Diwali

[csr at jupiter.wipro.com]

>From: vmurthy at informix.com (Venkatesh Murthy) 
-From: pb019 at csc.albany.edu (Partha Banerjee)

>                             DIWALI
>
>( AASHWAYUJA KRISHNA CHATURDASHI TO KAARTIKA SHUKLA DWITEEYAA )
>The 14th Day of the dark half of Aashwayuja to the 2nd day of bright half of
>Kaartik
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------------->
>If there is one occasion which is all joy and all jubilation for one and all -
>the young and the old, men and women - for the entire Hindu world, it is
>Deepaavali - the Festival of Lights. Even the humblest of huts will be lighted
>by a row of earthern lamps. Crackers resound and light up the earth and the
>sky. The faces of boys and girls flow with a rare charm in their dazzling hues
>and colors. Illumination - Deepotsavas - in temples and all sacred places of
>worship and one the banks of rivers symbolize the scattering of spiritual
>radiance all round from these holy centres. The radiant sight of everybody
>adorned with new and bright clothes, especially ladies decorated with the best
>of ornaments, captures the social mood at its happiest.

---
-My response:

-This description of the festivities, however grandiose and utopian, is
-rather one-sided and does not depict the way many poorer communities in
-India spend the Diwali times. There are millions of families in India where
-no lamps are lit, no crackers are cracked, and no ornaments are worn.

        Only because of poverty, no other reason. But
        even they go to temples, community gatherings
        etc which are free.

-Diwali (and many other Indian festivities) has been synonymous with the
-eclectic upper hierarchy of the Hindu religion for ages.  In most Hindu
-temples, the so-called "untouchables" would not even be allowed to enter to
-celebrate this or any other such eclectic festivities -- whether religious
-or socio-cultural.

        This is an odious lie. In the overwhelming number
        of temples ( I don't say all because it is difficult
        to be aware of the conditions in all the millions
        of temples ) NO ONE is prohibited from entering.
        I have visited hundreds of temples in all parts
        of the country, and there is no such prohibition.
        This lie calls into question everything that
        this author says, considering this is so easy
        to verify and refute.

---
>
>And all this illumination and fireworks, joy and festivity, is to signify the
>victory of divine forces over those of wickedness.

---

-My response:

-Again, this is vague. Who is the divine and who is the wicked? The Hindu
-religion (as practiced and imposed-upon by the Brahminical order)
-deliberately confuses this important issue. The so-called elite of the
-upper castes who have traditionally been ruling India and Hinduism: are
-they divine? Are the so-called "Indo-European Aryas" divine? And the
-"non-Aryas" (including the non-Hindus) wicked? That's the much-publicized
-prevalent concept. In Ramayana, the "non-Arya" "demon" king Ravana, who to

       Another lie, of course. "divine" and "wicked" have
        NOTHING TO DO with racial origins in the hindu
        religion. This is not only NOT a "much-publicized
        concept", I have never heard of it till this
        author sprang it from his fertile mind.

        A hilarious joke is to call Ravana non-aryan.
        This again shows how much Mr Banerjee knows
        about such matters. Ravana was a Brahmin;
        his grandfather was chief priest of the GODS.

        This man, with his pristine Aryan Brahmin
        origin, is shown as a wicked man , based
        only on his personal actions. Even his
        status as a devout worshipper of the Lord
        Shiva does not help him escape this
        castigation.

        This should once and for all nail the ignorant
        ranting of Mr Banerjee.

-me signifies nothing but human steadfastness and bravery, is killed by the
-"Arya"-therefore-"divine" Lord Rama where the latter resorts to any
-possible deceptive and deplorable tactics to conquer the land of Lanka (or
-Srilanka as we know it now).

        This means Mr Banerjee approves of kidnapping
        women, imprisoning them against their will,
        and attempting to kill the husband who tries to
        rescue his wife !
        And this moral paragon passes judgment on
        others' ethics !

        It is another lie that Sri Rama wanted to
        conquer Lanka just for landgrabbing. He
        would have not attempted war if Sita had
        been let go. After the war was concluded,
        he promptly left after picking up Sita,
        and there is NO evidence he ever visited
        Lanka again or that he left a single
        soldier there. So what nonsense is
        Mr Banerjee spouting here ?

        It is interesting that a kidnapper is
        praised, while the victim is abused.
        I have to wonder at the perversions of
        Mr Banerjee's mind.

-Lord Rama is glorified in Brahminical Hinduism and of course, Ravana is
-ridiculed to death (as is manifested by the ritualistic blazing of Ravana's
-kushaputtalika or straw icon).  The fundamentalist Hindu parties in India
-champion the causes of Lord Rama (however vague they may be) to exploit the
-unchallenging mindset of the Hindu electorate.

        As opposed to the scrambled mindset of Mr Banerjee
        which praises kidnappers and ridicules victims
        of crimes.

        It is not just the "fundamentalists" who
        "champion the cause of Rama"; every pious
        and devout hindu accepts Sri Rama in
        his heart as the personification of
        divinity.

What do Indology scholars do in this intellectual paradox? Would be
-interesting to see.

        The only paradox is why a criminal is praised
        and a victim who heroically rendered justice
        is abused; why a Brahmin is called non-Aryan;
        and why so ignorant a man as Mr Banerjee
        chooses to display his ignorance. Other than
        this , there is none.

---
>In northern parts of Bharat, Deepaavali is associated with the return of Sri
>Rama to Ayodhya after vanquishing Raavana. The people of Ayodhya, overwhelmed
>with joy, welcomed Rama through jubilation and illumination of the entire
>capital. Well has it been said that while Sri Rama unified the north and south
>of our country, Sri Krishna unified the west and the east. Sri Rama and Sri
>Krishna together therefore symbolize the grand unity of our motherland.

---
My response:

-See the problem here. Rama, according to Mr. Seshadri, unified the north
-and south. In reality, he killed the mighty Ravana and extended the "Aryan"
-Hindu invasion to the south.  All voices of dissent were silenced.  All

        But Ravana was already a Aryan Hindu Brahmin long before
        Sri Rama showed up !!!! There goes your silly
        theory. Lanka was ALREADY aryanised before Rama's
        arrival ! There was NOTHING to extend.

-other ways to live in India were methodically discouraged.  Socio-religious
-conformity was forcefully imposed.  And, regarding the "grand unity of our

        Any proof, other than in your feverish mind ?
        What imposition ? What discouragement ?

-motherland", welcome to the indoctrination of the celebrated RSS and its
-daughter organizations BJP (the now-formidable Hindu right-wing political
-party), the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)--the religious wing, or the
-Vivekananda Kendra--the social-work wing.

        I have to congratulate you, then, on
        getting indoctrinated without the help
        of any organization then :-)

        What is your reason for writing so many
        easily-disprovable lies ? Don't you have
        any regard for your reputation ? Do you
        really not mind getting labelled as
        a weak-brained liar ?

-See the incoherence (quite expectedly so) among the various Indian
-festivities around Diwali.  In Bengal, for instance, Durga Puja is now the
-most-celebrated customary festival, particularly in the cities where the
-upper-caste affluent live (in villages, they have their own celebrations,
-e.g., the Raas-Lila of Sri Chaitanya who through his socio-religious
-movements broke down the barriers of the degenerate caste-system and
-brought about interreligious faith).

        I see. If there is uniformity, it is derided
        as "socio religious imposition"; if there
        is diversity, it is called incoherence :-)

        You obviously don't mind being revealed as
        a mindless bigot, who will only say bad
        things about hindus, no matter what the
        facts are !

        Are you for diversity, or are you not ? :-)

        Yet another idiocy: cities are where the
        "affluent upper castes" live :-) Will
        nonsense never cease ?

However, Diwali, as we know it in Bengal, is the time when people worship
the Goddess Kali.  Kali is naked symbolizing disavowal of earthly objects
arguably also including the dogmas of orthodoxy. Kali is wild. Kali with
her "rakhshasi" companions dances in the "shmashan".  Kali breaks down all
the barriers.  The barriers imposed upon by the Hindu upper-caste
hierarchy.

To me, that's Diwali.

        The only sensible para in the farrago of nonsense
        and lies cooked up by Mr Banerjee. Try to break
        down the barriers of lies and hate and bigotry
        and ignorance and unreason that swirl in your
        mind, Mr Banerjee. May Kali mata help you there.

        Reflect why you hate women so much that you
        praise demons who kidnap them and harass
        them. If your wife is kidnapped and trapped
        in an island somewhere, perhaps you will
        see the depths of idiocy to which you have
        sunk in this post.

        Raghavendra   csr at wipro.com

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