HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: raja@balrog (Raja Seth)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
Subject: Re: why satti is practiced
Keywords: satti
Date: 14 Aug 92 14:44:16 GMT
Reply-To: raja@ctron.com
Organization: Cabletron Systems Inc.,



In response to :


> 
> I see what you are saying is that whatever we practice as Hindus can         
> be termed as Hindu practice.  Agreed.  Now, out of 650 million Hindus in
> India, how many practice Sati?  From your argument it looks likes it is 
> a big number for you to classify this act as Hindu practice.  Or even
> if a small number in some part of India is good enough for it to be called
> as Hindu practice, I guess the practice of killing a daughter at the time 
> of birth (which by the way is done in many villages) also is a Hindu
> practice.
>

	Prasanth writes :

	IMO, all the rites and rituals mentioned in the Puranas, good or 
	bad, are Hindu practices. They dont account for all the Hindu
	practices (ie. there are Hindu practices not mentioned in the
	puranas). There can be practices that nobody practices. So the
	number of people is unimportant.

Hindu scriptures are very different from all the other religious texts in this
regard. All Hindu scriptures have the history of experiences of people,
good *AND* bad. Just because the people in India were barbarians, say 10000
years ago in India and that some enlightened people may have chosen to put
their experiences in poetic verses with all the extras of poetic
extrapolations,
does NOT constitute that all those experiences are Hindu practices. 
Vedas, after all, are unending  
even according to them. As time goes by, more experiences will get added to
them.
What is right today in our society *MAY* be declared 'barbaric' tomorrow !

Before its existence people opposed the existence of the 4th Veda of the Hindus
because it used to deal with 'magic'. But eventually they
concluded that all knowledge in every form , has a rightful place in
the Vedas. 

Thus, Vedas represent the history and evolution of the knowledge of
mankind, of course, with a lot of poetic intra- and extra- polations. 

Suppose there is a scientific discovery that everyone believed today and
someone
disproved it tomorrow, would you call that the study of science is totally 
stupid ? If you say that science continues to evolve, so does religion.

What constituted a Hindu practice (or is there such a thing ?) may longer
be a practice of it. If religion is practice, the number of people do count.
If we decide to cast Hindu commandments in stone, I believe that to be the
death bell of Hinduism as a religion. I think this precisely the reason that
the Sanadhana Dharma has chosen not to say, DO-s and DON'T-s, but only
the preferable ....

Raja


------------------------------------------------------
|
| Raja Seth : raja@balrog.ctron.com
|
| All opinions expressed in this article
| are my own. This company has nothing to do with this
| article. 
|
------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
From: gagrawal@cs.tamu.edu (Gopal Agrawal)
Subject: Re: why satti is practiced
Organization: Computer Science Department, Texas A&M University
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 04:34:10 GMT

In article <1992Aug17.234059.20980@cs.wayne.edu> uds@wsu-eng.eng.wayne.edu (Seetamraju Udaybhaskar) writes:
>In article <1992Aug16.182226.12018@tamsun.tamu.edu> gagrawal@cs.tamu.edu (Gopal Agrawal) writes:
>>
>
>when the husband dies, women have three choices, in current
>hinduism...
>path 1 : remain a widow/remarryy.
>path 2 : commit sati, and be worshipped.  (a psychological state
>	  similar to that of those who immolated during mandal)
>path 3 : immense desire to JOIN her husband.  She firmly believes
>	that her H is in heaven, and she wants to be with him,
>	and MOST IMPORTANT DIFFERENCE FROMPATH # 1 -- SHE FEELS
>	LIFE HAS NOTHING LEFT IN IT...  Hinduism okays it...
>
>Now, gopal ji, could you find any moral anomalities (go ahead and
>use your western mentality and outlook) in the above ?  If you do,
>connect them to the practise of sati.  please explain profusely...
>

First thing first. I find your use of the phrase "YOUR WESTERN 
MENTALITY AND OUTLOOK" as highly obnoxious which presupposes 
that an INDIAN OUTLOOK cannot be broad enough to condemn sati.

Now for your questions.  I don't have any problem with path#1. 
Path#2 & #3 is sucide and one must always try to prevent a person from 
commiting sucide. Who knows, once the person cools down, that person
may begin a whole new life. But if the person is hell bent on 
commiting sucide, then nothing in this world can stop that person
from doing so. However, it is our duty to see to it that the person 
not be permitted to set an example for others to follow the same 
sucidal path. Sati however is not commited like a simple sucide. It 
is preceded by all sorts of religious extravaganza  which diefies 
the victim and thus sets a dangerous example for others. More 
importantly, the sati victim does not always use path#2 & #3. 
Brainwashing by the society can convince an illiterate & emotionally 
disturbed girl to commit sati. In that case it is not sucide but 
murder. Nothing can justify cold blooded (for the victim--hot blooded) 
murder.

regards,
--   
   ______ ______ ______ ______ __  |\/\/\/|
    ____/  __  /  __  /  __  /  /  |  \  /|   LIFE'S COMPLEX - IT HAS 
   / __   /   /  /   /  /   /  /   | (o)(o)   REAL & IMAGINARY PARTS  
  /   /  /   /   ___/  __  /  /    C      _) 
_____/ _____/ __/   __/ __/ ______/ | \___|  
E-mail - gagrawal@cs.tamu.edu       |   /   All Std. Disclaimers apply.


Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
From: bharat@ccvax.ucd.ie
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
Subject: Re: Young Tarang
Date: 14 Aug 92 11:16:38 GMT
Organization: University College Dublin

In article <Aug.13.16.16.34.1992.23214@andromeda.rutgers.edu>, capistra@andromeda.rutgers.edu (Mahlona P. Capistrano) writes:
> What is Young Tarang?  A musical group?  A magazine? 
 
If i am not wrong, it's a magazine. Correct me if i am wrong.... 

Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
From: rajiv@rajiv@rajiv.b17c.ingr.com (Rajiv Agrawal)
Subject: Multiple H-1 from Delhi .. Any Experiences?
Reply-To: rajiv@rajiv.b30.ingr.com
Organization: Intergraph
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 16:08:32 GMT

Hi Netters,
  I am going to Delhi this Saturday and I'll try to get my
Multiple H-1 there.  Has anybody had any bad experiences there?
One of my friends who went to Calcutta said that they asked him
for a copy H-1 petition along with the Blue Approval form.
I have the blue form but not the petition.  Does the Delhi 
consulate require the petition?

Thanks for all the help.
Rajiv.

=================================================================
Rajiv Agrawal                      |    /^^^\_/^^^^>
144-C Angela Dr, Madison, AL 35758 |   /          (_____________ # # #
(o) 205-730-3428 (r) 205-837-9484  |   |  II | | _______________|||||||   
rajiv@rajiv.b30.ingr.com           |   \  o  o  (                # # #
uunet!ingr!b30!rajiv!rajiv         |    \___/^\__> Tangled up in blues.

Xref: sparky soc.culture.indian:29158 soc.culture.pakistan:14065
From: memon@acsu.buffalo.edu (Naveed Siraj Memon)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian,soc.culture.pakistan
Subject: Times, they are a changin'
Date: 23 Aug 92 07:18:46 GMT
Organization: UB

From: asim@heckle.ugcs.caltech.edu (A. M. Mughal)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.pakistan,soc.culture.indian
Subject: Re: Re meaning of 14th august

>>Actually he has forgotten what he has learnt and as any biologist worth his
>>Epsom salt will tell you, those are the classical symptoms of neuron
>>degeneration caused by the onset of Alzheimer's disease.

	>Samit and Raj Sahibs, I'm sure, you can refrain from
	>personal attacks & bashing. If you had noticed the 
	>system software and news posting software you would
	>have agreed with the earlier statement.

	>Those old days are long forgotten, let bygones be bygones :)


I hope that people on SCI/SCP have seen a change in Mr Asim in the last
year.  I hope that this kind of tranformation can be beneficial to the
otherwise hostile relationship between SCP and SCI. Maybe I am missing 
somthing here but personally I have not seen any hostile articles by Asim in
the last month. Actually I have been planning to get that off my chest
eversince I have had to put up with Deb whose intended target was 
Mustafa Ibrahim(he called him Asim's Donkey). The onslaught has apparently 
subsided but atleast the exchange between everyone involved will be 
be hard to erase from my memory.

You can flame me if you think that Asim does not deserve the benefit of 
our doubt. I am not coming to his defense because he is from Pakistan, I 
was all over Mahfooz like a mad dog, so being from the same country 
has never stopped me from giving people a hard time.  Everyone deserves a 
chance. 


Naveed
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian,rec.travel.air
From: ghost@openage.openage.com (Glenn Host)
Subject: Re: How is Cathay Pacific Airlines ?
Organization: Open Age, Inc.
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 02:12:00 GMT

gagrawal@cs.tamu.edu (Gopal Agrawal) writes:

>Hi,

>I would like to know if any of you had an experience flying with 
>Cathay pacific. Seems they are offering a good deal of around $1420
>with a night stay at Hong Kong (both to and fro) with hotel expenses 
>paid. Does anyone have an idea of how much the visa in HongKong would cost 
>and what are the food and other expenses. Also how good are they about 
>schedules etc. 

Cathay Pacific is a good reliable airline but it bit more expensive than
the rest.

Currently Northwest is having a deal to Asia for $798+ (798 for Seoul
and Tapei) if you can complete your travel by approx Dec 15
(6 - 21 day stay).

Visa are not required for US citizens for upto 60 days but I am not
aware of the requirement for Indian citizens.

-- 

Very grateful guest of Openage - the best SCO service shop in the area
************* my views represent no one - not even myself. ****************
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
From: ssr@cypress.com (Bapcha/FPGA)
Subject: Re: Where Programmers are...
Keywords: Programmers, Statistics
Organization: Cypress Semiconductor, San Jose, CA
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1992 20:32:59 GMT

In article <10455@wrgate.wr.tek.com> nagesh@loowit.wr.tek.com (Nagesh Rao) writes:
>Country			Programmers	Managers 	Total
>-------			-----------	--------	-----
>USA			1,693,200	253,980		1,947,180
>USSR			1,445,000	216,750		1,661,750
>India			1,252,500	187,875		1,440,375

[misc stuff deleted]

Nice to know we are #3,  but a figure of merit would be something like
no. of programmers per 100,000 people in the country.... which would
put India further down on the list.

-Bapcha-


Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
From: plaul@latech.edu (Pummy Laul)
Subject: Re: Astrology, India and Nosterdumus ?
Organization: Louisiana Tech University
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 21:35:04 GMT

In article <1992Aug14.154153.4962@gw.wmich.edu> x92nath@gw.wmich.edu writes:
>Hi Readers,
>
>	Do you believe in Astrology ?  There was an article, I read about
>a French Astrologer and it is said that I all his predictions made sofar
>are true till this date.  His predictions about Earthquake in California,
>murder of Indira Gandhi etc, are one of them. 
>
>It further says that in future India will become a world power and its forces
>will reach upto Effil Tower in Paris.  It also mentioned that at that time
>there was no Effil Tower at Paris.
>
>Has anyone read about this ?  Is this book by Nosterdumus available ?
>Thanks



The book by Nostrodamus will be available in your library.  Infact there was a 
movie made on his predictions.  Keep in mind however,  Nostrodamus penned down whatever he dreamed.  He was not very clear as to what he was writing as sometimes he was not sure what exactly was it that he had dreamed (Eiffel Tower for instanse).

B
Nostrodames lived in the dark ages.  He could have his head chooped off for what he had written.  He therefore had to write stuff which could not easily be interpreted.  Hence what we have now is various interpretations of whatever he wrote.  Nostrodamus supposed predicted 2 antichrists Napolean and Hitler.  It seems that he even knew Hitler's name as he made a reference to "Hisler".  He was one letter off.  It was interesting to note that the predictions of Notradamus were used as propaganda by both the G




ermans and the Allies.  Leaflets were dropped both in England & Germany.

Do keep in mind however,  his verses can interpreted in many different ways.  
He has predicted a third antichrist and according to the interpretations, 
this third antichrist is going to be an arab wearing a blue turban.  
Saddam Hussein?????  I think not.


The book does make good reading.  the movie is pretty interesting too


Pummy Laul
P
The biik does make good reading.  
-- 



-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: sharma@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Sandeep Sharma)
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1992 17:22:52 GMT
Subject: Re: Delhi is a shitty place to live
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian



> Delhi is a shitty place to live as compared to Bombay.
> Any comments....
>
> Bombay meri hai


I have travelled a lot in Western and Southern part of India and of-course
in North India . From my experiences , I noticed one thing that of the major
cities , people from Bombay criticise/dislike Delhiites .
It makes me wonder , if it is the result of THE inferiority complex or what ?

Sandeep
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
From: dbailey@cix.compulink.co.uk (Diane Bailey)
Subject: Re: why satti is practiced
Reply-To: dbailey@cix.compulink.co.uk
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 1992 05:58:13 +0000


The original question here was:

>Please could any one tell me why Satti was or is practiced...

The first reply, satirical, used the present tense:

>     These days sati is practised mostly for various purposes.
>Among them another marriage benefit. In these two cases, death of
>husband is ruled out. This is also known as pre-sati. In this
>case, it is widely believed....
>       And there is a post sati. In this case, the relatives of the
>husband's side take the initiative. They do this...

But all the rest, although often most interesting, have not
mentioned if it is still practised.  The last date mentioned has
been the "1829 Prevention of Sati Act passed by Lord William
Bentinck which declared the burning alive of widows as murder";
but there are laws and there is life...

Is it still practised and, if so, why?  A complete answer would
include why the law is not enforced, if that is the case.

I wouldn't have believed that it could still be practised if I
had not read the article in The Observer two weeks ago about the
prevention of female children and subsequently found that this is
a major concern of UNICEF in India.  The fact that India has not
joined itself to any of the UN conventions that outlaw such
practises increases my personal concern.

Diane
dbailey@cix.compulink.co.uk
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
From: bhingard@sol.cs.wmich.edu (Siddharth Bhingarde)
Subject: Re: Indian babes ....
Organization: Western Michigan Univ. Comp. Sci. Dept.
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 20:14:35 GMT

In article <1992Aug17.181020.27665@udel.edu>, godura@zeus.cis.udel.edu (Ruchir Godura) writes:
> In article <rich07.713909947@milton> rich07@milton.u.washington.edu (Jon Jochem) writes:
> >
> >Are Indian babes horny?
> >
> 
>   Toone angrezi mein jo likha : mujhe thoda samajh mein aaya.
>   Nahin, mere Amreeki/ABCD  bhai, Bharat mein bachchon ke sar pe seengh nahin
>   hote -- ye apni mehnat se bade hokar America aate hain.

What has that got to do with being or not being horny?

> 
>   Luv,
> 
>   Ruchir.

Siddharth
From: rbhatnag@uceng.UC.EDU (raj bhatnagar)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
Subject: Re: Soc.culture.Indian or Islam or Hinduism??
Date: 13 Aug 92 17:33:43 GMT
Organization: College of Engineering, University of Cincinnati

In article <1992Aug13.154013.6751@menudo.uh.edu> mece1e3@Jane.UH.EDU writes:


>Bahai faith is HInduism, Buddhism, Islam , Christianity , Buddhism etc.
>Reflect on it.

You have to be very precise about what you mean. 

Islam and Christianity are unique "protocols" for an individual to 
communicate with his/her spiritual authority. Hinduism is a culture 
which includes in it a set containing a large number of such 
"protocols" and permits each individual to select/create/formulate 
his/her own "protocol." Cultures based on Islam require enforcement of 
a single "protocol." Cultures in which Christianity is the predominant 
faith, in today's times, do not believe in enforcing a uniform "protocol" 
on individuals.

NOW, in the above context, how can "Bahai faith" be properly placed?


>Unfortunately to attain this solution which you dream about a
>messanger has to come as said in the Quaran and Bible.
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Well, As per my belief, there never was, and will never be

- Either a God,
- or entities called his/her messengers.

It is "WE" the humanity - the most intelligent creatures - who own this
entire universe! It is upto "US" to regulate our lives and our survival
in this universe.

Mohammad, Christ, Buddha etc. were mere social reformers/philosophers. Any 
individual is as capable as they were. As far as their philosophies are 
concerned, there will always be newer inverstigations, newer thinking, 
and new philosophers - only because the humans are intelligent creatures 
and not at all becasue some "God" will reveal it to them. And as for 
social reformation, that is a continuous process and will go on until 
humanity survives. Therefore, there is nothing like "Universal Truth" 
regarding the purpose or the conduct of human life which can be revealed
by anybody at any point of time.

DO YOUR OWN THINKING.
DO NOT WAIT FOR MESSENGERS, BECAUSE THERE WILL BE NONE.

>There has to be a RETURN OF CHRIST.

CHRIST died long time ago. Lets see what Arindam's intellect can 
put forth in front of today's society.

>Now think about the Bahai faith: may be you will discover something.

What's wrong with Raj-Bhatnagar's faith which I have decided to follow?

>Arindam
>

---raj
Xref: sparky soc.culture.indian:28872 news.answers:2567
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian

I'm (hopefully) about to go to a wedding in India, and I'm hoping the
readers of this newsgroup can answer a few questions for me.

I've been to India a couple times in the past, so I don't need any
information about traveling in India, in general.  (I met the
bride-to-be on one of these prior visits.)  What I do need is some
information specifically about being a guest at a wedding.

What would be a good wedding gift to take with me?

Is there anything else I should know about wedding protocol?

The wedding invitation says it's the wedding of Sow. Meera with
Chi. Sriram.  What do "Sow." and "Chi." mean?

Thanks for any help,

Jeri Dansky
jeri@spd.hp.com
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
From: kishore@argo.rice.edu (Ananda Kishore)
Subject: Re: On the birth of Andhra Pradesh (was Re: I HATE TAMILS)
Organization: Rice University
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 20:13:09 GMT

In article <2A929984.29581@orion.oac.uci.edu>, dsr@balboa.eng.uci.edu (D.Sreenivasa Rao) writes:
[previous arguments of M. Sundaramoorthy, Seetamraju, D. Sreenivasa Rao deleted]

|>      sentiments of patriotism and national pride. While the country 
|>      as a whole has sufficiently rebuilt its devastated morale after
|>      two centuries of British slavery, we in Andhra have somehow 
|>      not been able to recover our lost moral fibre, our sense of 
|>      identity, and our pride in being Andhras. 
|>                    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
|> --sreenivas--                                         [8/19/92]
|>       

I am a Telugu, but I am not proud of it. To say that I am proud to be
born <insert a linguistic group here> is to pronounce the superiority
of one language over all the others. I opine that no language is
superior to another, notwithstanding the passion we may have for a
specific language. To me, languages are not even partially ordered
with respect to 'superiority'.

Moreover, I am usually proud of my own achievements. And, to be born
Indian or Telugu was not my achievement. (Yes, I am not proud to be
an Indian either.)

kishore
From: prasanth@gn.ecn.purdue.edu (Ravi K. Prasanth)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
Subject: Re: Meat eating....etc!
Date: 12 Aug 92 15:20:02 GMT
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network

In article <16a5c4INNing@matt.ksu.ksu.edu>, sngattan@matt.ksu.ksu.edu (Sanjay N Gattani) writes:
> swami1@troy.uucp (22535-swaminathan) writes:
> 
> >In article <1992Aug10.200746.16997@gn.ecn.purdue.edu> prasanth@gn.ecn.purdue.edu (Ravi K. Prasanth) writes:
> >>In article <1992Aug10.175759.18944@uceng.UC.EDU>, rbhatnag@uceng.UC.EDU (raj bhatnagar) writes:
> >>> In article <1992Aug10.051224.28845@gn.ecn.purdue.edu> prasanth@gn.ecn.purdue.edu (Ravi K. Prasanth) writes:
> >>> >In article <1992Aug9.212432.16996@news.cs.brandeis.edu>, anand@binah.cc.brandeis.edu (SHALINI ANAND) writes:
> >>> >> 
> >>> >> Plants do have a 'right to live'. 
> >>> >> However,Consider this; Use a stick on a plant and a lamb. 
> >>> >> Who will suffer more or (at least) be in obvious pain? 
> >>> 
> >>
> > (All answers by others deleted)
> 
> >It is quite obvious that the answer depends upon whether you are a
> >vegetarian or you enjoy eating meat.
> 
> >That is called rationalization. It does not make it a rational
> >answer.
> >>Nor am I
> >>
> >>> Any more informed views?
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> ---raj
> >>
> >>RKP
> 
> I think there is a slight difference between plants and animals(orthe 
> livin beings).  Plants can recover parts that have been cut off but if
> an animal loses one of its limbs, (I believe) it has to stay that way.

Ever tried cutting off a lizard's tail. You will be surprised.

> So God did intend to treat plants differently from the animals.  As

I dont know what God intended. 

> far as veg or non-veg food is concerned, that again I think is an indivdual's
> choice.  

Agreed.  

> sanjay

RKP
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
Subject: Re: Soc.culture.Indian or Islam or Hinduism??
From: rbhatnag@uceng.UC.EDU (raj bhatnagar)
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 12:54:59 GMT
Organization: College of Engineering, University of Cincinnati

In article <1992Aug13.025258.460@menudo.uh.edu> mece1e3@Jane.UH.EDU writes:

>Nobody protested when soc.culture.indian was soc.religion.hinduism:
>I have seen infinite postings on Hinduism. Perhaps this serves as a
>reminder to some Hindus who think India = their version of Hinduism
>that another glorious religion and culture known as Islam exists in India
      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>as exists a glorious religion and culture known as Hinduism which is
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>different from their version.
>Arindam
>

Dear Arindam claims to have found the answer in Bahai'ism after 
examining all the religions, but the above statement of his
shows a lot of things he seems to have missed to explore. Yes,
Islam may be a glorius religion and culture, but Hinduism is not
*A* religion. Hinduism is a culture in which a solution to the 
multiplicity of religions/faiths of individuals has been successfully
implemented and practiced for ages. Yes, it is the same solution
which your Bahai'ism seeks to attain - Yes, Hinduism has had the
solution for the ages. In this case, you seem to be the classic case
of "Deepak tale Andhera" or "Kasturi kundali base, Mrig Dhundhe ban mahi(n)."
(Translations : "Darkness under the lamp itself", and "Musk-deer is looking
for the source of the perfume throughout the world - and not within self.")

Just try to understand Hinduism, the culture and its religions (Its not *A*
religion as you make it out to be) and you will find the answers to the
problems you are seeking in Bahai'ism.

Good Luck.


---raj


Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian