drB,
your post #1072:
sir, to me, the forum, is more entertainment than a cause. by and large.
but every one of us, has some topic or the other, where we are passionate. to me the treatment of women in our society is important. i have an unassuaged anger at the past, over which i have no control to influence. i accept that.
i have had beautiful aunts shorn of hair, castigated as mundais and peedais, and considered ill omen, and shunned in every function. just 50 years ago, when i was young, and indelibly imprinted in my mind.
the perpetrators of this ignominy were educated lawyers and doctors, who held high status in their society, but at home, were tyrants whose anger filled the space of the women with terror and intimidation. it was not just one case. it was the norm.
later on, when infirm, these mellowed, and the women used to awe, as to how 'soft' these once hard men have become. which used to rile me up more.
my own maternal grandpa was one such, and i was in my teens when he died, son less. i did the rites, but not willingly as i could not in all honesty
agree with the man's life values, and 47 years later, i still have not changed, and only become more firm in what i felt then. i was cowed by my mom
into doing the kiriyais, which i did, indifferently. i cannot believe, that once a brahmin dies, he becomes a semi sacred pithru, demanding of veneration, while being a lessthanhonourablel in his life here on earth. atleast the way, i saw it then, and continue to do so, 47 years later.
so you see, drB, when one hits a raw nerve on a topic that i am passionate about, all my sense of humour and light heartedness goes to the winds.
i am quite sure, there may be subjects dear to your heart, where all logic and sanity fades into vapour, and feelings overwhelm any caution towards reason or logic. if not so, i think, you are one of a lucky few, to view the world with a socreatean calmness. bless you sir for that, then.
re brahmin bashing, all of us, depending on a time stamp, are brahmin bashers. i do not know if you have daughters, but if you do, i would bet, that you treat them as equals to your sons (if you have any) in terms of treatment, love, affection, education, urge to jobs opportunities and above all, that she is on par with a male progeny.
tambrams did not treat their daughters such till recently. these were lucky if they were educated to sslc. if they were widowed, they were damned, as described above in my post. any latent talent was suppressed. tambrams had double standards, and it is no honest excuse to say, that other
communities practised it too, or these tambrams were men of their times and values.
sir, you are PhD, and, i presume, a believer, not only in scientific proof, but also in the concept that when it comes to science, a researcher, man
or woman, is only as good, as the effort she or he puts in. there is no discrimination based on gender, right? and whom did these brahmins
discriminate agains? their own mothers, wives, sisters, daughters.
if you agree with the way those women were treated, i will not venture any more. on the other hand, being a reasonable man of today, i think,
you will not subject, if given a chance, the women folk of your house, to such indignity. but then, your grandfather will call you a brahmin basher.
it is all relative. like the pot calling the kettle black. n'est pas?
so, too happy hindu. i see the good lady as the future of hinduism. she is not of the brahmin caste, but more erudite, and a critique to our practices with a bent on retrospection, and reformation. knowledgeable folks here, enjoy the battle of wits with her. the more ignorant ones, resort to name
calling, and as a last resort, try to hide under the folds of praveen's ownerhip dhoti. and these are honourable men, as mark anthony would say,
during the funerary of julius caesar.
btw, i agree with amala, re your grooming. a dapper young lad, with just the right amount of fading hirsuteness, a salt and pepper mop with shiny
globules of genius, partly hidden under the stern visage. in short, a gentleman and a scholar.
greetings to you sir.
