Brand knew

Have you noticed how our own ideas become more acceptable when we put them in the words of somebody famous?

I'd rather not just say ' I like peace' not because I don't mean it but because I'm not sure you even want to know what I like..if instead I quote Mahatma Gandhi, you'd probably listen and be impressed. Also if I'm speaking about spirituality ( which in my opinion boils down to 'I like peace'), I must quote Vivekananda or Ramakrishna Paramahansa. How can I not? And if I'm the kind that likes to shock, I can also season my speech with some OSHO-isms.

Brands are in and anything which is not branded has to be inferior. Therefore just as my watch has to be a Rolex for you to even notice it, my thoughts have to stem from something said by a 'superior' thinker who is now a brand. Why must anyone listen to me wax eloquent about how the conscience must be our only guide? Must I not quote from the VEDAS and the GITA and the UPANISHADS to substantiate my thinking? Even the QORAN agrees but hey, I didn't think of it first and therefore I must bring proof from all these guides that I must use only my common sense and conscience to guide me.

It is amazing how even the most intelligent thinkers of today would rather tie themselves up in - isms and call themselves -ites than just express what they know as true - for themselves atleast. We would rather be part of a herd...than be heard for ourselves.

We are afraid to remain in our own skins when we preach but it is easier to do the very same thing using quotations. I'd rather not say...'hey..chill and do what you have to'...I'd rather say ' Krishna ne kaha - apne karam karte jao, phal ki chinta matt karo' and Krishna is God and I've successfully passed the buck.

Is this why today we lack younger leaders? Is this why we're happy with BJP and the Congress and can't look beyond them? Where is the young brigade with new ideas for today? Where are those people who can THINK and express themselves without fear? How long will we dig into our pasts for inspiration? Inspiration is great but forward thinking indispensable. Is the present not reason enough for us to say ENOUGH?

Get out of that mental prison and THINK and tell us all what YOU think..make a change before it is too late.

Ruined

Frozen in time
that smile I gifted
to warm lips
that once spoke
of flowers and such

those lips are silent
the smile stays
acid trickles down the chin
“hold it in”, I say
“don’t let it dribble
onto the floor..”

it slithers, you know,
into unlit corners
and stays…
watching without eyes
eating into the walls

cracks appear
snake like
all the way to the roof
and it falls…
inwards…inwards
into the soul

so much debris
so much debris…

~Anita~

L-iyer

Iyer. Anita Iyer. That is my name. And Iyer indicates that I am a Hindu, a Tamil Brahmin albeit from Kerala. Brahmin. Funny term that…considering that I now belong to a 'business' family. Aren’t Vaishyas traditionally the traders and businessmen? Aah! But then there are Brahmins in the army fighting wars and in Mc Donald’s sweeping floors and cleaning tables. Not that that is wrong… it is just not ‘Brahmin” if you know what I mean.

I wonder why the priests who conduct these ‘thread’ ceremonies and other such ridiculous functions for ‘Brahmin’ families don’t explain the meaning of the word ‘Brahmin” before they begin their acts. Is it only about knowing the Gayatri mantra and a few other Sanskrit Shlokas and mantras and some yogic postures? What does that sacred thread really indicate? That we are above the others? How? No, really, how?

Most of these priests have day jobs offering steady incomes after they’re done with their morning circuses. Many are accountants and clerks and sales executives and BPO employees and CEOs of little companies even. One of these days I’m going to gather the courage to ask a couple of them if they’re Brahmins only in the mornings and Vaishyas and Shudhras otherwise. Idiots!

It also really isn’t about not drinking or smoking or being vegetarian in my opinion. If it were, everyone who doesn’t smoke or drink or eat meat must be a Brahmin. It is more about the person one is…to me a Brahmin is a person who is close to God, who is highly knowledgeable yet seeks knowledge and shares it unconditionally with those he meets…someone who is superior to others in his intentions and actions. He is superior because of what he chooses to be, not because of the family he is born into or the religion he decides or is forced to follow. He is someone who can be looked up to, respected, of pure heart and pure affection. But then the Qoran says that is also what a true Muslim is. I think I would be a good Muslim if I were a superior Hindu – a Brahmin…automatically.

So... a name or symbol is no certificate of character or religion and mustn’t be, which is why no religion really advocates the use of any symbol. A name is a symbol too…it is designed to label you as belonging to a certain faith or position. It mustn’t. It is given to you BEFORE you develop your own character, without giving you a choice…the choice every religion bestows you with…that of choosing your own path irrespective of its name…your name.

So how then am I an Iyer? How then does my surname proclaim my religion or caste and position as a human being in society? Am I a Brahmin? I honestly hope I’ll learn to be one as per my definition of the word and be worthy of the surname for atleast one day in my life as an Iyer.