A “period” protest

I remember that in my childhood, I was confused when I realised we were not allowed to touch women during their menstrual periods. I could not get any real explanation for this custom. Also they were not allowed to enter kitchen or rooms were gods are offered prayers.. I noticed this mostly in the ancestral home of my parents, when a large number of family members  converge for some occasions and not (as far as I can remember) in my own home. Of course they were not allowed to enter temples during that time and this restriction continue even now. I  was sure there were many more restrictions and taboos on menstruating women then and some are persisting.

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A tragedy that was fore-seen

As more details of the horrendous tragedy at a temple in Kollam, Kerala, India during fire works display that resulted in death of more than 100 people is coming out, it is becoming clear that it was a very well fore-seen and avoidable disaster.

An old woman living 25 meters away from the site had given a written complaint to the authorities asking them to ban fire works. She had mentioned that she is suffering from heart disease and cannot withstand loud sounds. She had also complained that her house regularly gets damaged due to this annual event.

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Temple fire works accident kills more than 80

Woke up this Sunday morning to hear the shocking news of death of more than 80 people in a fire works accident in my state of Kerala in India, around 170 miles from my town.

Temples in Kerala usually have big fire works display along with its annual festivities. Some temples will even have a fire works competition between two neighbourhood communities. Around 100 meters from my house also such a fire works display take place, though at a much smaller scale. Many of these explosive material are handled very carelessly and accidents do happen very often.

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Temples are  located in very populous areas and huge crowds throng during this time at the premises. Any minor fire can cause massive damage. Being an issue related to religion and tradition, safety concerns take a back seat. Human lives have low value when it comes to festivities related to god.

Does the mythical gods require such dangerous  fire works displays for them to bless us?

Let me condole this tragic loss of life, which might have been prevented if safety of human lives were given much more importance than the pomp and splendour of religious festivals.

 

End to age old gender discrimination in Lord Saturn temple

Finally it happened. Age old discriminatory practice of women being prohibited from entering the core area of Shani temple in Maharashtra in India ended today as activists were allowed to offer worship close to the deity.

hmednagar: Bhumata Brigade chief Trupti Desai offering prayer at the Shani Shingnapur temple after the gates were opened for women, in Ahmednagar on Friday, April 8, 2016. (PTI)

Bhumata Brigade chief Trupti Desai offering prayer at the Shani Shingnapur temple after the gates were opened for women, in Ahmednagar on Friday, April 8, 2016. (PTI)

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Yoga can cure cancer ! Just wait for a year for evidence.

Wonderful news from India. We are gifting the world a cure for cancer.  I am bursting with “Indian Hindu ” pride. Our culture, our ancient and great civilization know how to cure cancer. It only needed two years of real Hindu government at Delhi for this to happen. Islamic invaders and European colonialists along with their stooges in Nehruvian Congress can no longer suppress this science loving “race”.

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Indian Minister of State for AYUSH (Alternative Medicine) , Shripad Yasso Naik said that yoga asanas can cure major diseases like cancer. He said that the government will come out with scientific evidence on this in a year.
“It is a proven fact. We have visited the Bengaluru-based Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (S-VYASA) institute, where many people told us they have been cured of cancer by regular practice of yoga. The institute has found a technique of yoga for the prevention and cure of cancer,” he said, speaking at the inauguration of a four-day National AROGYA fair.
S-VYASA chancellor Dr H R Nagendra is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s yoga guru.

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Lord Saturn not yet ready to face women !

It seems the patriarchal Indian society is not yet ready to allow women to worship Lord Shani by entering the temple premises.  A group of villagers including women physically prevented the activists from entering the temple.

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A day after the Bombay High Court ruled that it is the fundamental right of women to go to all places of worship, around 25 women activists led by Trupti Desai today entered the premises of the Shani Shingnapur temple in Maharashtra, but were stopped by locals from offering prayers at the inner sanctum.

As the standoff escalated, the police took away Ms Desai and other protesters away from the temple premises.

Members of Bhumata Ranragini Brigade led by Ms Desai alleged that women villagers pushed them and tried to block their way as they tried to enter the inner sanctum of the temple, which according to tradition is forbidden for women.

Activist Desai, who had pledged to pray at the famous temple in the state’s Ahmednagar district, said: “We are not going to turn around we have the court order and if need be we will file an FIR (first information report) against the home minister and chief minister.”

“What is the police doing? They were directed to provide protection to us by the court,” Ms Desai said questioning the state government.

More details and video here

Now Indian women can worship Lord Saturn but ….

It is the fundamental right of a woman and the government should protect it.

Lofty words from a court in India. The court was disposing off a petition challenging the barring of entry of women in to sanctum sanctorum of a temple for the god Shani ( Lord Saturn ).

Similar struggles by women wanting to enter religious shrines which traditionally barred their entry is taking place in many parts of the country. Overall the courts were seen taking a progressive non discriminatory view on this issue.

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A drought of marriage

Mohan Yadav is 32. For five years now his family has been trying to find him a bride. Villagers say there are nearly 60 men like Mr Yadav who face the same crisis in the village.

“People refuse to get their daughter married to me saying there is a water crisis in my village and after marriage they would have to walk miles to fetch water. I want to get married,” says Mr Yadav. He wants the government to help. “Solution to the water problem is possible, if government makes a dam,” he adds.

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Exposing the saffron nonsense in science

“We can feel proud of what our country achieved in medical science at one point of time. We all read about Karna in the Mahabharata. If we think a little more, we realise that the Mahabharata says Karna was not born from his mother’s womb. This means that genetic science was present at that time. That is why Karna could be born outside his mother’s womb.
We worship Lord Ganesha. There must have been some plastic surgeon at that time who got an elephant’s head on the body of a human being and began the practice of plastic surgery.”

                                                                    –Indian Prime minister Narendra Modi

“Aero planes were invented by a Hindu sage 7000 years ago. The planes could travel from one planet to another, halt in mid air and move sideways”.
                       –invited speaker at Indian Science Congress in Mumbai, 2015

 

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