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January 30. The day when the father of the nation, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, was assassinated.

I remember this day from the school. At the assembly, on this day, we would be reminded to follow the silent standing ceremony at around 10 or 10.30 am. The bell would ring at an odd time in midst of the class period, and we would all stand for one single minute in silence to commemorate the assassination of Gandhiji. We considered this break a warm welcome to the same routine of the teaching. In those days, I don’t remember having a break in the morning session.

In the high school, we had to study full history and autobiography of Gandhiji, “My Experiments with Truth”, in the form of English-II subject. Though it was the edited or the simplified version, we had to study his whole life. It was interesting at some points, but from the point of view of exams, it was not. I even once wondered, if Gandhiji was not there, we would have escaped this subject etc!

When I was in school, I remember watching the film Gandhi, on either August 15th, January 26th or October 2nd. But I remember the school book rather than the film. Read the rest of this entry »

GSB stands for Gowda Saraswat Brahmins. They speak Konkani as their mother language. And I am one of them.

The innumerous societies and the caste system along with the religions sometimes makes me wonder at the human intellect. There have been many theories or hypothesis and assumptions on how they were created. There have been conflicts and wars on the different Gods their greatest power. The simple customs and rituals followed by several communities in several parts of the world defines their culture and distinguishes the barriers. Many times, I have seen scornful faces and discriminations between people of community for the other. These were prominent in the earlier ages, when apartheid was severe. But now, times have changed and people have grown up to some extent. But still, these issues arises when festivals, marriages and rituals are to conducted.

Being a Brahmin in itself is considered as a huge top-notch. There were several rituals to be followed as per convention, though nowadays many people are adapting to the modern world, and following only the easy ones. Finding people similar to you and in the same kind of community gives you a feeling like being in your own country. This actually doesn’t mean that we ill treat others. Respect is an important ingredient in our day-today life, and whatever community we are in, we need to respect other communities too. I had already talked about it, that being in one community doesn’t play much importance to me or defines my definition of God or similar identity. But I guess, religion and caste is not only about different Creator. It defines the way we live our daily life. And we shouldn’t mind how others live in their own world or community.
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