Long long ago, Brahmins were one community who behaved like one community.
They lived a very simple life. Most of us were very poor or amongst the middle class.
There was no Godfather who could sponsor anything for the community. We lived on our own.
We were highly religious and God fearing.
‘Ella bharathaiyum swami thalaiyil pottu vidu. Avar parthupaar’ Similar statements were heard in almost all houses
We lived in places where there should be a good temple and a pond or river nearby. We needed this to do our trikaala sandhyavandanam chant Vishnu sahasranaamam and do all the rites specific for the community.
The earnings were very limited. Most of us lived on fixed monthly income working at Govt departments, courts, schools etc. But the work was over by 5 pm so that we could devote some valuable time for the temple visits , bhajans , deeparathanai , ardhachama poojai etc.,
The morning breakfast was predominantly pazhaya sadam with or without an oorukai.
In the afternoon also, it was a rice dominated lunch with a kozhambu or rasam with a kai or koottu.
The supper was also the residue of the afternoon lunch.
We see Idli or dosa or kozhakkattai only during festivals or when some special guests arrive at our house.
Every house looked quite similar. The perseverant father, the quiet mother, the respected grand parents and the obedient children. Every house had a lot of children. The boys were given more education than the girls. The girls barely completed class X. They were married away early so that the first delivery happens before the age of 20. By the time the ladies reach the age of 50 they would have already produced a dozen children with some of the children born having a premature death owing to epidemics like small pox , typhoid etc.,
Marriage is a long process. The horoscope has to match well. Dowry was not much compared to the non- Brahmins. Yet there were a lot of spending done, beyond the means. Brahacharanam boy cannot marry a Vadamall girl. Ashtasahasram Boy cannot marry a Brahacharanam boy. There was untouchability even within the Brahmins for marriages amongst sub sects.
The children studied in government schools and colleges only. Hence when there is a wedding or poonal or seemantham in the family , the entire family will go and attend the function and come back after a week. The children were very happy about it because they can avoid sitting on broken benches of the school for that much time. And the class teacher will not even press for a leave letter.
Then we started earning more money. Brahmins migrated from villages to Chennai, Bombay, Delhi , Calcutta. But the religiousness did not change. We managed to have bhaja sangams, bhakti sangams in Mumbai , Delhi and other places. We spent more time than others in thinking and chanting about God.
And therefore God also thought about us all the while. There is no doubt about His consideration for us.
That is the reason we still have something left in us.
But we do not remember when the deterioration started.
We started thanikudithanam on a large scale. Parents were shared by the sons . One month here and one month there. We started purchasing flats for saving on rent and earning on appreciation of property at the new place of work. We started investing in share market on a large scale. Some of us earned lacs of rupees before the Harshad Mehta episode. As money started coming in, the need also went up and as the need went up, we had more hunger for money.
Horoscope matching was preceded by the status (financial standings) search. Girls started taking up employment and the mother in law in the house had to look after the grand children. Private / convent education was the need of the day.
Here again, marriages were happening between Brahmin man and Brahmin woman only
We seldom heard about divorce in Brahmin families till the end of 80s. As girls began to learn more and more they have started to become arrogant and the first casuality was the mother in law who became an unwanted element in the family. Old age homes are a new gift to our community that this generation has given. There is no doubt that girls should become economically self dependent in this world. But our girls have started becoming independent from the Brahmin community as well. They have started marrying non Brahmins and this has gone large scale now a days. Brahmins have started eating non vegetarian food and drinking alcohol. Many of the young girls of today are earning more than a lac per month and they have every right to choose their life partner. They do it in style. They marry Chinese, American, etc., not to speak of Maharashtrians, Gujarathis and other Indian races.
I am particularly critical of our girls because the number of boys marrying non Brahmin girls is far less than the reverse.
The next in store for us is the living in relationships which is becoming common. Marriage itself is not required. You can stay with a boy or girl of your choice and have children too! Our girls can bring in more revolution by choosing to live with a muslim or Christian for a couple of years at one place and change the guy and the place after another term.
More shocking things can come to our community after that. A girl can live with another girl. Superlative idea. They can marry too. I was aware of this only when I heard that Martina Navratilova is going to marry a Russian beauty queen Julia Lemigova. This is possible in America. We shall bring it here also so that our girls can revolutionise the community completely.
They lived a very simple life. Most of us were very poor or amongst the middle class.
There was no Godfather who could sponsor anything for the community. We lived on our own.
We were highly religious and God fearing.
‘Ella bharathaiyum swami thalaiyil pottu vidu. Avar parthupaar’ Similar statements were heard in almost all houses
We lived in places where there should be a good temple and a pond or river nearby. We needed this to do our trikaala sandhyavandanam chant Vishnu sahasranaamam and do all the rites specific for the community.
The earnings were very limited. Most of us lived on fixed monthly income working at Govt departments, courts, schools etc. But the work was over by 5 pm so that we could devote some valuable time for the temple visits , bhajans , deeparathanai , ardhachama poojai etc.,
The morning breakfast was predominantly pazhaya sadam with or without an oorukai.
In the afternoon also, it was a rice dominated lunch with a kozhambu or rasam with a kai or koottu.
The supper was also the residue of the afternoon lunch.
We see Idli or dosa or kozhakkattai only during festivals or when some special guests arrive at our house.
Every house looked quite similar. The perseverant father, the quiet mother, the respected grand parents and the obedient children. Every house had a lot of children. The boys were given more education than the girls. The girls barely completed class X. They were married away early so that the first delivery happens before the age of 20. By the time the ladies reach the age of 50 they would have already produced a dozen children with some of the children born having a premature death owing to epidemics like small pox , typhoid etc.,
Marriage is a long process. The horoscope has to match well. Dowry was not much compared to the non- Brahmins. Yet there were a lot of spending done, beyond the means. Brahacharanam boy cannot marry a Vadamall girl. Ashtasahasram Boy cannot marry a Brahacharanam boy. There was untouchability even within the Brahmins for marriages amongst sub sects.
The children studied in government schools and colleges only. Hence when there is a wedding or poonal or seemantham in the family , the entire family will go and attend the function and come back after a week. The children were very happy about it because they can avoid sitting on broken benches of the school for that much time. And the class teacher will not even press for a leave letter.
Then we started earning more money. Brahmins migrated from villages to Chennai, Bombay, Delhi , Calcutta. But the religiousness did not change. We managed to have bhaja sangams, bhakti sangams in Mumbai , Delhi and other places. We spent more time than others in thinking and chanting about God.
And therefore God also thought about us all the while. There is no doubt about His consideration for us.
That is the reason we still have something left in us.
But we do not remember when the deterioration started.
We started thanikudithanam on a large scale. Parents were shared by the sons . One month here and one month there. We started purchasing flats for saving on rent and earning on appreciation of property at the new place of work. We started investing in share market on a large scale. Some of us earned lacs of rupees before the Harshad Mehta episode. As money started coming in, the need also went up and as the need went up, we had more hunger for money.
Horoscope matching was preceded by the status (financial standings) search. Girls started taking up employment and the mother in law in the house had to look after the grand children. Private / convent education was the need of the day.
Here again, marriages were happening between Brahmin man and Brahmin woman only
We seldom heard about divorce in Brahmin families till the end of 80s. As girls began to learn more and more they have started to become arrogant and the first casuality was the mother in law who became an unwanted element in the family. Old age homes are a new gift to our community that this generation has given. There is no doubt that girls should become economically self dependent in this world. But our girls have started becoming independent from the Brahmin community as well. They have started marrying non Brahmins and this has gone large scale now a days. Brahmins have started eating non vegetarian food and drinking alcohol. Many of the young girls of today are earning more than a lac per month and they have every right to choose their life partner. They do it in style. They marry Chinese, American, etc., not to speak of Maharashtrians, Gujarathis and other Indian races.
I am particularly critical of our girls because the number of boys marrying non Brahmin girls is far less than the reverse.
The next in store for us is the living in relationships which is becoming common. Marriage itself is not required. You can stay with a boy or girl of your choice and have children too! Our girls can bring in more revolution by choosing to live with a muslim or Christian for a couple of years at one place and change the guy and the place after another term.
More shocking things can come to our community after that. A girl can live with another girl. Superlative idea. They can marry too. I was aware of this only when I heard that Martina Navratilova is going to marry a Russian beauty queen Julia Lemigova. This is possible in America. We shall bring it here also so that our girls can revolutionise the community completely.
