Do you know why 'no' to few things in our culture?

Discussion in 'Queries on Religion & Spirituality' started by JustAni, Mar 15, 2007.

  1. Sriniketan

    Sriniketan IL Hall of Fame

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    Varloo,
    your explanations are very practical...

    Anu,
    Regarding the crossing legs....very nice scientific explanation...

    Kranthe,
    Your explanation for the haircut and the nail cut is very much appreciated.

    As for other ilites,
    I had to go through and come with my fbs...

    sriniketan
     
  2. umasaras

    umasaras Senior IL'ite

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    hi all,
    nice thread with Shanvy and varloo giving logical explanations to most of the beliefs.
    It is geneally hygine and cleanliness that was the foremost reason for those beliefs so as long as they are maintained I guess it is ok as we wont be able to follow all practices.
    Though lot of times we practice a lot of things as we have seen our moms do them and rarely question . but now kids need logical reasons as Shanvy pointed out.
    Thanks for giving out logical reasons for lot of practices.
    uma
     
  3. Varloo

    Varloo Gold IL'ite

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    Did you know why the Shashtiabdapoorthi and Sadabhishekam are celebrated, that too only for men?
    In those days, the average life span of a man was 40 years. It was an achievement if a man reached 60 years and his wife was also alive. Then he married her again so that his life span will be increased due to her mangalyabalam.
    The same for Sadabhishekam too, living till 80 was rare. These were celebrated not just when a man completes the age, but has married off his children and had grand children too.
    And these were not celebrated for a woman, she lived a long life.
    Even the first birhday of a baby was celebrated because the first born reaching the first birthday was great, many babies died before that. And only the first baby's birthday was celebrated, the other children did not get this honour.
    Now we can see that people live longer and so all these have become a ritual without meaning, at least for me.
     
  4. JustAni

    JustAni Silver IL'ite

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    I completely forgot about this thread I started.... It's so nice to see such a wonderful response.....

    Varloo.... I am honored to have gotten your reply... :bowdown

    Thank you for those wonderful explainations... Now we can explain to our kids, why something are not to be done...

    I not sure whether you know this, but everytime someone comes to collect money, say the laundry fellow or phoolwala, my m-i-l tells me to pay them by going out completely... cross the threshold, that is.... Any reason for this? Also, she says never hold notes on your fingers... in a scissors motion....
     
  5. SoundVijay

    SoundVijay Gold IL'ite

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    Need clarification

    Hi,

    I'm a brahmin girl married to an orthodox brahmin family. I need clarification on handling food items. In Hindu custom we have to wash our hands after touching rice, dhal and other related stuff. Please let me know as to why is there such a custom.

    Regards,

    Sound.
     
  6. raagini

    raagini Silver IL'ite

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    Re: Need clarification

    I have come across an interesting answer :

    Normally its a good hygienic practice to wash hand before and after touching food - ensuring good
    health & cleanliness. No one likes touch the food and leave hands unwashed because food on our
    hands invites spores of bacteria and fungus from air to come & live on our hands .

    it appears to be a mandatory hygienic practice richly observed among majority of Hindu Brahmins
     
  7. Shanvy

    Shanvy IL Hall of Fame

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    Re: Need clarification

    sound

    we have discussed this aspect in one of our previous thread. check this out.
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2010
  8. Traveller

    Traveller Gold IL'ite

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    Sound,

    that's a good question:) coming from the same caste and having seen my paternal grandparents following madi/achaaram very religiously i always had doubt on certain aspects. My opinion is that other than the cleanliness aspect that Shanvy has explained neatly in this thread, the madi/achaaram aspect also got way too twisted with unnecessary clauses. I have heard tales from my mom, maternal aunts of how this was used as a weapon to 'bully' daughter-in-laws.

    My dad who used to strictly follow keeping water besides while eating and cleaning his hand before touching yogurt etc., has now stopped following those practices. and i don't ask him why anymore:) my argument (that i take pleasure in doing with my fav cousin who follows this aspect of brahmin culture as per her MIL's wishes) is 1 - other castes that didn't follow such cleanliness practices - does it mean they maintained an unhygienic kitchen?, 2- now that most brahmin families do not follow the code strictly - have we compromised on the hygiene, cleanliness aspect or simply that our way of living has changed and we still follow those rules unknowingly? 3 - as my brother always likes to point out : i have seen so many 'achaaram' following kitchens really really dirty - how does this fit the theories?

    hope i'm not offending anyone that believes blindly in such practices. i would like to know as any curious child:)

    Latha
     
  9. advitha

    advitha Silver IL'ite

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    Latha, to my understanding, for families who live with in-laws grand-in-laws etc still follow these practices. Now most of younger generation go out for jobs and live as nuclear family. In the busy lifestyle with no help hygiene is still maintained but not like how it was done in olden days plus there's always refrigerator to preserve food from spoilage. Infact my MIL who used to oppose on keeping any cooked food in fridge because of pathu and stuff has now molten down because of my elder co-sis's inconvenience.

    I don't think it really mean that there was no hygiene in other families but it was at a higher rate in Old Brahmani households. Yes, even I have seen those "Acharam" kitchens being dirty with lots of flies and insects (yuckkkkkk).

    I guess those practices were originally enforced to preserve health and hygiene but in today's world we can try to follow only certain things. For example cleaning the table right after eating, or not touching pickle or curd with dirty hands are few of these. They are common things which any household follows be it brahmins or others. At my home after doing echal, I usually spray vinegar on the dining table right after eating after picking all the rice or grains. This to my knowledge is totally disinfecting. We follow the same cleanliness but with a touch of modernization :). At the same time, when I go to amma's or in-laws I do follow the traditional "echal idardhu", "pathu" etc etc. Infact I have seen a couple of my friends households who are not brahmins following it too.

    BTW, have a question on why there's a NO to do swami poojai with no bhindi or kumkum (if already explained please point to me), want to explain it to my curious LO.

    Its a very good thread, I got chance to read the entire thread today. I hope it gets "alive" again soon. :thumbsup Mods, can this thread not be a "sticky"???

    -Uma
     
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2010
  10. Traveller

    Traveller Gold IL'ite

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    Thank you Uma. My 'phobia' for madi, vizhuppu perhaps stems from the horror tales told by my mom, aunts who had to endure 'special treatments' from their MILs:)

    I can understand the pathu, echal part... how certain food like curd, pickle etc., have to be dealt with care. but i don't understand washing clothes and drying them separately and only use them after a bath (before cooking, pooja etc.,). i have always asked my grandmother but she would say 'just follow what we elders say':)

    i too am glad that i found this thread. not only my children i myself have unanswered doubts. Recently my FIL told me ladies should not ring the pooja bell (mani) when doing karpoora arthi or simply while offering neivedyam. I dare not ask him why:hide:. When I asked my mom, she said she had not heard of such restriction because for navrathri, varalakshmi pooja, nonbu only ladies ring the bell. Any answers to this rule?

    Latha
     

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