For awhile now, I have been mulling over the idea, of writing on the topic of Myths….while myths r fascinating, not to say the least, and any myth, will find scores of debatable issues surrounding it, what i find even more fascinating, is that many of these myths, if disected through and through, have at their base, certain very intriguing truths attached to them.
     Myths do not ofcourse stand rational questioning…so they r often scoffed at or at the least, met with amused tolerance, by those given to logical thinking….and there r those who very simply accept it as THE TRUTH for the simple reason , that it has come down from generations…., that it has been advocated by Great minds….and therefore, it has got to be true and there is no questioning the wisdom of ages…..This is one of the reasons why Myths get labelled as “Superstitious Beliefs”, by the logical thinker.
                   I have always maintained that in the face of the Harsher Realities of Life, Man turns out to be the most Vulnerable of all creatures, simply becoz, he is the one creature, that is AWARE of his vulnerability….the human mind is the one entity, that realizes its vulnerablity, in the face of the inevitable realities…the mysteries that the whole phenomenon of life is shrouded with..and therefore all the more difficulty in coping with these REALITIES…That brings me to the point…..THE NEED TO COPE…..
                       Science ofcourse explains the Objective World……governed by  mathematically precise principles.But our world is more than that…..the inner Subjective World of thoughts , feelings, aspirations, fears……the driving forces underlying the Core of our existence…….What about these…..?..It is here that the need arises…to find  Answers that have to match the innumerous Questions that arise from within.Here is where Myths play an important role…..
              I therefore look upon Myths as the Direct Result of our attempts to understand the world around us and the world within us…….
                Seen in this light, Myths, whether eastern or western, Hindu or Greek or Roman…..they seem to cater to but one requirement…Man’s need to cope with his needs ——physical, emotional,spiritual, even intellectual….., thereof leading to a desire to better understand the world around him.Which brings me to the most important issue in question……….Do we blindly accept every myth as the Eternal Truth?…..or do we scoff at it clubbing it  as Blind Belief?…
                     I wud say..NEITHER attitude does justice to the sacred nature of these myths…….THE FIGURATIVE ASPECT…….that is what we tend to miss out on….If these myths r looked at figuratively, then there is neither need for the scientific mind to scoff at it, nor is there need for blind faith……For figuratively speaking……these myths serve as windows to Eternal Truths………
I am going to borrow  at  this point this passage from Devadutt Pattanaik, which illustrates to some extent , the point which i am trying to make….
  “The story of virgin births and parting seas……. in effect is advocating the existence  of an entity who is greater than all forces of Nature, put together…….. A God with six heads, and a demon with eight arms, projects a Universe where there r infinite possibilities, for the better or for the worse………...and so on……….”……and so every myth is a Treasure trove…….containing  answers to many of the mysteries that plague our mind , from time to time……...we just need to look that much deeper…..and with broader visions……..
It is not  my intent in writing this post to stir up a debate for or against myths….just that seen in a proper light, myths have answers to many questions……and i intend delving into these realms further……………..

  DEBY: Jen……u r more critical of our religion than any other…..usually it’s the other way round….

 JENNY: I know enough about other religions, to be able to appreciate them..
I do not know enough about them to be able to be critical about them….

The religion into which I was born….I know it through and through…..i am therefore aware of all its plus and minus points.
 While I appreciate the many gud aspects……i am in a position to be critical of it too…


 
DEBY: U tend to bend more towards Hinduism……..

JENNY: What I know of it, is in keeping with what I believe in…..it is incidental…..


DEBY: What about the rituals and superstitious beliefs…u r so analytical otherwise….

JENNY: In many of these practices..if u go into the origin of these rituals….I find there was a scientific basis for them……..which was not quite understood by the common man, of the time….so maybe those who understood the relevance of these rituals, put it forth ,with a touch of religion….which the common man understood better…..tell him to do it in the name of religion..it made sense to him. …scientific explanations did’nt…..

DEBY: They worship the snake….does that make sense to u?

JENNY: If u notice Naag panchmi co-incides with the harvesting season…..The snake is a friend of the farmer……it keeps rodent population down…..A farmer loses more to rodents than to anything else….So in effect, the snake is a natural saviour for the farmer…like a God…

DEBY: What about the no. of fasts that they keep..in the name of this and that…..

JENNY: Abstinence…evry now and then, is good for health….Fasting occasionally helps clear the body  machine…flushes out toxic components, that accumulate in the body….Even the different food items that they prepare for every festival……it is connected with the prevalant weather conditions….Ever heard of the  neem bath, they take at ugaadi?…Ugaadi co-incides with the on-set of summer…..and neem is good for heat-related problems….what better way to start the summer, than with a neem bath that helps beat the summer heat…it is so soothing…….and having a tulsi plant in the vicinity….tulsi  is high on medicinal value…. also a good air-cleanser…..what better way to
ensure its  proper care than to entrust it to the woman of the house….plus whether anyone cares to admit it or not a family’s welfare very much revolves around the woman  of the house….make her go round it a couple of times in the early morning fresh air…it works wonders for her health, both mental and physical…there’s a lot of wisdom and knowledge hidden in these so-called superstitious practices……

DEBY: u’ve got an explanation for every ritual of theirs..????

JENNY:No…I’ve read about a few things…it makes a lot of sense to me…..The rest ..there must be some explanation…One has to delve deeper  to get at the facts…

DEBY: what about superstitious beliefs…mirror cracking…cat crossing the path…..

JENNY:Yeah, there r many that make no sense…..one has to learn to distinguish between what makes sense and what does’nt….but there r very interesting stories about how these originated…..that’s why it’s important to know the origin of these things….u know what to follow……. and what not to…

DEBY:What about Islam?…Dont hear u speak of it often……

JENNY: The few Muslim friends I have , have a heart of gold, Deby….That’s all I know of Islam…..And if these friends of mine  are anything to go by…then Islam must be a great religion…..Tried to get a copy of the Quran in English, many times….though…did’nt manage to get one….I’d tried learning the Urdu script, u know that….Ofcourse that was becoz  i had gotten interested in reading the original manuscripts pertaining to Mughal history from the National Archives…..Had I learnt urdu..I might have read the Quran…then maybe I cud speak about it……

DEBY:What about the Purdah….?

JENNY:Well, if the woman in question is more comfortable in a purdah, than without it, that’s fine…..tomorrow if i felt the need to wear a purdah for some practical reason, I’d surely use it……but if it were to be forced on me, in the name of social etiquette, then NO…!!!!…..then it wud be more of a statement on the males in the society than anything else……….

DEBY: And what about Polygamy…?…Some of the people in the neighbourhood…u know how it is….

JENNY: For one thing, a person can love more than one person at a time…there r so many nice people out there ..if u have ur mind and heart open  u can very well fall in love with anyone who touches ur heart ,cant u?/….why deny it…?//though u dont have to marry everybody and start a family with evrybody,,,,nor can u indulge in getting physical, with evrybody,……practical problems wud ensue., which a person cannot handle……so  common sense shd prevail here and this applies for everybody…,muslim or otherwise……even the desire for a male issue….lets not debate that…it is something very personal….But if the polygamy thing is a sign of MCP-ism, then definitely it ’s a question, to consider , is’nt it?/

       Actually,U know . after the Holy War in the Gulf, Polygamy was advocated inorder to equalize the male-female ratio in the society of the time…Some of these practices were introduced as solutions to a period-based problem.They shd’ve been erased with the problem. Unfortunately, they have outlived the period that they were meant for.
And there are those who take advantage of that…..

      But i do so love the biryani prepared by my Muslim friends…and the puran-polis from my Hindu friends…served to me with so much love…it’s great to live  in the midst of such diverse cultures…I am lucky to be an Indian….and the Urdu shayaris…the Ghazals…..Even where clothing is concerned…..I have such a wide range to choose from…..the salwaar-kameez, when I feel like it…the saree..there’s such grace in it, if draped well….there’s no other apparel that can beat it, is’nt it?/

DEBY: but u  r in ur jeans or trousers most of the time…

JENNY: Comfort level, Deby…..U have to be comfortable in what u wear……that shd be the deciding factor…not somebody  else’s whims or fancies….

 from Jen’s diary:             All in all, when I look at the

matter…

           I cannot see God in the church….rituals and formal prayers

love…….in all of His Creation….

                    
But there is the other side……My mind has always

mind and spirit….creating a so-called conflict….

     Life has given me countless   opportunities to

see the beauty of God’s creation…in the things

around me…in the relationships I share….in the

music I listen to……in the poems i’ve read…….in

the profound thoughts left behind by people that r

gone…in the littlest of things…i’ve experienced

Divine Bliss in all these….I’ve never failed to thank

God time and again ……my heart has soared up

countless times  to God in tribute, in adoration, in

veneration…I’ve seen His hand in all the gifts He

has blessed me with….all the qualities for which I

get appreciated…..respected or even loved……..my

mind has never accepted credit for anything…my

heart has always admitted before God, that the

credit goes to Him…for He has made me what I

am….

        I’ve had opportunities .of reading the best

crumble like empty promises……..

        A very simple , tender ,

compassionate heart…coupled with a

very harsh, complex mind, which

becomes ruthless , when it questions

established beliefs….this becomes a

very difficult combination to live

with…..


        The point  is who do I

communicate with……The christian

tells u follow Jesus..the hindu says

…follow Ram & Krishna..the muslim

will say something else…….It does

not matter to me so much who I

follow…it is what I follow, that is

important….i am not a bird  to be

caged by any society, religious or

otherwise… I am a bird that breaks

barriers and soars high up in the sky

and explores all that there is to

explore in God’s beautiful

world……but when I soar up there…..I

see not just the Beauty…..but the

ugliness as well…promises, real or

otherwise, of either earthly or

heavenly rewards, fail to motivate

me…nor would achievements of this

nature give me a sense of fulfilment

in   its   entireness….I am always left

feeling hungry and thirsting for

more…….Ive heard preachers

galore…..some of them do impress

my mind…….I salute them from the

bottom of my heart…but the

rest…they make me wish for a

Krishna of the Bhagwad Gita…with

whom I could interact….who could

meet my resistance with an inner

strength par excellence……


           

   Jen ki shikaayat….

What the body requires…everybody is out to attend to ………and they r satisfied about a job well done………

What the mind & heart require……..they r heedless about that……………….

   So friends, before we go into the episodes that ensued in Jen’s life……a glimpse of what went on in her mind……..


One of a series of entries in her diary:

Divine energy is all around u……allow it to flow  

.U become a beautiful part of CREATION


Evil forces only deflate u….! It is only Positive Energy 

kya fark padta hai…..?///


The  next entry…….

Aaj ghar pe kuch aisi baat ho gayi., mai ro di……TED

an end to my faith in God..in the Divinity of His Nature


A THIRD ENTRY

                  If given a choice,…what religion would I like to

believe…dont force ur belief on me….