I am generally ignostic.
Add to that a little Deist philosophy. And on one day of the year (which actually is my favourite day on the calendar) I turn Hindu.
Being brought up in a South Indian Hindu family, I have always been in a house where Navratri and Dussehra are important festivals. The day before Dussehra is when you tuck away books (thanks to exams, symbolically only) and musical instruments. On the next day, you get to play/ read them.
As though it were a new beginning. It really is. Enmity is to be forgotten, and seeds of affinity and friendship are to be sown. The Mahishasuramardini (translated as 'the slayer of the bull-headed demon) slayed the Mahishasur (the demon) this day, after having gone through 9 days of battle. Pain and humiliation, hatred and disgust, hostility and isolation, ill-will and distrust, disrespect and jealousy, the ten of them, are to go down the drain, never to see the light of the day again. On the last day, you start new things start learning an art or a science, set new goals, worship the things your life has depended on in someway (as a way to thank them like in Mumbai, people worship and decorate the local trains, truly the lifeline of Mumbai). It's a day you worship Saraswati, the Goddess of knowledge and intellect; she is my favourite Hindu Goddess.
It's a day I hold to be a harbinger of goodness ahead. Maybe the world will get a little better, maybe the evil will evaporate a little, maybe ignorance will be driven away a little.
I like to believe that it does.
Add to that a little Deist philosophy. And on one day of the year (which actually is my favourite day on the calendar) I turn Hindu.
Being brought up in a South Indian Hindu family, I have always been in a house where Navratri and Dussehra are important festivals. The day before Dussehra is when you tuck away books (thanks to exams, symbolically only) and musical instruments. On the next day, you get to play/ read them.
As though it were a new beginning. It really is. Enmity is to be forgotten, and seeds of affinity and friendship are to be sown. The Mahishasuramardini (translated as 'the slayer of the bull-headed demon) slayed the Mahishasur (the demon) this day, after having gone through 9 days of battle. Pain and humiliation, hatred and disgust, hostility and isolation, ill-will and distrust, disrespect and jealousy, the ten of them, are to go down the drain, never to see the light of the day again. On the last day, you start new things
It's a day I hold to be a harbinger of goodness ahead. Maybe the world will get a little better, maybe the evil will evaporate a little, maybe ignorance will be driven away a little.
I like to believe that it does.
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