I attached here a news of a cobra doing archana to Sivalinga during Surya Grahanam. It tells me God accept pure love from anyone even from snake.
raman,
i think, the problem is not with God. i think, the problem is with humans.
the seeds of hatred and discrimination were sown millenium ago. our current generation is reaping the 'reward', i think.
my own feeling, is that a significant number of us TBs are in a mode of denial.
my gut feeling, and i may be absolutely wrong, is that the bulk of the denial and racist attitudes is bulwarked by our own lower middle and poorer brethren, with tacit underhand approval coming from the upper middle class, who on their own accord, have for practical purposes abandoned the apartheidness of brahminism long ago.
the upper class of TBs never cared, except using the religion and casteism to feather their nest. haven't we all heard of
பெரியாத்து சமாச்சாரம் in our young days, when the chief வாத்தியார், right in the middle of the family function, packs up his bags and hands it over to his chela?
the upper middle class, i think, were sitting on the fence, as many of them are recent promotions thanks to upward mobility. maybe tinged with some guilt, they do not pass on either traditions or loyalty to the tribe, to their children. they are more concerned about status and moola than caste.
so that brings us back to the lmc and pc. these folks have only the pride of the caste to sustain them, i think. the economic boom is passing them by. there is no support from government, public at large, and above all from their own well-off brethren, who secretly look down upon them, and use them for menial jobs as cooks and care takers. i suspect the hatred that our own poor brethren, have for the well-off among us, is of himalayan proportions. this, from frank chats with poonul wearing servers at weddings and chavundis.
just look at the shared agony of the folks, who want ONLY brahmin cooks and caretakers in this own very forum. i can sense their anger and frustration, at being in between the rock and a hard place - the indelible prejudice imparted from the parents to whom they have an absolute sense of duty & the ultimate reality of today's market place.
my personal peeve, is that the upwardly mobile in us, would like a permanent underclass of TBs, to cater to our increasing needs re cooks, caretaking our elderly parents and above all giving us a 'sense of comfort at helping out a poor brahmin (sic)'.
i think, each one of us, need to re-examine our views, and while what nara says in terms of remedy may not be possible, it probably is easier on us, to ease our prejudices, so that our present day life is less stressful - here i am thinking of the 70+ year old gentlemen, who is sick with BP & frustration, at the instance of a 39+ unmarried son. he has taken upon himself to feel guilty at letting down his son re finding a spouse for him. had he loosened the rules, maybe ie maybe, he could found a wonderful spouse from other tamil tribe or other brahmin groups.. instead of his wasting his seed away to middle age and perhaps posterity.
it may be an interesting exercise, to categorize the participants of the swayamvarams per economic groups. my gut feeling is that the bulk of the reps would be from the lower & poorer groups. i don't know why, but just a feeling, that is all. it reinforces my belief, that as a TB tribe, we abandon our own first, in order to seek further enhancements for ourselves, our children and our kin, in that order.
a gentleman, remarked that i am 'western' influenced in my thoughts. while i can see where he is coming from, as he evinced a keen vedic interpretation of some obscure methodology, to reinforce, i imagine prejudices, in the name of tradition. what we don't realize is that, we are ultimately, by not being inclusive, causing a grave logic dysfunction in modern hinduism.
i am thankful thatn Ambedkar did not convert to christianity or islam. that would be threatening to us. just look at our response to islam, here or elsewhere. more bound by fear and apprehension, based on history. when insulted, by DK and such, we retort that these would not do likewise to the muslims. why should we not rise up in anger and gather a vigilante group? we do not have the sauve clout which indian xtianity exerts.
with buddhism, grown out of india, our bharat mata, we do not feel threatened. after all, all of us know a TB youth, named gautam or siddharth? don't we?
to sum up, as TBs, we are the leaders of the hindu division by inheritance; today we blame the politicians for perpetuating casteism, whose prime instigators were our ancestors, and which for us has been an uncomfortable collar to wear. truth, i have been told, hurts.
thank you.
