Catechism.

One day whilst reading Carlyle's essay to Rajedran a blind student who was ostensibly preparing for the first year M.A English exams the topic veered to religion as this youth is less interested in academics and more in current affairs,general knowledge and would succeed
in diverting my attention from my self imposed sincere dispensation of social service ,by asking me provacative and loaded questions.

He asked me why should Brahmin priests chant sloka's if they don't know the meaning?Why can't your husband or my mother's Brahmin employer perform Grihapravesam and other ceremonies?

In middle class society one's caste or religious leanings are never mentioned in genteel conversations.Though it is very much in existence it is however buried under layers of urbanization,modernisation, education and economic prosperity.

Those belonging to the lower class especially the first generation graduates as is my experience with them for the past one and a half years has taught me ,have no such inhibitions. They launch a direct and frontal attack on their two favourite targets---F.C's the twice borns of yore and S.C's the current twice borns.

It is men [v.i.]who are agitated by inequalities, injustices etc. The women are satisfied in feeling the texture of my saree or lean on my shoulder to cry at the harsh attitude of their families,husbands or boy friends[ yes romance also blooms amongst the sightless] .

They[men] are furious at the Brahmins for the atrocities allegedly perpetrated by my long dead ancestors on their long dead ancestors when in reality neither of us have done or experienced it first hand.And for cornering lucrative govt jobs in the erstwhile British rule a grouse which has passed into history but still fondly harboured probably under the hypnotic tutelege of Periyar . The rituals and language viz sanskrit of Brahmins are often denigrated.

But they ie BC,OBC and MBC unemployed blind students are more furious at the S.C.as this caste is currently snapping up the cushy permanent and pensionable govt jobs enjoying a wide age relaxations and merit.First there is 2 % reservations for V.I within this reservation there are reservations on caste basis!Reservations within reservations.

Now back toRaj's question.I explained to him that to qualify as a Brahmin priest one has to study Veda's and memorise each of the thousands of verses ,a tough proposition that requires a minimum 12 years of constant practise.By being born into a Brahmin family doesn't automatically confer one the right to perfom puja's yagnas or ceremonies .It is a rigorous course which only few pursue. A true Brahmin priest knows the meaning of the sanakrit slokas.To him it is a proffession and he may not have the time to explain the meanings as he may have to service another.This class however must be distinguished from Vedic scholars who read ,and research these ancient texts thoroughly owing to their genuine interest and scholastic inclinations.

Then I asked him whether his brother who is a driver, be able to with stand the rigours of tilling the soil, read weather and seeds conditions and slip back to their original rustic tough agrarian life which is their caste's trademark after leading a soft life in the city,with ease without practise ?

His next question was why worship god in a alien language [sanskrit] and not in Tamil?

Co-incidentlywe were reading Carlyle's essays in which he observes that poets are better than philosophers and historians. Whilst the former expound moral principles and lose themselves in endless aguments the latter shows examples from the past but has no vision for the future a poet on the other hand combines the virtues of both viz- philosopher and a historian.

Then the essayist goes on to say that Dante and Shakespeare of the middle ages had such a deep insight and thirsted for the truth of things and stood so firmly behind what they deduced as truth by gleaning it from nature that in ancient times they would have been called as saints or prophets.

Vedas are poems They describe the various elements of nature in all its glory and beauty like 'Varuna'---sky 'Indra' rain and so on .They also lay stress on a universal rule or 'Rita' that governs this earth and millions of universes.They exhort one to control one's desires ,mind and thoughts by leading a truthful and righteous life and in the process attain eternal bliss.

These Vedic poets or rishis or saints have mirrored in their 3000 year old compositions the admiration and appreciation of a unsullied mind of nature and his awe at the being that has created this knowm world and several unknown worlds,galaxies and universes!

To the best of my knowledge there are no such ancient pearls of wisdom existing in any Indian language or in Tamil.
'
God is worshipped in Tamil in Vaishnavite temples .The' Nalayyra divyaprabandham' composed by Alwars or vaishnavites in chaste Tamil drawn from different castes in 7th and 8th century A.D. is sung in all Perumal[vishnu]temples every day to this day.During the month of Margazhi [december to January]a special darshan of'Srinivasa perumal'at Tirumala, of 15 minutes duration early in the morning is accorded only to such Vaishnavites who can recite all the 30 Tamil poems' Thirupavvai' of Andal .

Then he asked me will I [an MBC] be taught the Veda's ?

I replied .Yes.But you must be 8 years old I can join you in Vedapatashala but you and your immediate family must forgo meat eating smoking and drinking, perform lengthy puja's on a empty stomach from as early as 4 in the morning till noon.,discard upper clothing and perform with due dilligence all those rituals a Brahmin has to every day .I further added that if he was really interested in acquiring Vedic knowledge I would gift him cassetes and CD's that are freely available in the market and he can teach himself .He fell silent.