic help made some foolish mistakes which added fuel to my growing anger. Nothing new till here. When I reached the bus stop to drop my younger one I saw lots of police vehicles and the ever-curious crowd of on-lookers. Not being able to sustain my curiosity any longer I peeped down the lane where people were gathered and was wondering whether there has been a fight or a robbery. To my horror I saw a body hanging limp from a tree with a rope. He must have been a young man of no more than 20 years and looked like he committed suicide. It shook me to my roots and I uttered 'Oh my God!'. It became difficult to cover the distance of 5 minutes to home and on reaching home I broke down in front of my husband. I was shaking with the shock. Those 5 minutes to home made me think that yes, if a person commits suicide he is definitely to be held responsible for not being strong enough to hold-on to life. But what about the words of the person that triggered this step, if that was the reason. That living person probably lives throughout life, regretting and full of guilt. His life becomes much more worse than death of his loved one. I thought about my carelessness in hurling screams and scoldings at my children and thought how I don't even give it a thought, what effect it is having on the children. Even for that matter what effect these high-pitched words have on my domestic help. Watever a person does because of my actions I don't know but my reaction to his action wouldn't be lesser than living hell itself.

That was God's big way of teaching me small things.