From: sri@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (a.natarajan)
Subject: WOMAN, MAN, ARRANGED and DERANGED MARRIAGES, and related BABBLES.
Organization: AT&T
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1992 21:38:25 GMT
Keywords: More babbles, astrological prediction, ayodhya, eastern men etc.

Thanks for all the compliments (emails) that you (some members of
our  SCI janatha) have been sending me.  I am deeply touched.  Of
course, I am mature enough to know that the self same SCI janatha
might  not  hesitate  sending me "flames" too if I but become too
familiar! Don't the  wise  say:  "Familiarity  breeds  contempt"!
Therefore, I accept all your laurels and honors knowing full well
that these may not last long!  (My father once advised me that  I
should  never forget the tearful last words of Cardinal Wolsey to
Oliver Cromwell, when the latter met  the  former  at  the  Tower
[vide  "Henry  VIII"  by  Billvaadri  Seshappaiyer a.k.a. William
Shakespeare]:  "Say, Wolsey that once trod the ways of glory  and
sounded  all  the  depths and shoals of honor, ...blah, blah, and
more blah....  Had I but served my God with half the zeal that  I
served  my king, He would not have let me down in mine old age!")
So, I must get out of SCI with my neck intact before SCI  janatha
do to me what King Henry VIII did to Wolsey!!

But, I confess I am getting this SCI addiction!!  I am unable  to
stop visiting the SCI because SCI seems to offer me a true Indian
experience without visiting India (or is it `virtual  reality'?).
It gives me a feeling of visiting a miniature India, with its din
and bustle, the intellectual `vaada- prathivaadam' which  is  our
national    pastime,    and   the   "maanithvam"(ego)   and   the
"dhambhithvam" (snobbery) of its populace, etc.

It reminds one of what goes on at  the   road-side  public  water
fountains,  where scores of women, with their water pots arranged
in a queue in front of a slowly dripping water pipe,  "(dis)cuss"
and  shout at each other at the height of their voice!  These are
usually women ("kudisai vaasigal" i.e. jhopdi nivaasies) from the
nearby  "jhopdis"  that  often bear names commemorating our great
"nethaas", such as "Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. MGR  Nagar",  or  "Dr.
Kalaigjnar Kudiyiruppu Vaariyam" etc.  Though the language spoken
by these women cannot be expected to be as refined as what  *some
of  our*  SCI janatha use with facility, the resemblance is quite
close!

First Aunty-jee:

"Ae Kashumaalam! innadi nenachukkinu irukkay nee!  indha  payippu
oen  paattan veettudhunnu nenachchukkiniyaa?  Kodaththae pinnaadi
vaiyyidee."

Reply by the defending sreemathiji:

Ae sirukki! yaaru kittaedi nee  vaalaatrae?   kodaththae  modalla
vechchadhu  naandhandee.   naaththa  vaayiyae adakkikkinu gammunu
kada.  vandhuttaa  saavu graakki, kulikki  minukkikinu.   poLudhu
vidinjaa baejaaraa ppochchu.

Interjection by a third "sundari", who, though unsolicited,  gets
in  the middle of this friendly altercation, only because her DNA
has been so programmed!:

"Yaaraedi Naaththa  vaayinnae?   Ae  naayee!  kaalambnangaattiyum
yaaraedi   kashumaalannae?   kodaththae  edukkaangaattiyum  innaa
sayvay?     pe(r)yiyae    govu(r)naramma    vandhuttaa     vaayae
keechchikkinu"

As you see, the protocols appear similar though the language  may
be  different.   I  witness  similar  heated,  nay,  very  heated
flamings (and flayings too!)  by almost the entire  SCI  janatha,
ganging  up  on  one  "poor"  soul  for  his/her  making a slight
erroneous astrological prediction, such as  perhaps  saying  that
Ross  Perot  is going to be our next Sankaraachaaryal of Poori or
some such innocent but  intelligent  remark,  due  perhaps  to  a
slight, inadvertent slip of the typing finger.

[ AS AN ASIDE, let me share the secret contained in  the  as  yet
unpublished Srimad Guhya Puraanam:

"Namo Raassaaya Paerraaya Sankaraachaarya Poorinae| Ayodhyaa puna
nirmaaNa haethavae `$Moola' dhaayinae||"

"Raasso Raasso Raassa ithi prajaanaam abhavan kathaahaa |  Raassa
bhootham jagadabhooth Raassae raajyam  prasaasathi ||"

Jai Raass, Sree Raass, Jai Jai Raass; Bolo  Raassa  Bhagavaan  ki
Jai ||

( ithi Srimad Guhya Puraanae:13th Skandhae/13th  Adhyaayae/13th
Slokaha; Unpublished Editionaha.)

Translation:

"Salutations to  Ross  Perot,  the  one  who  will  be  our  next
Sankaraachaaryaa  of  Poori, who will ascend the Poori peetham on
the strength of his  dollar  donations  for  the  re-building  of
Ayodhya,  the  city that will become famous as `New Ayodhya', the
future capital of Hindu Raashtra."

NRHs (Non Resident Hindus) all over the world (using the SCI  net
{SCI  net  to become SCH net} appropriately) will chant the name:
"Ross Ross Ross".  With `New Ayodhya' as the capital of the Hindu
Rashtram, people will extoll the glory of the government of Hindu
Raashtram as "Raassa Raajyam"!! Glory to Lord Ross. ]
Back to our subject.
       The  urge  to  beat  up, kill,  punish etc. for such minor
protocol violations of a poor soul making a minor error,  reminds
me  of what goes on in India.  When I lived in Bombay, I observed
that occasionally a pick-pocket in a crowded suburban train would
get  caught.  The  thief would be dragged out of the train at the
next station, say Dadar, and would be given severe beating by the
men  on  whom the theft was committed.  Soon others near by would
also join in and shower kicks and blows on the thief.  The men on
whom  the  theft  was  committed would then retrieve their wallet
from the thief,  catch  the  next  train  and  leave  the  scene.
However, the thief would continue to get beatings from the others
who  happened  to  be  on  the  platform.   What  was  even  more
interesting   was  that  other  passengers  who  were  riding  on
subsequent trains that stopped at this station, would temporarily
get  down  from their train, beat up the poor chap, get back into
their train and continue their  journey  with  full  satisfaction
that  they  had  done  their  duty as a citizen, even though they
never knew why they beat him.

In SCI, "flaming" is the duty of all true citizens. It  does  not
matter  if  you  were  absent  in  the beginning of a discussion.
There is no right or wrong subject, no right or wrong target,  no
right  or  wrong language.  Suddenly a "Sathyavaan" would appear,
flame not one or two people, but the entire  male  population  of
the  eastern  half  of  our  world, and as suddenly would vanish,
never to appear in this "janmaa" again, fully content that he/she
had contributed his/her share to the SCI citizenry!

I have lived in Calcutta during my boyhood days. I have  observed
that  hanging around the street corners in small groups to "look"
at young women was one of the pastimes  of  some  of  the  "bold"
young  men.   [In the US of A, a similar thing is done also, only
that the boys and girls go to the Shopping Malls and  Plazas  for
such  purposes!  My son thinks I don't know that!!!]  Often a few
of these bold ones would also become "bolder" and start  taunting
the young women. Do I sense a similar thing happening in SCI too!
or is it a problem of my  perception?  (Perhaps,  a  few  of  our
self-styled  psycho-analysts  on  our  net  could  throw light on
this.)

Therefore, SCI is a place to visit if one wants to get a  partial
taste  of  India.   (The taste could be bitter, sweet, or bitter-
sweet, so be forewarned!)

Respectfully submitted,

A. Natarajan at AT&T Bell Labs., Middletown, NJ.



Post script:

I really wanted to write explaining why it  made  sense  to  give
certain  duties  to  men  and  certain  other duties to women.  I
wanted to use the "Theory of Comparative Advantage" and show  how
men  and  women,  though  each  possessed  absolute  advantage in
certain areas, stood to gain together, if  they  interacted  with
each other using skills and traits and characteristics where they
each had  a  "comparative  advantage".   As  this  would  require
several pages of my typing, I shall postpone it for a later time.
Bye. Natarajan.

Xref: sparky soc.culture.indian:26535 alt.culture.us.asian-indian:344 soc.culture.asian.american:7357