Over the past months, I have had quite a few people ask me why the soul was not talking anymore.
Take heart, people.
It still does.
But, more at the 3 Mad Moggies www.3madmoggies.blogspot.com.
The Moggies started out as a fun blog, but, over the past year, has grown into maturity.
Or so, I hope.
So, drop by, anytime you miss the soul!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Sunday, July 27, 2008
My Brother's Keeper
Religion has never been a very big deal for me. And that probably is the reason why controversies, strife and aggression in the name of religion almost always confound me. More often than not, the differences between warring factions seem so insignificant that I wonder why people can't look past them, respect spaces and live together in harmony. And inevitably, my mind races back in time, to my childhood which was spent in the Middle East, where Allah's prayer calls resounded around us at regular intervals several times a day.
We lived in an apartment block inhabited by people from all over - staunch Catholics from Goa, conservative Muslims from Pakistan, Jews from no particular country and Protestant Christians from Europe. It was a very diverse group, which made for a very interesting childhood. I have the fondest memories of my life back then - the wonderful games of make-believe...The stories of life & customs in far off lands...sampling new flavours every time someone returned from a visit to their homeland. But the memories I still cherish in my heart are those of the festivals we celebrated. Be it Christmas, Eid, Diwali, Onam or Hanukkah, we kids participated in all with gusto and enthusiasm... well, largely because of the gastronomic delights which came our way.
I still remember the whirl of culinary activities in Auntie Irene's kitchen in the weeks preceding Christmas..The stirring of the Christmas pudding..The baking and sampling of cookies and logs..Wolfing down plates of the fragrant, delicately spiced Eid biriyani which was laden with tender succulent meat. I remember my brother and me badgering our parents into buying us a Christmas tree and keeping alive the Santa myth with a glittering tree stacked with presents beneath and white stockings bursting at the seams with sweets and gifts. I even remember in vivid detail, my friend Bilal gulping down several large mouthfuls of the holy Lourdes water from a receptacle shaped like the Holy Virgin and declaring to us, that he Superman had drunk deeply of the Elixir of Youth and would now never succumb to the evil kryptonite. As far as I knew, religion, culture and nationalities never came in the way of our childish pleasure.
Not that things were very different when we came to India. I studied in a quaint little convent school watched over by kindly nuns with friends from diverse backgrounds and religions. My best friends hailed from all walks of life and worshiped different Gods. And so, I grew up learning to cross myself in the presence of the Trinity, uttering a fervent Insha Allah after a voiced desire, wish or planned act and praying to Jesus as fervently as I did to Lord Ganesha when I knew I hadn't given my best in an exam!!!
Distance, antagonism and hostility based on religious differences were something that I read of only in history books. I could not conceive of a world where a Hindu could fight a Muslim or Christian or Sikh and even worse, kill one another. But come adulthood and things changed all too subtly. I was privy to adult conversations where at times, people spoke indignantly about religious conversions, diets which propagate cruelty to animals, bigotedness, exclusion...And so many such perceived transgressions committed by other religions, most of which I know are figments of one or the other's imagination.
I still hear such conversations... In restaurants, at stations and airports, at gatherings, houses, offices...And it never ceases to amaze me just how much religion has wedged itself between people, nipping love in the bud and shackling their minds with fear and moral self-righteousness. I am sure that this is not what the pantheon of Hindu Gods or the wise old founders wanted their religion to be. Or Jesus or Allah for that matter. The more I hear, the more I feel that the man-made barriers are rooted in more in fear than in faith.
Fear one may ask in surprise?. Well, yes indeed. I suspect people especially the self appointed guardians of any religion fear very many things - Change, Loss of Self Worth, Loss of Control, Loss of Stature in the eyes of others- and blindly cling to dogmas in a bid to protect themselves in their mind's eye. Religion merely provides them with a convenient guise.
Those of the true faith realise that God speaks to us in the uncanniest of places and often without attendant ceremonies. They are the ones who have great compassion and acceptance for all the creatures that inhabit their world, regardless of their colour, caste, creed, culture or religious beliefs. And they are the people who can live and let live without succumbing to the compelling urge to impose their will and principles on the people around them.
For me, it matters little which God rules in heaven. My most intense conversations with the Powers Above have been in dark, near-empty churches, ancient Buddhist temples, in wilderness and in the confines of my own home. And almost always in solitude. In my moments of aloneness, I often think that we all need to tear down the walls of fear and intolerance which separate us. We are no different from the man or woman who lives across the street. It is only in reaching out with open minds that this world has any chance of peace in it. And if, any of us, are tempted to bend another to his will, the question we need to ask ourselves is "Am I my Brother's Keeper?"
We lived in an apartment block inhabited by people from all over - staunch Catholics from Goa, conservative Muslims from Pakistan, Jews from no particular country and Protestant Christians from Europe. It was a very diverse group, which made for a very interesting childhood. I have the fondest memories of my life back then - the wonderful games of make-believe...The stories of life & customs in far off lands...sampling new flavours every time someone returned from a visit to their homeland. But the memories I still cherish in my heart are those of the festivals we celebrated. Be it Christmas, Eid, Diwali, Onam or Hanukkah, we kids participated in all with gusto and enthusiasm... well, largely because of the gastronomic delights which came our way.
I still remember the whirl of culinary activities in Auntie Irene's kitchen in the weeks preceding Christmas..The stirring of the Christmas pudding..The baking and sampling of cookies and logs..Wolfing down plates of the fragrant, delicately spiced Eid biriyani which was laden with tender succulent meat. I remember my brother and me badgering our parents into buying us a Christmas tree and keeping alive the Santa myth with a glittering tree stacked with presents beneath and white stockings bursting at the seams with sweets and gifts. I even remember in vivid detail, my friend Bilal gulping down several large mouthfuls of the holy Lourdes water from a receptacle shaped like the Holy Virgin and declaring to us, that he Superman had drunk deeply of the Elixir of Youth and would now never succumb to the evil kryptonite. As far as I knew, religion, culture and nationalities never came in the way of our childish pleasure.
Not that things were very different when we came to India. I studied in a quaint little convent school watched over by kindly nuns with friends from diverse backgrounds and religions. My best friends hailed from all walks of life and worshiped different Gods. And so, I grew up learning to cross myself in the presence of the Trinity, uttering a fervent Insha Allah after a voiced desire, wish or planned act and praying to Jesus as fervently as I did to Lord Ganesha when I knew I hadn't given my best in an exam!!!
Distance, antagonism and hostility based on religious differences were something that I read of only in history books. I could not conceive of a world where a Hindu could fight a Muslim or Christian or Sikh and even worse, kill one another. But come adulthood and things changed all too subtly. I was privy to adult conversations where at times, people spoke indignantly about religious conversions, diets which propagate cruelty to animals, bigotedness, exclusion...And so many such perceived transgressions committed by other religions, most of which I know are figments of one or the other's imagination.
I still hear such conversations... In restaurants, at stations and airports, at gatherings, houses, offices...And it never ceases to amaze me just how much religion has wedged itself between people, nipping love in the bud and shackling their minds with fear and moral self-righteousness. I am sure that this is not what the pantheon of Hindu Gods or the wise old founders wanted their religion to be. Or Jesus or Allah for that matter. The more I hear, the more I feel that the man-made barriers are rooted in more in fear than in faith.
Fear one may ask in surprise?. Well, yes indeed. I suspect people especially the self appointed guardians of any religion fear very many things - Change, Loss of Self Worth, Loss of Control, Loss of Stature in the eyes of others- and blindly cling to dogmas in a bid to protect themselves in their mind's eye. Religion merely provides them with a convenient guise.
Those of the true faith realise that God speaks to us in the uncanniest of places and often without attendant ceremonies. They are the ones who have great compassion and acceptance for all the creatures that inhabit their world, regardless of their colour, caste, creed, culture or religious beliefs. And they are the people who can live and let live without succumbing to the compelling urge to impose their will and principles on the people around them.
For me, it matters little which God rules in heaven. My most intense conversations with the Powers Above have been in dark, near-empty churches, ancient Buddhist temples, in wilderness and in the confines of my own home. And almost always in solitude. In my moments of aloneness, I often think that we all need to tear down the walls of fear and intolerance which separate us. We are no different from the man or woman who lives across the street. It is only in reaching out with open minds that this world has any chance of peace in it. And if, any of us, are tempted to bend another to his will, the question we need to ask ourselves is "Am I my Brother's Keeper?"
Friday, July 25, 2008
Awaken The Elephant!!!
8 lilliputian blasts in 30 minutes....
6 hours of fear and uncertainty in India's Tech city....
24 hours of media led confusion worldwide........
That, my friends, is what the serial bomb blasts that supposedly 'rocked' Bangalore city yesterday, was all about. A lot of noise, some hot air and almost zero impact. What else could one expect from crude bombs composed of nuts, bolts and poorly concealed gelatin sticks that were of much lower intensity than even those used for quarrying stone? It would seem, as one of my readers suggested, that inflation had indeed taken its toll on the 'wanna-be' terrorists, forcing them to resort to using any which materials they could lay their hands on rather than what was actually needed to trigger a high impact explosion.
The blasts would have perhaps earned the hype generated by the over enthusiastic media, if it had occured in strategic locations. However, the lackadaisical and almost random planting of explosives in landscaped islands, under trees in vacant lots and on the roadsides only ensured the redundancy of all, save one which took the life of an innocent woman and inflicted injuries on a few.
Although my heart goes out to Ravi, the wounded husband of the victim Sudha who is in a trance and still unaware of his spouse's demise, I could not help but wonder why the culprits even bothered?
A sentiment which perhaps the agents of terror also echoed in retrospect. Because just 24 hours later, the nation watched in horror and shock as 16 low intensity bombs ripped through Ahmedabad and tore a part of its society asunder. This time, bombs containing lethal ball bearings were planted strategically in crowded market places and hospitals with clear intent to kill in multitudes. And the effect: 30 dead and close to 100 injured at the time of publishing this post.
While the explosions did not take a serious toll on Bangalore, it has catapulted Ahmedabad into the ranks of Hyderabad*, Malegoan* and Varanasi*; though not into the big league where the Mumbai*, Jaipur* and the Samjotha* explosions rest.
Over the past 2 years, India's experiences of terrorist aggression seem to average 3 episodes annually, which is indeed quite a battering for any nation to take. But withstand it she does, despite the ineffectual fumbling of its political guardians. The irrepressible resilience that we Indians posses and our ability to bounce back in the face of any calamity has, undoubtedly, played a key role in the continued existence of the great Indian democracy. I mean where else in the world can you find men blithely urinating on the roadside the morning after a serious explosion or women squatting on the pavements nonchalently sipping steaming cups of chai without worrying about the possibility of a bomb exploding beneath them? But it remains to be seen just how much more the people of this nation can be pushed.
For me, India is like the Elephant, once an acknowledged symbol of imperial power and an animal possessed of remarkable intelligence and the wisdom of the ages. It is said that the elephant is slow to anger but once roused, can set forth on a rampage leaving in its wake destruction unimagined. I await the day when the little flames of anger flickering across my country today grow into a raging blaze and India, like its more resolute western counterparts, responds to even the smallest act of terrorist aggression firmly, swiftly, decisively and so ruthlessly that any aggresor would think not just twice, but a gazillion times before taking a second shot at us.
* Chronology of major bomb attacks in India 2006-2008
(Courtesy: Economic Times)
May 2008 Jaipur: 9 explosions, 60 dead & over 200 injured
Nov 2007: Serial blasts outside courts in 3 north Indian cities; 40 people wounded
Oct 2007, Rajasthan [ Ajmer Sheriff]: 2 explosions, 2 dead & 15 injured
Aug 2007, Hyderabad: 2 explosions, 43 dead & over 70 injured
May 2007 Hyderabad [Mecca Mosque]: Single explosion, 10 dead & over a dozen injured
Feb 2007 Samjhauta Express: 4 explosions, 68 dead & several injured
Sept 2006, Malegoan[Maharashtra]: 3 explosions, 38 people dead & over 100 injured
July 2006, Mumbai: 7 explosions, 186 dead & over 800 injured
Apr 2006, New Delhi [ Jama Masjid]: 2 explosions, 14 dead injured
Mar 2006, Varanasi: 3 explosions, 28 dead & 62 injured.
Oct 2005, New Delhi: 3 explosions, over 60 dead & 200 injured
6 hours of fear and uncertainty in India's Tech city....
24 hours of media led confusion worldwide........
That, my friends, is what the serial bomb blasts that supposedly 'rocked' Bangalore city yesterday, was all about. A lot of noise, some hot air and almost zero impact. What else could one expect from crude bombs composed of nuts, bolts and poorly concealed gelatin sticks that were of much lower intensity than even those used for quarrying stone? It would seem, as one of my readers suggested, that inflation had indeed taken its toll on the 'wanna-be' terrorists, forcing them to resort to using any which materials they could lay their hands on rather than what was actually needed to trigger a high impact explosion.
The blasts would have perhaps earned the hype generated by the over enthusiastic media, if it had occured in strategic locations. However, the lackadaisical and almost random planting of explosives in landscaped islands, under trees in vacant lots and on the roadsides only ensured the redundancy of all, save one which took the life of an innocent woman and inflicted injuries on a few.
Although my heart goes out to Ravi, the wounded husband of the victim Sudha who is in a trance and still unaware of his spouse's demise, I could not help but wonder why the culprits even bothered?
A sentiment which perhaps the agents of terror also echoed in retrospect. Because just 24 hours later, the nation watched in horror and shock as 16 low intensity bombs ripped through Ahmedabad and tore a part of its society asunder. This time, bombs containing lethal ball bearings were planted strategically in crowded market places and hospitals with clear intent to kill in multitudes. And the effect: 30 dead and close to 100 injured at the time of publishing this post.
While the explosions did not take a serious toll on Bangalore, it has catapulted Ahmedabad into the ranks of Hyderabad*, Malegoan* and Varanasi*; though not into the big league where the Mumbai*, Jaipur* and the Samjotha* explosions rest.
Over the past 2 years, India's experiences of terrorist aggression seem to average 3 episodes annually, which is indeed quite a battering for any nation to take. But withstand it she does, despite the ineffectual fumbling of its political guardians. The irrepressible resilience that we Indians posses and our ability to bounce back in the face of any calamity has, undoubtedly, played a key role in the continued existence of the great Indian democracy. I mean where else in the world can you find men blithely urinating on the roadside the morning after a serious explosion or women squatting on the pavements nonchalently sipping steaming cups of chai without worrying about the possibility of a bomb exploding beneath them? But it remains to be seen just how much more the people of this nation can be pushed.
For me, India is like the Elephant, once an acknowledged symbol of imperial power and an animal possessed of remarkable intelligence and the wisdom of the ages. It is said that the elephant is slow to anger but once roused, can set forth on a rampage leaving in its wake destruction unimagined. I await the day when the little flames of anger flickering across my country today grow into a raging blaze and India, like its more resolute western counterparts, responds to even the smallest act of terrorist aggression firmly, swiftly, decisively and so ruthlessly that any aggresor would think not just twice, but a gazillion times before taking a second shot at us.
* Chronology of major bomb attacks in India 2006-2008
(Courtesy: Economic Times)
May 2008 Jaipur: 9 explosions, 60 dead & over 200 injured
Nov 2007: Serial blasts outside courts in 3 north Indian cities; 40 people wounded
Oct 2007, Rajasthan [ Ajmer Sheriff]: 2 explosions, 2 dead & 15 injured
Aug 2007, Hyderabad: 2 explosions, 43 dead & over 70 injured
May 2007 Hyderabad [Mecca Mosque]: Single explosion, 10 dead & over a dozen injured
Feb 2007 Samjhauta Express: 4 explosions, 68 dead & several injured
Sept 2006, Malegoan[Maharashtra]: 3 explosions, 38 people dead & over 100 injured
July 2006, Mumbai: 7 explosions, 186 dead & over 800 injured
Apr 2006, New Delhi [ Jama Masjid]: 2 explosions, 14 dead injured
Mar 2006, Varanasi: 3 explosions, 28 dead & 62 injured.
Oct 2005, New Delhi: 3 explosions, over 60 dead & 200 injured
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