India Rising???

I owe this to my friends..all those who have hummed and hawed because i've been out of touch with almost everyone.It's just one of my phases when i needed to get in touch with a very important person in my life-myself.But more on that some other time in some other age..Those who know me won't ask..and those who don't , don't need it anyways...

We have a school for Juanga girls with 150 children studying in it. Juanga is a PTG or a primitive tribal group, one of the 75 odd identified by the Government in India. They are generally defined by a declining population, low literacy rates, traditional ways of living, dependence of minor forest produces as a source of livelihood, non dependence on agriculture as a source of income..You can clearly imagine them..Yes..they live in the remotest of areas..in midst of jungles..have traditions that are lovely..

You know how they get married traditionally??Well..they'll put your disc parties to shame..Every year they have three major festivals..called "parab"..Once in winters, then in spring and then rains..which mostly coincides with sowing, ploughing and reaping of whatever "padu chasa" and "shifting cultivation" they do..These festivals run into weeks where groups of young people, men and women go to visit different clans..they have a specific number of clans and each clan has a mukhia or a leader. Each clan lives in it's own village and every village is again rule by a specific set of rules..There is a "manda ghara" or a central house(you can call it a club house if you will) and a fire burns in each of those manda ghara since they have resided there, come summer, winter or rain.It is the place where everyone sits down for a chat or important discussions or a simple game of 'bagha cheli"( Lion and Goat). Every house is a big one room where all the non-breastfeeding boys live..If you thought tribals usually have joint families..think again..They have very small nuclear families..in fact, as soon as the children stop feeding from their mothers, which would be till they are about four, the boys live in the "manda ghara" and the girls live with old women who have been widowed or living alone..Polyandry and polygamous marriages are not uncommon. Yes..going back to marriages..The groups visit each others' clan and some kind of initial wooing and matchmaking takes place in those nightlong dance and song sessions..The boys then tell their parent who that girl is who they want to get married to..And then the father of the boy gives the village of that girl a grand visit with the mukhia' of his clan...

He reaches the "manda ghara" and talks to the village leaders..then the father of the girl is called for..They have a talk about the feasibility of the marriage and the consent of the girl is asked for..if she says yes they do a "horoscope match" which is a bit out of the way..They place three grains of rice in a triangle and cover it with a mud pot..the next day if it is as it is, they are sure the marriage is good for the couple..( i have this nagging feeling the girl would change it with the help of someone if she didn't like the guy..}..

Anyways..after that, a dowry is worked out..which is reverse..the guys family pays to the entire village of the girl..the dates are fixed..and in the meanwhile the boy and girl together build their home..after the home is built they get married..The boy's family and the girl's total village give them whatever is required to start a family including pots, pans, money, rice, everything...

That's the beautiful part..Now with bans on marketing of forest produces, limited and curtailed rights on forests, timber a total no-no(which i totally support), they have now reduced avenues for income. Even agriculture requires skills which they do not have..Having lived a life of fun , frolic and less hard work, they now find it difficult to adjust to the ways of the world..There are times in the years , all they have for food is Rice and salt..and for some weeks, not even that..They buy rice and divide it in two parts.They boil one half and drink the water or the carbohydrate rich "mand". The next day, they keep it out to dry and boil the other half..this goes on till the rice water is no more milky and thick and that's the day they eat the rice..

May sound like a story to you..i myself wouldn't have believed it if i hadn't seen it myself..

The reason this post was written in the first place is that we run a school for 150 girl children of that community. The female litercay is less than 2 %. I went to live with them. There are no concrete or black top roads to the village, there is no water supply, no electricity and yes, no bathrooms or toilets..You hve to get water from a tube well which is 500 meters off..(thankfully, Rotary International has decided to build a tube well in our school and toilet's will be constructed soon after the water problem is solved).

This place gave me back my perspective yet again.Sometimes, when work becomes monotonous and nothing makes sense, and it becomes easy to lose hope. These people, with there woes and yet such happy smiles and small happinesses make everything worthwhile... and make you appreciate what youhave. But, that's another part of my story.

The sensex crossed 20K and maybe it'll break a few more records in the coming days..When it's so easy to get lost in India rising and India shining , it helps to do a reality check.

Footnote: Right to food is one of the basic human rights of a man.

There is so much of buffer stock of grains in our country that it'll feed an entire generation for 10 years. Still, people go hungry every day in our country. There was a time when out country didn't have godowns to keep the grains and next year a report was presented which showed that 30% of the stocks had been eaten away by rodents. What a waste. They could've looked into the stomachs of people to store it.We live in a country where the sensex is doing some great upward moves and presenting a shining picture to the world..but the reality is something totally different. If you don't agree with me, you can run your eyes over the pavements, the streets and the slums coming up every part of the country.

NB: I'm an eternal optimist. I think the things will change. But i also think it's we who have to start that change.

You there

Life..The search for it's meaning..What is it?? Why is it??Is there a duality in everything or do i see it that way?

The Hindu philosophy of Karma, of birth and re-birth, of acquired "phala" or "sanskara" ..on one hand where we are told that your "karma" or your deeds will give you results , the good karma- good results and vice versa..and on the other you're asked not to think about the results. Buddha said, "desire is the the base of all evils"..But is it really possible to live without desire? And i don't mean the desire in a materialistic sort of way..A want for "nirvana" or "salvation"..of doing good deeds because you strive for ultimate happiness and freedom from the "kala chakras" or births and re-births..isn't that a desire too?

The Buddhist philosophy of "shunyata" or whatever you do has effect on everyone.Every thing is connected is some way..So what you do here has a rippling effect on everyone else..

The ancient philosophy where there is duality of existence- of good and evil..of death and birth , of man and woman..where it is believed that everything has to be in balance..

What is it that i believe? And why? It is so easy to believe in something and create the conviction and arguments to support it..But why, i digress??

Is there something which is the pure truth? Belief in God for instance. Yes, i believe in god..But i do not know the nature of God..i do not know the gender..i do not know if calling God a 'she' will make me a pagan..i do not know calling god "him" makes any sense either.. i do not know who it is i believe in..who it is that runs the world and the actions therein..does he really guide us in everything we do? Or is god "sthula' or 'dormant' looking at everything with detachment..

Detachment-Yes that's another word that keeps cropping up. We are told it is all Maya. If this is maya why has god created it? If we are asked to be detached, shouldn't attachment of all kinds be bad including the attachment to god?

If the ultimate truth is to love unconditionally, to accept, to be sympathetic, why are these very things almost always brushed under the carpet? Why is it shameful to cry? Why is it "weakness" to show your love? Why do people run from the word "commitment"? Why are they scared to show that they "love"?

i really have tried finding a bad man in my life..but i'm still to find one..Every person in my life has had so much of goodness in them..Yes..some have been confused...and have had their own way of looking at life..but does that make them bad or any person good?? Who in the world wants and strives to be bad??

i do not know..i have too many questions..in the meanwhile i'm branded as a being too Utopian, too vulnerable, to open to hurt and have some fiercely protective people around..

as if they can save me from my share of hurt..as if they have any say in what i do..as if i'll ever change..i love the way my life is..i love the hurt and pain i've gone through because that is what has made me what i am..i wouldn't ever change any part of my life because every moment has been a lesson..

yes i've had scars..but i'm very proud of them..

Maybe this post does not make sense..but that's because a lot of things don't actually make sense..we still run after the things materialistic because that's what we've been told is the best even though we all know we'll finally be a part of the water, earth, sky, fire and ether depending on the way we are cremated..We fear losing things we hold close even though we know nothing's permanent..

That's Maya??

And what isn't?