Thair Saadam...

It's been 6 years since I graduated from High School. I did all my schooling, right from Kindergarten to Grade 12, in the heart of the heart of the city - Mylapore! And the school was none other than the famous PS Senior - fondly known as the "Thair Saadam" School :)

While kids aged 5 in the US get ready for the "play school", their counterparts in PS invariably get ready for their math test! Day after day, week after week, the tests never seem to end. Poor things! :)

"I've gone through the same when I was young."
But is that reason enough to allow our kids to "suffer"? Shouldn't we think beyond this aggressive way of "learning"? I recently saw a documentary on a popular TV channel on how forcing a kid to over-achieve in sports beyond its capacity might be harmful to its mental growth. But isn't the same true for academic education too?

I feel that there is a mysterious bond between these "thair saadams" and Engineering. Being an engineer my self, I somehow feel I wasn't provided enough opportunities to explore. I vividly remember a career advice forum that was conducted by my school. Men from various backgrounds ranging from the army to journalism were present. Each one gave a flowery speech about why their work was the best.

We students were so childish then that one guy ended up having a hot debate with the army general on why Veerappan remained uncaught!! It would only end on the intervention of our then teacher-terror Mr. Ramaurthy (I miss "outstanding" days ! Chikku and Sriram will know what I mean! :) ) I even got a chance to speak at the session, when I raised this question of monotony. I wanted to know why our school did not have an arts, or psychology or sociology department. My question was shunned by our principal herself, who pointed out to the 6th grade drawing lessons as being "art"!

Going a few more years back...I used to play Table Tennis, and played quite well too, to the extent of being seeded at the State Ranking Competition. It was my first such entry into such a huge tournament. And guess what! PS refused to sign a letter saying I wouldn't affect my academics! I ended not showing up at the venue. That was definitely the turning point of my TT career, when my coach refused to even speak to me. I don't remember regretting it that much (those playful days, you know!). But thinking back, I feel cheated.

PS could've done more than giving holidays for Nombu and Amavaasai! The good memories still remain, thanks only to the golden friends circle I was part of...the thair saadam gumbal :)

Brahminism

Brahmin, derived from "Brahmana", means "belonging to Brahma". A Brahmin of olden times, was considered the possessor of "exclusive" rights to education and matters of social and spiritual importance. Those were the days when the Hindu religion boasted of the four major castes in Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaishyas (merchants and land owners), Shudras (laborers) and the Brahmins.

Focusing on just the Brahmins, one cannot miss to notice the complexity of their society in the past. Westernization (along with ridicule from all corners) has had its share of destroying its traits. The Brahmins of today (including the "real" priests) have so completely transformed so as to blend comfortably into modernity.

Some of the most important characteristic traits of the "original" brams were the vibhudhi (ash markings on the forehead and body), saffron attires and the sacred thread (tied around the body from the left shoulder, going back circularly from underneath the right arm). Some of brams of today can hardly even recognize these - wearing the sacred thread is considered to be a mere formality. But how can it be when it is changed once a year without fail on the day of Aavani Avittam??!!!; the saffron-colored clothes are now part of the wardrobes of the so-called "Human Gods" with the power to do even the scientifically impossible!

However considering today's society of brams as a whole, they form part of the middle and the upper-middle class, with very little hold on the other sections of the society (a trait they had once mastered simply due to their "acquired" reach of knowledge and education). Apologies for not being euphemistic: this practice was plain bad!

Even today you can notice elderly brams asking the maids to enter through the back door, or asking them not to go near the pooja area (I can create a never-ending list, or may be a separate blog post just for the list!). This attitude is very easily assimilated by the younger generation, without questions being raised; the human brain LOVES to rule dudes!

If only the Brams comprised of at least 10% (as opposed to the meagre 2-3% in reality) of the Indian population, they could've kept up with the race to the throne. Now, facing them is a light-less tunnel, with no signs of an approaching train. The political oppostion started with "Thandhai" Periyaar, after Mahatma Gandhi fought for the "Harijans". The power of Periyaar was fabulous, and he got an immediate mass following. Our "No God, No Superstition" Kalaignar has only to add fuel to the fire with announcing "Anybody can become priest".

I can't quite understand what he means by "No God" when he takes so much effort to define what a "priest" is. Nor can I understand the meaning of "superstition", if sticking on to your yellow dhothi even when you can't even stand properly is not considered to be one! The point being, Kalaignar, and the thousands who own a priced political post, probably don't give a damn about how to pen the definitaion of a priest. This issue, by virtue of being Kalaignar's enemy's friend, was his enemy!

Has the brahmin society given a lot more importance to its self-pride than it should have? Is it now feeling the heat from all corners because of that? If not anything, the reservation is going to only surge. The political harted is going to deepen. Brams are slowly but stedily running away from the country to seek greener pastures.

Is this all because of our (Yes! After all that flaying, I'm a Bram too!) ancestors' flawed and self-deceiving livelihood? If only we had given a chance for the others in the soceity too! Is it too late now? Yes, I think so...