I usually refrain from discussing topics such as religion and politics in a public domain. But there are times when I make an exception, such as when I am with a group of close friends who know me well enough and who I know will not misunderstand my opinions. Well since this blog is read only by such people, might as well take the liberty and make an exception here. The very word religion can ignite some very passionate emotions in people and therefore this post is definitely not about what my take on religion is or what my views about religion are. This is very simply a collection of thoughts that will be put on paper (well not really on paper...)
A couple of days back I got a call from my dad and he informed me about this one particular doctor friend of his from back home who suddenly died. He wasn't someone that we knew very well, but being in the medical field my parents knew him a little bit. Well so this guy was in his 40s and unfortunately after having dinner, he went to sleep and passed away there. My condolences are definitely with his family and I sure hope that God gives them the strength and courage they will need at this point in time.
So how is this related to religion? So this guy by birth was born in a Hindu family and over time as he grew older and started forming his own views decided that he wanted to convert to Christianity. And I am cool with that. I have no issues. I think everyone should be given the freedom to practice a religion that they believe in. To each his own. The complications of this though are a little different in the society. His parents who are still alive, did not covert to Christianity. So the big question that people were faced with after his death was, should he be cremated or buried? Well there is a little more to it than just that. There are a few other people involved, who are propagating the spread of Christianity and were the ones who convinced this guy to convert. And believe me I have no problems with that as well. I think if you are convinced about something then sure you have a right to form an opinion and make decisions accordingly. So nothing against them. In fact they are very good friends of my parents and I do know them pretty well personally.
The bigger question however here is, sure you'll decided to take the responsibility of performing the last rites. But should there have been at least some discussion with this guy's parents where their opinions and views could have been asked? And I don't know the correct answer. There is a part of me that says, he decided to convert to Christianity so he should be buried as is the practice. Another part of me says, yes he decided to convert, but in times such as these, would it not be appropriate to ask his parents about what their thoughts were about this? Would their opinion on this not matter at all?
Like I mentioned earlier, I do not know what the answer to this question is. I am just putting my thoughts out here. But it is definitely something that needs further exploration. For someone like me who really doesn't believe in following any particular religion, it was an eye opener of sorts. Sometimes there is more to a story than what meets the eye and definitely in this case that is true....
Religiously yours
RD
Saturday, 15 November 2008
Sunday, 2 November 2008
Back to Xavierietes (probably misspelt and too bored to go and do a spellcheck)
Hmmm so today the plan is to have another series of foot in mouth episodes. Okay the difference here is that the main character in this post has changed. Move over Wizard (for the time being) and welcome Mr. Puri Bail (PB). This will also probably end up being a very random post with no specific chronology (since PB has had too many such episodes and I will write about the ones that come to mind first).
Oh firstly, why the name Puri Bail. Happens that every evening a few of us, me, Grizzly B, Cass (for whom I've still not found an alternative name), PB and The nephew would come home in the same train. At times we would take a cab to the station, at times (rarely) we would walk to it, and on a couple of occasions we (me and PB) actually ran (at times all of us are allowed to do mindless things). So one such evening we were walking back and decided to stop at Khau gali to eat some chat. PB with his wonderful hindi decided that it was perhaps best that the ordering be left to someone else. Apparently, The nephew though claims that when asking for Bhelpuri, PB said something to the effect of, "Ek Puri Bail dena". :):)...and the rest as they say is History.
All right so now that we know how the name came about, a few more funny vignettes involving PB. Since PB and I lived fairly close in Mumbai, we would very often travel by the same train every morning. Any frequent train traveller in Mumbai will be familiar with the crowd in the Mumbai trains. So very often we would be standing in the train and since Cass, Grizzly B, Handy man and Gujju boy all lived in the same area they would be in the same train as well (different station but heck I guess you'll know what I'm trying to say). So as was the case every morning we get in to the train and start off the usual morning nonsensical jokes. I think everyone else except me and PB had a seat. As the train passed a few more stations, I think probably Bandra or Dadar there was a vacant seat nearby. PB had his back towards the seat so he didn't notice it. I on the other hand noticed it and also noticed that a gentleman (probably in his 40s) had moved towards the seat and was putting his bag overhead before sitting down. Not one to miss an opportunity to have some fun, I quickly told PB, "Dude there's a seat behind you sit quickly." Innocently PB immediately sat down. The guy who was planning on sitting was unaware of this as his back was towards PB and so the guy starts sitting down as well!!! As soon as he started sitting down, all of us were rolling in laughter and the expression on PB's face was priceless!!!
Okay moving forward to T.Y.BSc final exams and we were sitting outside the exam center, and perhaps the only 5-6 people laughing before the exam. I think everyone else was pretty disgusted with us at that point of time and we were definitely getting a lot of dirty looks. Well never mind that. So The Nephew suddenly starts, "oww oww oww"...and we are staring at him wondering wtf happened to him, he was fine a minute ago. The nephew turns to us and pointing to his ankles says, "My knees are hurting!!!"....Laughter.....followed by more disgusted looks...finally after a couple of mins, PB decides time for a smartass comment, " Dude I don't know where your knees are, but my knees are totally here"....pointing to his STOMACH!!!! More laughter and this time laughter with tears rolling down the eyes....The King of foot in mouth was at it once again!!!
Honestly there are loads of such incidents worth mentioning, but I've realized typing these takes a lot more time than I imagined, so this post will end here prematurely...but lots more to follow.
Oh firstly, why the name Puri Bail. Happens that every evening a few of us, me, Grizzly B, Cass (for whom I've still not found an alternative name), PB and The nephew would come home in the same train. At times we would take a cab to the station, at times (rarely) we would walk to it, and on a couple of occasions we (me and PB) actually ran (at times all of us are allowed to do mindless things). So one such evening we were walking back and decided to stop at Khau gali to eat some chat. PB with his wonderful hindi decided that it was perhaps best that the ordering be left to someone else. Apparently, The nephew though claims that when asking for Bhelpuri, PB said something to the effect of, "Ek Puri Bail dena". :):)...and the rest as they say is History.
All right so now that we know how the name came about, a few more funny vignettes involving PB. Since PB and I lived fairly close in Mumbai, we would very often travel by the same train every morning. Any frequent train traveller in Mumbai will be familiar with the crowd in the Mumbai trains. So very often we would be standing in the train and since Cass, Grizzly B, Handy man and Gujju boy all lived in the same area they would be in the same train as well (different station but heck I guess you'll know what I'm trying to say). So as was the case every morning we get in to the train and start off the usual morning nonsensical jokes. I think everyone else except me and PB had a seat. As the train passed a few more stations, I think probably Bandra or Dadar there was a vacant seat nearby. PB had his back towards the seat so he didn't notice it. I on the other hand noticed it and also noticed that a gentleman (probably in his 40s) had moved towards the seat and was putting his bag overhead before sitting down. Not one to miss an opportunity to have some fun, I quickly told PB, "Dude there's a seat behind you sit quickly." Innocently PB immediately sat down. The guy who was planning on sitting was unaware of this as his back was towards PB and so the guy starts sitting down as well!!! As soon as he started sitting down, all of us were rolling in laughter and the expression on PB's face was priceless!!!
Okay moving forward to T.Y.BSc final exams and we were sitting outside the exam center, and perhaps the only 5-6 people laughing before the exam. I think everyone else was pretty disgusted with us at that point of time and we were definitely getting a lot of dirty looks. Well never mind that. So The Nephew suddenly starts, "oww oww oww"...and we are staring at him wondering wtf happened to him, he was fine a minute ago. The nephew turns to us and pointing to his ankles says, "My knees are hurting!!!"....Laughter.....followed by more disgusted looks...finally after a couple of mins, PB decides time for a smartass comment, " Dude I don't know where your knees are, but my knees are totally here"....pointing to his STOMACH!!!! More laughter and this time laughter with tears rolling down the eyes....The King of foot in mouth was at it once again!!!
Honestly there are loads of such incidents worth mentioning, but I've realized typing these takes a lot more time than I imagined, so this post will end here prematurely...but lots more to follow.
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