Thursday, April 19, 2012

Story of Toran Marna in Marriages


शादी में "तोरण मरना" रिवाज़ की कहानी 

पिछले सप्ताह मैं और मेरी छोटी बहन जैसलमेर में मेरे छोटे भाई के यहाँ घूमने गए | वह वहां, नाचना गाँव के अस्पताल में डॉक्टर है | उसके जन्मदिन का अवसर था तो वह हमें इस ख़ुशी में जैसलमेर और तनोठ जी मंदिर ले के गया | 

किसी भी नयी जगह पे अगर आप घूमने जाते हैं और उस जगह के बारे मैं जानना चाहते हैं तो क्षेत्रीय लोगोँ के अलावा जानकारी का सबसे अच्छा स्रोत होता है आपके वाहन का ड्राईवर | यह बात अलग है की अगर ड्राईवर साहब अगर एक बार बोलना शुरू कर दें तो उनकी बातें उनकी गाडी से भी तेज चलती हैं | 

इधर से जाते समय तो हम तीनो भाई बहन आपस में बातें करने और फोटो खींचने में ही व्यस्त रहे लेकिन वापस आते वक्त ड्राईवर साहब से भी बातें शुरू हुयी | वह हमारे क्षेत्र में किसी शादी में आये हुए थे इसलिये अपने और हमारे यहाँ के लोगोँ और रीति रीवाजो की बात करने लगे | 

योँ तो शादियो में कई तरह की रीति रीवाजो का मनाई जाती हैं लेकिन शादी में तोरण मरने की रिवाज़ के कारण के बारे में उन्होने हमसे पूछा | जो लोग इस के बारे में जानते नहीं हैं उन्हें में बता दूँ की यह रस्म तब होती है जब लड़का दूल्हा बनके लड़की के घर बारात ले के आता है तो उसे लड़की के घर में अन्दर प्रवेश करने से पहले तोरण मरना पड़ता है | तोरण लकड़ी का बना होता है और देखने में ऐसा लगता है जैसे की कुछ चिड़िया जैसी आकृति है | दूल्हा उसे अपनी तलवार या कटार से छूता है, कभी कभी तो दुल्हे तोरण इतने जोर से मरते हैं की उसे नीचे ही पटक देते हैं, यह अशुभ माना जाता है |

इतनी जानकारी होने के बाबजूद हम्हे यह नहीं पता था की इस रिवाज़ का औचित्य क्या है और यह कैसे शुरू हुयी | हम दोनो भाई इस के बारे में अलग अलग तरह के अंदाज लगाने लगे लेकिन ड्राईवर साहब ने एक भी कहानी सही नहीं मानी | अंत में हमने उनसे ही पूछा की तोरण मरने की प्रथा के पीछे वजह क्या है ?

तोरण मरने की कहानी उन्होने कुछ इस तरह सुनाई -


एक बार एक राजा की एक बहुत सुन्दर राजकुमारी थी | जब वह राजकुमारी बहुत छोटी थी तो उसकी माँ उसे कहती की मेरी चिड़िया जैसी प्यारी बेटी तू इतने जल्दी बड़ी हो रही है, किसी दिन कोई चिड़ा (चिडिया का पुर्लिंग) तुझे ले जायेगा | रानी को इसी बात की चिंता रहती की किसी दिन उसकी लाडली बेटी उसे छोड़ के चली जाएगी | वह बड़े प्यार से अपनी राजकुमारी से अक्सर यह कहती की जब तू बड़ी हो जाएगी तो कोई चिड़ा तुझे उड़ा के ले जायेगा |

इस बात को वही पेड़ की डाल पे बैठा चिड़ा सुना करता था | वह उसी समय के इंतजार में बैठा रहा की यह राजकुमारी जब बड़ी होगी तो रानी किसी चिडे से इसका व्याह करेगी | राजकुमारी को चिडे के साथ उड़ के जाने की सोच के वह काफी खुश होता और अपने आप को उस समय के लिए तैयार करने लगा जब राजकुमारी असल में उसके साथ उड़ने के लिए तैयार होगी |

लेकिन जैसा वह सुनता था ऐसा हुआ नहीं | एक दिन वह देखता है की राजकुमारी की शादी की तैयारियां शुरू हो गयी हैं और एक राजकुमार अपनी बारात लेके राजकुमारी से व्याह करने आ गया है | चिड़ा बहु निराश हुआ, वह तो बहुत दिनो से इसी उम्मीद में कुंवारा बैठा था की रानी अपनी राजकुमारी को किसी चिडे के साथ उड़ने भेजेगी और वह राजकुमारी को उड़ा के ले जायेगा | उसका दिल टूट गया | वह सीधा राजा के पास गया और अपनी व्यथा सुनाई |

राजा उसकी बात सुनके बहुत जोर - जोर से हँसा | उसने रानी को अपने पास बुलाया और पूछा की क्या सही में रानी यह कहती थी की कोई चिड़ा राजकुमारी को उड़ा ले जाएगा ? इस पे रानी ने कहा की वह तो प्यार में ऐसे ही अपनी बेटी से ऐसे कहती थी और उसका मतलब यह बिलकुल नहीं था की सचमुच का चिड़ा उसकी बेटी को ले जायेगा | लेकिन चिडे के साथ धोखा हो चूका था | वह राजकुमारी को अपने साथ ले जाने के लिए अड़ गया | राजा ने अपनी बेटी को चिड़ा के साथ व्याह करके भेजने से इंकार कर दिया | अपने साथ हुए धोके को चिड़ा बर्दाश्त नहीं कर पाया | उसने अपने सारे चिड़िया समुदाय को इकठ्ठा कर लिया और राजा से युद्ध करने की तयारी शुरू कर दी | राजा को अपनी सेना पे बहुत घमंड थे, वह भी चिड़ियाओं से लडाई करने के लिए तैयार हो गया | 

लेकिन राजा की सेना को युद्ध में हार का सामना करना पड़ा | युद्ध जीतने के बाद जब चिड़ा राजकुमारी को अपने साथ उड़ा कर के ले जाने को तैयार हुआ तो देवताओं ने हाहाकार मचा दिया | उन्होने कहा की अगर ऐसा हो गया तो आगे आने वाली पीढीयो का क्या होगा ? चिड़िया और आदमी के विवाह से उत्पन्न संतान कैसी होगी? काफी समझाने के बाद चिड़िया प्रजाति यह मान गयी की राजकुमारी को अपने साथ ले जाने में उनकी भलाई नहीं है | इन सब बातो को सुन कर चिड़ा इस बात पे राजी हो गया की वह राजकुमारी से शादी के लिए जिद नहीं करेगा लेकिन रानी को अपने गलत वचनो और उसे धोखे में रखने की सजा जरुर मिलनी चाहिए | इसलिए दूल्हे को चिड़ा और उसकी प्रजाति से क्षमा मांग के उनके पैरो के नीचे होकर गुजरना होगा| 

तो इस कहानी के अनुसार तोरण में लगी हुयी लकड़ी की चिड़ियाँ उस चिडे और उसकी प्रजाति को दर्शाती हैं और जब दूल्हा - दुल्हन के घर में प्रवेश करता है तो वह असल में चिडे और उसके भाई बंधुओं के पैरो के नीचे होके गुजर रहा होता है | तोरण से कटार या तलवार लगाने का मतलब दरवाजे पे बैठी चिड़ियाओं को नमन करके जाना होता है !

इस कहानी को सुन के हम दोनो भाई काफी अचंभित हुए और चिड़ियाओं की चालाकी से दंग रह गए | मैंने कहाँ की ऐसी कहानियो पे तो आजकल सब हसेंगे, लेकिन ज्यादातर रीति रीवाजो के पीछे ऐसे ही हास्यापद कहानियां हैं | हम सब चुपचाप रीति रिवाजो को मानते और पूरे करते चले जाते हैं क्योन्कि हमारे समाज में सभी इनकी पालना करते चले आये हैं और किसी ने इनके पीछे के कारण और उसकी सार्थकता के बारे में जानने की कोशिश ही नहीं की |

लेकिन इन रीति रिवाज़ो से ही शादी - व्याहो में और नियमित जीवन में कुछ मजे की बात होती है नहीं तो लड़की और लड़की के साथ रहने के लिए शादी के नाम पे इतने ताम-झाम करने की भी क्या जरुरत है ?

वापस आते समय ड्राईवर साहब ने ऐसी कई और कहानिया सुनाई, जो आसानी से किताबो में पढ़ने ले लिए नहीं मिलेगी | 

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Pattern in the Randomness


The title of the post has to do with the book "Fooled by Randomness" which I've read recently. Its a good read, even better if you wanna blame something for your luck, it'll re-emphasize it.

Discovering Aspirations -
Now lets figure out a pattern amongst these pictures which my younger sister bought and put in the drawing room. The selection of the wall papers may be random, depending on the attractiveness of the image, but the order in which these were put may not be. Because it has a pattern, which we need to discover - 


Village life

A nosegay
A residential colony
A Villa
It must be my bored mind at home which is trying to make some meaning out of the wall papers, is there any?



Friday, February 24, 2012

Cattle Fair – the real one!


Don’t confuse it with the Cattle fairs which reportedly happen in the IIMs. It’s about the real cattle fairs where the cows, buffaloes, camels, donkeys, horses etc are brought to be sold. They also come to participate in the competitions like beauty pageant, races and bull-fights. Some people even come to look out for their lost or stolen cattle.

So what is special in the cattle fairs which led me to think about it and write this blog? Yes, it’s the psychology of the buyers and sellers which intrigues me.

The preparations farmers or cattle herders make before taking their cattle to the fair are quite elaborate.   The buffaloes and cows, generally painted in mud, get a good bathe, and then an oil massage. Some even get their horns and tails painted. They even tie a necklace of colored rope or peacock feathers and human hair around neck almost suffocating the poor animals. Camels get a nice haircut with designs brought up on their dark brown body. So elegant they look that all you want is ride on their back, at least once!

So far so good, the real fun begins in the fair. Farmers from all the nearby places bring them to the market, laden in the tractor- trolleys or trucks, most of the times its too crammed for the spaces that poor animals feel suffocated. You don’t need to be an expert to see the pain in their eyes.

A buyer may want to know, how much milk a buffalo produces daily? So, live demonstrations happen. The owner milks it in front of the potential buyer. The little ones are deprived of their mother’s milk as she has not been milked for two three days before bringing her to the market. They must believe that it’s better to keep the milk accumulated in her udders for a better show!

The evaluations go on for whole day, buyers keep coming, most of the times leaving them just after initial inspection, roaming around, checking the features of the animal. Looks of the buffalo is one of the most important parameters. Looks? You must be wondering! What do looks have to do with the quality of the cattle? But you guessed it right, we are humans after all. We are so much worried about the looks of anything feminine that we tend to simply ignore other important factors! The breed has to be good; it’s the matter of pride to have a Murra or Khundi at home.

At the end of the day, most of the cattle are sold off. The owners who have reared its cattle for so many years just let them go. For the emotional types it’s a tough choice which they have to make. But the deal is done; they have to send them, this time, laden in yet another vehicle.

For the rest, who are not sold, it’s the journey back to home. I don’t know whether the animal feels happy about returning home, to be with rest of the herd, but the owner is definitely not! How will I feed it in the times of inflation, when there is no fodder in this dry season? Monsoon too has not been favorable, and I need the money to pay the debt, to purchase other house hold items or to pay off the tuition fee of the kids who have just got into a college. The questions keep busy his mind as he return home.

The animal must be wondering, what was lacking in me? They didn’t buy me just because I didn’t look good enough to be accepted into their herd? For an Oxen, the owner might be heard whispering, had you been able to pull the cart, why would have I brought you in the market? There are no buyers for you in the fair. I’ll have to sell you to the Butcher now! I can’t help it. 

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

A testimonial from my pillow


Hello Roomie,

It’s the time when you and your batch-mates are going to leave the Kampus, everyone is busy writing testimonials to their close friends. You too shall write to some of your close friends and hopefully some of them will also do the favor for you. I too thought of leaving a note while you are still asleep.

You know it well that I’ve been your closest friend over these months you’ve been here. It’s another matter that you’ve not even changed or washed my cover in these two years, and I smell like a rotten pig, but its only you who had to smell me, I don’t complain much. I’ve been lucky that you’ve not burned me with cigarettes and did not puke over me after your daru-parties. I'm thankful for it.

All said, there are many memories of yours which I’ll cherish. The way you cuddled with me in not so cold nights of Kerala. The giggles I used to have when you shouted WTF, whenever you were bitten by the ants who roamed on your bed to collect the food particles and the dead insects. I’ve also seen you watching not so civilized kind of videos and wasting time on facebook, but I kept quite. It’s your personal life and I don’t believe in being too possessive.


I need to confess that I tried to eavesdrop on the talks which used to go on in your head, I don't know whom you talked to in your dreams. But, I also got quite angry once when you showered a torrent of blows on me without any mistake of mine and in the end it was I who wiped your tears when you cried. I hope your remember that.

You’ve got a job, though not as high salary as newspapers wallas want people to believe. I’m sure you are going to start a new life with a new pillow and leave me here. It’s ok! I don’t want you to get emotional about me. You need to move on! You’ve got a life ahead. I’ll be happy with Chechi, if she agrees to take me with herself or I’ll walk away with the goonj people.

I hope you’ll have wonderful time with the new pillows. Best wishes!
Love,
Pillow


Thursday, February 16, 2012

Matki and the Restless Soul


It starts getting really hot in Rajasthan by the end of March and as the air gets hotter, it forms heat waves which become unbearable by the beginning of May. The scorching Sun and the dry air suck the life out of humans as well as the birds and animals.

If my memory serves me well, the scene of the story must be of earlier than 1991, before we started building our current home. In the afternoon, our grandmother used to force me and my brother to sleep so that we don’t roam around and catch the heat waves. We on the other hand preferred to play under the Neem tree, which was in the same place where we have built the drawing room now.

The birds, specially the parrots were fun to watch when they drank water from the water pot hanging by the Neem branch. There used to be membrane like thing with strange shapes running randomly, which could be seen in the bright Sunlight. Airplanes used to fly shining brightly and leaving a white trail, which I later came to know were clouds. The planes must have gone to land in Delhi. It was almost unimaginable for us that real people sat in those planes. If they really did then we’ll sit in those planes and go to Delhi, my brother used to say!

I told my grandmother that I see some strange shapes in the distance which come down on the earth and disappear and it goes on. I still don’t know what these were, but she got a new idea to keep us indoors. She said that those were ghosts and they’ll catch us if we go out in the afternoon. I don’t remember listening to her. I’m not sure if watching ghosts or was it that watching airplanes fly in the sky more fun.

tribuneindia.com
Another amusement were the new earthen pitchers (Matke) being brought from the potters. These were mostly bartered against wheat instead of being purchased in return for money. My mother and grandmother used to go and bring these pitchers on their head and the Tayi (wife of potter) also accompanied them to take the wheat from home. A few earthen cups (kullad) were given for free if we accompanied our grandmother. Now we wouldn’t drink water in a glass as long as the kullads lasted. They generally broke in a matter of days.

The matka used to survive for a week and then it won’t keep the water cold for any long. It was always fun to drink water from the new matka as it has a totally different taste in it. The water used to be brought by the ladies over head from the wells nearby. My mother used to bring two matkas over her head and one small one (matki) in her hand to avoid many trips to the well.

The matki used to be kept over matka and it used to become quite high for us, so we used to struggle to reach up it. One day I left it uncovered as the lid fell off and I could not reach up to matki’s mouth to cover it. My grandmother saw that the matki doesn’t have its cover, she scolded me and asked not to leave it open. I thought it may be because insects might fall in the water. But the reason she gave was totally different. She said that there might be someone’s mann – the restless soul, which might come to drink water from the matki and get into it. How was it possible? I asked. Then she explained, suppose you are having a tight sleep and feel thirsty. If you are lazy and don’t want to get up to drink water. Your soul will come out of your body. It'll get into the matki to drink water and quench its thirst. Now, if someone covers the matki, the poor soul may get trapped in it. In that case the person’s body will be without soul for some time and he or she may die!

It’s obviously quite tough to believe it now, but it was perfect explanation. After that, whenever I used to go towards the matki, I used to think whether there is a soul entrapped in it. Once I even brought my friends. We climbed on a chair and opened the lid to see if there was really any soul inside it.

It’s not summer yet and there are no pitchers nearby. But sometimes I feel as if my soul has left me and it is entrapped in some matki somewhere. What if someone has put the lid on matki’s mouth? Will the matki realize that I belong there itself and bring me to life by quenching my thirst? Will there be someone who’ll come and remove the lid and take my soul out of the matki

*On a lighter note, M.Tech junta in IITs is called Matka / Matki and the B.Tech junta is called Bhatke, which means restless souls!

Saturday, January 07, 2012

Godgiri - The past and future of communication

If you have seen any of the TV serial based on Hindu mythologies, you’ll remember the way Gods used to communicate with each other; they’ll just think in their head and communicate the messages to whomever they wished. Someone will have a dream while others will get it through self realization. For example - Narada Muni, the eternal reporter, passed on his message to Shiva. Hanuman Ji used to close his eyes and offer his prayers to Rama, and Rama in turn used to smile and talk to Him. Many devotees still do the same but it’s not clear for me whether the Gods listen to these prayers.

There are many communication mediums, like this blogging platform, available now by which it’s so easy to get your voice heard to other people but it requires highly complex networks and processing power which were unimaginable to most of the people just few decades back.

Just think, how convenient it will be if the Gods' Brain wave communication system really works in our day to day lives without the need of these modern digital gadgets. You close your eyes, establish a connection with the person you want to talk to and he/she listens to you. You can even figure out how many people are thinking or talking about you. There can also be a deluge of messages but you can priorities, which you want to subscribe like on Facebook and Twitter.

It’ll obviously have it negative implications as well, but you can go into invisible mode or simply block the person you don’t want to communicate with. I read an article in the Economist that scientists have developed a technology by which it’s possible to know what a person is thinking, as a certain part of the brain is activated in the process.

Right now, this thought also looks childish or quixotic, but I’m sure there will be a time when this will be possible. There will also be hackers who would like to break into your head and try to get the access to the data stored in your brain cells, with new rules being drawn up  to stop the malpractices.

There are some artificial intelligence applications available now which can talk to you like real people, sometimes even better.

A real  chat on Cleverbot.com

It’s only a matter of time when these technologies are advanced to a next level when there won’t a need for any technology at all and it will be as simple as the Gods have in the TV serials. Even you will need to visit this blog as I’ll directly send my thoughts to you and get your comments!