09/07/2011
Religion in the societies
In India, it is important to choose your building well… And its inhabitants!! Because what they call “society” will not let you free… All the bored people (the retired ones, the housewives, the servants, the watchmen) will find your life worthy of being watched…
This is how, in Pune, I had a hard-time finding a “society” that would accept a non-married French-Indian couple. The landlords were cool about it. But they had to ask the permission of the “society”!!
Then, once I arrived in Mumbai, I moved into a Sindhi “society” – Sindhis are the Hindus who came from Pakistan after the partition. Nothing special to say apart from the fact they all were Sindhis.
And then, when I shifted to my new building, I was very happy to discover a catholic “society” - I thought that they would be a little less “conservative” that the others but well, not really. In short, in my building, there are only Rodriguez, Pereira, Rebello etc. families and this makes me laugh every time I see the board with all the names! And then, one fine day, I get a note from my “society” stating that the annual meeting took place and in introduction: “after praying, we started the meeting…” Would be interesting to try that in France!
We are also regularly invited for masses (for birthdays, deaths etc) in our small garden. At least this brings people together...
The most constraining “societies” might be the Muslim ones, from what I heard. A French friend was accepted in one of them only because her husband was Muslim. And in another one, the French guy promised not to bring in alcohol nor pork.
No judgment here. It is just a little surprising, at the beginning.
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07/16/2011
Faith kills
Everyone has by now heard of the recent attacks (on July 13th) in Mumbai. Toll: 18 dead people. They can do better… No provocation here; Indians have proved their expertise in terrorism and if you see the scale of previous attacks, they could really have made more damage. If the idea is to terrorize, they have a long way to go. Once passed the initial shock of “I could have been there” and “fuck not again”, life took over almost immediately. Moreover, nobody has yet claimed the attack though it is most probably for religious purpose.
PS: National religious terrorism makes India rank 6th among the countries more at the risk of the terrorist threat (2001: 5,839 victims, 2010: 1,902).
More fatal, the Amarnath Yatra. Two weeks after the opening of the pilgrimage – which Emilie and myself were supposed to do this year, already 51 pilgrims died. All that to go and worhsip a frozen giant penis (of Shiva). No no, no blasphemy here. Pilgrims face the cold, the rain, the altitude to go see one of the most sacred lingams of India.
Source: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/175941/10-more-die-way-amarnath.html
08:01 Posted in Incredible India! | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tags: india, mumbai, bomb blast, terrorism, religion, pilgrimage, amarnath yatra | Facebook | |
04/06/2011
I also have something to say about cricket!!
I am always bewildered by cricket.
To sit in front of the TV for 8 hours watching guys (not even fit and good looking) throwing a ball and pretending to run, I don’t get it…
And when sport becomes an excuse for a stupid nationalist attitude, I just hate it (and I hate it for any sport as a matter of fact). So many people told me about the "importance" of the semi-finale Pakistan-India. But you don't understand? Pakistan-India!! Obviously I don't. Are we talking about Cricket or about the squabble (war) that has been on since Independence?
So, India has won the Cricket World Cup, after 28 years. Of course we are happy for them!! They finally win something!! ;)
I had to watch parts of the game (at least 3 hours). I could not understand a thing. Even more bewildering than the game, the comments. Since nothing is happening, they have nothing to say. But they are quite good because they still manage to rant on for 8 hours!!
BUT I did not completely waste my time. I was lucky enough to watch the team players’ thanking: Yuvraj Singh, man of the tournament: "(This is) for Sachin, for everyone else in the team. I want to dedicate this to my Guru Ram Singh and Guru Ajit Singh and my parents and friends." No kidding?? He thanks his gurus first??!
And then there was the captain, man of the match, MS Dhoni. During the night following the game he shaved his head and devoted his hairs to Lord Balaji as he had promised him.
To conclude, when someone asks you if with the development of India, religion is receding, you know what to answer!!
Sources: http://www.4to40.com/newsat4/index.asp?p=Player_of_the_Tournament_Yuvraj_Singh&k=Guru_Ram_Singh
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