TOW ... Scoffes and the Temple of dHoom
Merry Christmas !
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Three , dude ....three !! ... generally its once every week , but it was 3 in one shot today !!
That's the no. of temples I've been to today .... ok not exactly been to , cuz I never enter temples ...
Every Saturday morning I drive my mom to the Temple nearby , and refuse to get in .... it does bother her , but she has grown to accept tat there is no point importin "wisdom" into her son's head { the dble quotes are meant to signify the sarcasm } ... So whilst she goes to the temple , and recites all those hymns I know for sure she doesnt understand ....I sit inside the car reading a book (...the passers by wondering where they can hire a chauffer who reads Michael Crighton's books!! )
It makes me feel like Amitabh Bachan in Deewar , who waits by the steps of that temple they've been showin in every Bollywood movie since the 60's to present day !
I've not gone to a temple in the past 5 years ( saving the one time wen, on a col trip I'd to get into Eskon temple in B'lore ...but that place rocks!! ... 3 samosas for 10 bucks and printed Krishna-Man tee shirts for 100 ... if tat doesnt make ppl join the Hare Krishna cult then wat will ??!! ... but , then its not like a regular temple ... the guys there are actually decent and they are active in helpin the poor and the needy ...)
Not that I used to be a major believer five years ago , but I'd not read 'The Godfather' then ...and, I dint know how to "reason " with my mother (as the Don wud put it ) .
I've never understood the whole idea of going to a temple ...
What do they basically do in there ... sure they do pray , but why cant tat be done at home ... why do all the hard work of going to temple... standing in a queue for hours together ... taking the risk of being killed in a stampede ... recitin hymns in a language that became extinct even before the dinosaurus .... showing ur LOU for the human race , by swearing and pushing fellow devotees just to get a glimpse of a statue , a regular rock made of silica and other minerals , carved and painted to give it a human look !!... offering money and respect to some jerk who claims to know it all , to perform a so called puja that involves wasting of a lot of milk , that cud have been used to feed that poor girl with hunger written in her eyes , standing outside the temple!!
I sit in my car outside and observe the people around ... they make really funny hand and head movements ... which is a function of the deity they worship !! ... there are supposed to be some 12 to 13 gods and goddesses in each temple , each having their own specializations ... and I see these devoted ppl(even those who seem educated) acting like they are part of some amozonian-tribal-ritual !! .... what adds to the whole drama is the BGM ... that blarring 'noise' from the loudspeakers tats supposed to send spiritual waves , but in reality tears the serenity of early saturday mornings !!... now instead of birds chirping I hear "Rama-krishna-bhuta-subhastute...lalala...swaha " , or "Ambe Ambe jai jagdambey" to the tune of ILU-ILU ...remember ilu-ilu ?!
once outside , these gud devoted religious ppl.... would fight with the guy who parked the vehicle , in no way more awry, than their own .... they dont mind , kicking tat same girl we talked about a while ago .....or spitting on the sidewalk..... or even easing themselves ( I mean pissing .... urinating ... some euphemisms jus dont make the point !! )
but sure they are very nice ppl bcuz they go to the temple and make those unearthly motions and pray in some outmoded dialect !
its all so fake and loud and caricatured .
Amoung these ppl are businessmen, teachers ,and students (probably praying to do well in their science exam , wen wat they are doin is against all scientific education !! )
wen will ppl start using their heads ?!
and wen will I stop posting blogs on religion ?!
posted by scoffes @ 10:04 AM
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