Rationality or Tradition?

Rationality or Tradition?

I was a good boy till the age of 8, when my nanaji laid the seeds of "rebellion" in my mind. He told me, "Appu, you are intelligent. So never do things till you understand the reason of doing it". I thought what he was saying was right and accepted it without question.

But since that day, that thought persisted in my mind. I never did a thing till my parents were able to convince me by reason or threat that i should. I didnt cry till i understood why i was going to cry and how it will help solve the problem at hand. I was in class 5 and i refused to accept the story that children are brought home by the storks. It did not fit my logic senses. Yes, my grandfather had laid in me the seed of Indian culture, the culture of questioning and arguing. I tried criticizing the Indian culture and tradition as much as I could, but he didnt budge from his stand that the Indian culture is the best possible. I was sort of confused. The man who modified his own marriage ritual to remove rites of child marriage was saying that the same culture was the best possible. And he was always calm, never raising his voice or eyebrow. I learnt i had to think deeper, devoid of any emotion.

Soon by the time i was in my teens, i had started asking too many questions with no satisfactory answers. I knew I had to break the shackles of being a good boy. Give me a reason why marrying a widow is a sin in indian religion. Tell me why a guy who watches movies every day cannot be a good student. Show me how i lose my caste in marrying a girl of a lower caste. God eats prasad, but where does he go to shit? I was asking increasingly difficult questions, more generic questions... and rarely hearing answers. I always heard, dont say like this, dont think like this... what crap!

I was learning to do my experiments with my own life and seek my answers on my own... many were uncomfortable facts and truths... no matter how bad i felt, they had to be right because they followed the laws of statistics...

And it is because of the "rebellion" planted in me by my nanaji, i attend every religious ritual of the family even though i dont believe in god... and this inspite of none of my family members forcing me to attend any ceremony... i learnt that i can live my life by my own rules if i let others live it by their own... if i want others to follow my standards, i should also do some things to keep them happy... i learnt i didnt always have to be right if i can make my loved ones happy... i can talk to them about the right thing when they are more willing to accept it... I learnt that i have to stay in they society system to get rid of elements that i dont like... i am happy that all that happen in my life, good or bad, right or wrong, is all my doing and that even god (assuming he exists) has the priviledge of ridding me of the responsibility of my mistakes... its such a relief!!!

My case shows that the only way of maintaining tradition is to let people challenge it... Give the proper answers... If you cant, get rid of that ritual... Be rational... This is what the nalanda university scholars also practiced. I started doing namaskar to elders when i was told why it is a better form of greeting. You would lose your ego and earn respect from your child if you try to answer his questions. I am not against tradition, i just want to believe that my parents and elders are rational. So tell me, am i a rebel of the modern times?


(written on 15-jan-2008)