Home and the World

At an educational institute, I noticed a man who periodically mopped the marble floors of the institution throughout the day. The man wore a navy blue uniform with the words "White House" printed in white. The number of housekeeping staff agencies has certainly risen in the past few years. A majority of the staff is comprised of men. Considering India's patriarchal society where gender roles are very rigidly defined, especially in lower economic backgrounds, this comes as a surprise to me. Men cleaning and mopping for a living? I wonder if these very men would lend a hand to their mothers or wives in domestic work. Would they mop the floors of their own houses clean or is it deemed as a woman's job at home? 

A recent visit to my hometown, Chennai left me longing to get back to Delhi. From the moment one enters the city, the exorbitant cost of taxis and autos empties one's pockets. The meters in auto-rickshaws  are showpieces which have probably been corroded to dis-functionality. No government standards are followed. A 25km taxi ride in Delhi costed us about Rs.500 as compared to Rs.800 in Chennai. No auto-rickshaw will charge less than Rs.70 for a 5km ride. There is not a soul to control the atrocious behaviour of the auto drivers of the city.  That was just one of the many problems in the state: a failing education system which only produces marks-scoring machines; power shortage all over the state, rampant privatization of higher education institutions - leading to granting of degrees like laddus in temples; widely prevalent caste based issues; poor infrastructure; widespread corruption; extreme poverty... the list is endless.  O...

Yesterday, I visited an ancient, renowned temple called SriKalahasti with my family ( 8 people ranging from age 5 to 6).My account of this visit is from the perspective of an agnostic who is hesitant to travel to another state just for pooja and darshan at a temple. SriKalahasti Temple As soon as we stepped outside the bubble of our tourist car, we were surrounded by several unkempt, hungry pilgrims. They all began speaking at once. They had traveled from far off places and had no money. One of them requested for money to buy food. My uncle opened his wallet and handed over a few rupee notes and coins. That was enough to attract another bunch of saffron clad pilgrims. We managed to evade them and enter the temple premises. The inner premise of SriKalahasti was constructed back in the 5th century A.D. whereas the extended area was built in the 12th century. It is only expected that the structure would be imposing and awe-inspiring. We were told that the puja was not to beg...

Most religions require their female devotees to cover their heads during prayer. But in Hindu temples, covering one's head is considered inauspicious. Each faith offers an explanation for these rules. Who writes these rules? In the many writings and rewritings of their messages to humanity, the essence is lost in religious tomes. Several religious texts can be dated back to periods of political and religious tumult where the name of god was used to spread beliefs which worked in favour of the men in power.Yesterday, in a shrine for Sai Baba, I came across this board with "Eleven Sayings of Sri Sai Baba". The very first of those sayings was enough for me to raise doubts.  "Who ever visits Shirdi and steps the soil, their sufferings would come to an end." Shirdi is the birth place of Sai Baba and thousands of devotees visit it everyday. Any shrine for Sai Baba would encourage the encourage the devotees to visit Shirdi. It is considered a holy land! H...

My long awaited summer is well here. Somehow, it isn't as exciting as I had imagined. In my excessive free time, I have also been helping an eleven year old neighbor who studies at a quality, private school with her homework. Most of the time, the sheer uselessness of the homework irks me. Some ambiguously worded questions in Geometry in Math seem to have no application whatsoever. Even worse are the "long answer questions" which require the student to only pick up paragraphs from the text. Let alone critical reading skills, this curriculum doesn't even seem to teach basic writing skills. Today, my neighbor studying in the sixth grade came to me with some questions in Computer Science.They are learning "Mail Merge" on Microsoft Word. She opened a book with an entire chapter dedicated to this feature of MS Word. The chapter was organized as follows: One page to describe the mail merge feature and its benefits; the remaining remaining pages of the chap...

Occasionally, I hear my neighbors or parents discussing marriage prospects for young people among their relatives. Several filters are applicable in this search for a spouse. The first and tacit rule is that the groom must belong to the same community as the bride and that horoscopes must match. The next preliminary qualification is a degree in engineering and a well paying job at a multinational company. Any application that falls short of these criteria do not make the cut to round two. In the second round of the great Indian arranged marriage, the bride's family indulges in circumlocution as they ask "Does the boy own a home or apartment?". The answer to this maybe a deal maker or breaker. The idea that a life partner must own a house raise a doubt about the very crux of arranged marriages. Do we wed a person or the setting (home, car, security, city of residence) that he or she offers? Does our true loyalty lie with this life-long partner or with our indi...