SEEKING CHANGE FROM PUNDITS - SAVIORS OF OUR RELIGION - PART 2

SEEKING CHANGE FROM PUNDITS: SAVIORS OF OUR RELIGION -PART 2

Thakur Ranjit Singh

Part 1 of my article did ruffle a few dhotis…oops, feathers. In fact that has been my intention.

Professional Accountants, Doctors, Lawyers, Teachers and even Christian Priests have a code of conduct and some general rule under which to operate. They lose their rights to practice if there is a breach.

In our developed world where Hindus have gone in larger numbers, their so-called heads and saviours of religion do not seem to have any such restraints –and their interests have been safe-guarded by like-minded swamis who wrote their rules centuries ago that Brahm Ninda (defaming Brahmins) is a cardinal sin.

Time is ripe for them to be shown the mirror to see their reflections-and some are not too pleased with their reflections. All they need to do is to improve the picture if they do not like it. I have no animosity with any Pundit. However, it appeared some felt that they could do whatever under the mistaken rules that some smelly bearded Swami wrote centuries ago that "brahm ninda" is like Gau hatya (criticism of Brahmins is like killing a cow)

Nothing in Hinduism is cast in stone. Lord Krishn, in Bhagavat Gita preached that change is inevitable fact of life. Hence the fact that Pundits feel shielded from the Commandment that they are above criticism is contradicted. Like Arjun with Gandiu Bow, modern men, with pen and keyboard need to become the medium of change. That is what is intended of this article

Little did they realise that Lord Ram and Krishna showed and taught us ways to change nonsensical, cruel and outdated parampara, systems and tradition (reet) - masquerading as religious practices. Therefore people need to demand proper conduct from those who are profiteering from being the middlemen between us and our Gods. They cannot remain shielded and protected from such outrageous, protectionist, unfair, conceited, biased and unjustified commandments.

As code of conducts would demand, we need pracharaks, Pundits and preachers who demand respect and themselves evoke all the good characters they preach us about.

Do these preachers themselves have exemplary life practices? Have they been able to have happy united families and obedient children? Do they respect women, children and elders equally and have compassion? Are they “clean’ and not using their position to gain through their religious position in any other forms? 

Siya Ke Ram, TV Serial, based on Valmiki Ramayan rightly portrayed Lord Ram as a medium of change. And this article is supposed to invoke such a change - the way Hindus view their Pundits, God and relationship with their Gods.

Have they been able defeat five thieves:  kaam (lust), krodh (wrath,anger), lobh (greed) moh (attachment) and ahankar (ego or excessive pride). At least there should be some evidence that they are more righteous than us common mortals. 

If not, then what the hell are they doing on “vyas gaddi’, on the speaking pulpit, teaching us to do things they themselves cannot do-or at least show an effort of doing so?

Some of us are miser people, who would not donate a dime to a needy person but would save and give big loads to Pundits in name of culture and tradition, and as a guilty conscience to pay for our bad ways through pooja and Daan. Now, what do these priest do with this continuous “Daan” (offerings) they receive that they and their families cannot use in their lifetime?

I am merely showing the community the mirror. There are some shameful things I feel ashamed to mention here. I know of some of these priests using their position in society to exploit people in many shameful ways with very questionable “loose” characters (Please do not ask me what that means).

However, I do not care about those. But in this time of need, I care about the items they receive in name of culture that rot, and gets expired, or sold in some cases, rather than being used for the needy in Covid 19. 

I am now coming to COVID 19. Many of our priests who we have had as our “kul”(fixed) Pundit may have been receiving financial benefits and basin-full of goodies over many decades. For the first time we are in a crisis, a lockdown, many without jobs, and needing assistance, if not financial, at least moral and other support. Each of these pundits may have some 1000 yajmaan (clients), if not more. How many of them have called their suffering yajmaan, especially the elderly, to offer solace, assistance and word of encouragement? 

They have been receiving calls from yajmaan over the decades for pooja etc. Have they returned those calls when they could have made a difference in these trying times? Don’t they owe a duty of care? How many of you have heard from your Pundits? 

All Mandirs and places of worship are closed. Should they be? Yes, for maintaining social distancing, but also YES for granting aid to those who have supported them all along? They have been benefiting from us for decades. Isn’t it time they returned the favour to people who had been financing these institutions and priests. 

FIJI PUNDIT is calling for exemplary behaviour from Pundits if they wish to remain credible preachers and regarded as saviors of our religion.

Isn’t it time, more people stood up and question about our outdated practices of giving so much power in religion to the middlemen between you and your Gods? And now, when you need them, are they anywhere to be seen or heard? Isn’t it time we reconsider about our DIRECT relationship with God?

It is nice to see some Sikh organisations and some Hindu Mandirs, institutions and some Pundits coming out to help. Thanks to them. But my concern is directed at the ones who have gone in complete “Lockdown.” Many may have done things in their own rights, but have they cared about their ‘yajmaan” when they longed to hear the assuring voice of their “Maharaj?”

All I am asking is some reciprocity (pay back) from Hindu priests who until now have been beneficiary of our age old rituals, culture and outdated thinking.
Perhaps when the dust of Covid 19 clears, we all need to rethink about position of Pundits in our information-filled community and a time to press REFRESH and REBOOT button on Hinduism. With changing times, there is need for change, at least in the developed world and a rethink about outdated ways our ancestors carried in Fiji.

For Pundits who are operating in developed countries, there appears to be absence of any code of conduct and acceptable practices. They feel protected from the commandment that brahm ninda is like gau hatya (criticm of brahmins is equivalent to killing a cows). Hence there is no compulsion on them on the way they operate. FIJI PUNDIT is calling of a change from Hindus to demand those high level of conduct from the middlemen between them and their Gods.

I am sure, many of my friends will say, if I am getting looted or used by my Pundit in the name of parampara or culture, so why is Thakur concerned? (Thakur ke ka piraaye - how does it affect Thakur?

Same way as it affected Lord Ram and he put a stop to outdated and obsolete culture and ways. Same way as Lord Krishna preached in Bhagavat Gita that change and parivartan is inevitable. 

You do not need Arjun with "Gandiu” bow to bring change. All you need is a Narad Muni Journalist, FIJI PUNDIT, with pen and keyboard to bring about a paradigm shift-nazaria ke pher, a change of viewpoint.

Our modern Hindus have democratic right to be “used” and misled in the name of parampara, tradition, but like Ram and Krishn, I am urging you to REDISCOVER and RECREATE your ways in life.

You have full right to ignore this - and continue doing what you have been doing, but allow others to see the light.

[About the Author: Thakur Ranjit Singh is a media commentator, a journalist, a community worker and a practising Hindu who believes that change is inevitable. He subscribe to the principle that it is height of absurdity and gullibility to be shackled by outmoded and obsolete practises under the guise of parampara and tradition] 

A TIME FOR PARADIGM SHIFT IN OUR RELIGIOUS PRACTICES? - PART 1

A TIME FOR PARADIGM SHIFT IN OUR RELIGIOUS PRACTICES? PART-1

Thakur Ranjit Singh

Corona Virus and this lock down in our homes have taught us humans one great lesson about religion.

And that is that, as our forebears discovered and created our religion many centuries ago, the current crisis, Covid 19, has now forced us to REDISCOVER, RECREATE and RE-CALIBRATE that religion.

As an alien in Aamir Khans “PK” movie said, one God created us, and we created so many. 

I feel sorry for others whose religions are cast in stone and cannot be criticized, discussed or modified to be relevant with the changing times.

Thank God, I am a Hindu, and hence I do not even belong to a religion, AS HINDUISM IS A WAY OF LIFE. And that life lesson is relevant now and embraced by the world: NAMASTE, VEGETARIANISM and CREMATION.

But the most important aspect of Hinduism is our belief that CHANGE IS THE NATURE AND IS INEVITABLE. Hence it has evolved in Hinduism over centuries, and survived even in most difficult times.

When Moghuls invaded and ruled over India for some 700 years and British ruled over us for 300 years, it only made a small dent in our religion. 

On a smaller scale, my forebear Indians were shipped to Fiji as Indentured labourers 140 years ago. Despite Fiji being under Christian British rulers, our religion remained intact even after great efforts at conversion in very difficult times. This is because Hinduism is an evolving and adaptive way of life that holds on to its core values even in trying times. 

The greatest satisfaction FIJI PUNDIT has is that unlike dissenters and critics of other religions, my ass will not be blown to bits. Aamir Khan did not have a fatwa (ruling of death) against him for “insulting” Hinduism in his Bollywood blockbuster “PK”. He also steered clear of being critical of his own religion when he produced TV serial - Satyamev Jayate (truth shall prevail), critical of Hindus and our practices. But that is another story for another day.

Now, to Hinduism and need for a change. Unfortunately, we Fiji Hindus have been so immersed in Tulsidas’s interpreted version of Ramayan (in Hindi) that we missed many good episodes and lessons from the original Valmiki one.

Story of Ramayan in Tele-serial SIYA KE RAM is based on Valmiki Ramayan and reveals some episodes untold in Tulsidas's translated version. Some new things revealed are about Ashvamedh Yagn in Ram's childhood where he becomes a medium of change, Ram's sister Shanta, Ahilya uddhar where Ram touched Ahilya's feet with his fingers, and not using his foot, and story of Surpnakha, among others. This article and thoughts to challenge a system have been inspired by Ram's challenge of his Guru and father on outmoded ritual of Raghu Kul in sacrificing the horse of Ashvamedh Yagn.

Valmiki Ramayan reveal Lord Ram as a medium of change, not like many Hindus, who shield behind the mantra of “parampara” or tradition. Valmiki Ramayan speaks of Ashvamedh Yagn, a horse-sacrifice ritual in Ayodhya when Ram was still young and unmarried. (The only one we know about is in the Lav Kush episode).

When Ram returns from his Guru Kul (school), he (and an unmarried Sita) see this sacrifice as a cruel practice and puts a stop to it. Ram became a medium of change, challenging a cruel and outmoded Raghu Kul Reet - tradition. He was the medium of change that many of his devotees and other Hindus fail to muster courage to follow now. 

We Fiji-Waale Hindus may hardly have heard of this medium of change in character of Ram in the Tulsidas Ramayan. Hence, this Thakur, a devotee of Ram, is calling for change that Ram, oopar wala Thakur (God above) has courage to initiate and implement.

In olden days, over half a century ago in rural rustic and dusty Rarawai, Golflinks, Ba Fiji, we lived in extended families, and had our annual pooja.(Prayers). We had our local priests do the pooja and poor farmers gave whatever meagre savings they could muster, and gave small quantity of food items, dished out, often on a  brass plate. Pundits carried their own bags (jhori) and transferred rice, dhal, potatoes and sugar etc into their bags and returned the plate. They were never given pre-packed size in 500 grams or 1 kilogram packs.

This offering would be for livelihood of the Pundit who survived on this food. (Karamkandi, not dependent on a paid second job). It was NOT a ritual but a necessity for livelihood of Pundits. He would perform such pooja maybe three or four times in a week, and received enough supplies for his livelihood, and Dakchina (money) for other needs.

Fast forward this to modern New Zealand, Australia, Canada and USA where Fiji Hindus have migrated in large numbers. So have these pundits, but the culture of giving, in larger plastic basins, or larger pre-packed items, evolved. And these huge basins, which the Pundits take away, are many times the size of those small brass plates, and usually loaded with a lot more than what the priest and his family need to survive on. This is because he may do some 6-10 such Poojas in a day, or some 25 -30 in a week, on a rough conservative estimate. That over a year amounts to about a ton of flour, sharps and rice and truckloads of other things that are offered. These offerings are based on a tradition that started over a century ago in rural Fiji based on necessity of the LIVELIHOOD of the priest, and now seems to have developed in an outdated ritual.

Pooja and prayers at normal times required a Mandir and Pundits between you and your Gods. However, during Covid 19 lock down, our home was our Mandir and there was no middleman between you and your Gods. Should it remain so after the lock down? Is there a need for a middleman between you and your Gods? Do you need a Mandir to pray? You be the judge to answer these questions.

Indeed, it is a ritual, parampara that commenced as a necessity. Now many of such offerings are beyond the need-and hence generally goes to waste. Pundits have to buy bigger and bigger vehicles as they get “loaded’ with what we give in name of culture and parampara. (Someday else I will speak about 17th sanskaar during death-with mattresses and other worldly items given in name of out-dated tradition). I am NOT talking about money here - just FOOD ITEMS and clothes we give.

What do they do with it? How much can they eat and use? What happens to dhoti, towels etc? And do their modern children eat what we give in “seedha? (Offerings)

Do they all have big store-rooms to store tonnes of items they receive on a daily and weekly basis? Do they sell them? Do they distribute to other Mandirs who use them to feed its devotees? Do they distribute them to the needy? Are they doing so now when their “jajmaan” (‘clients’) may be out of jobs and need assistance? Are they eaten by insects, go to waste or get expired and thrown out? Should we continue with such offerings when they may be subjected to such shame and blatant disrespect? What do the scripture of these pundits say about such treatment of our offerings?

If my Lord Ram could challenge his Guru and father King Dashrath about Raghu Kul's outdated rituals and parampara, then why cannot I do the same.

There remain many unanswered questions and concerns.

You may say, what and why FIJI PUNDIT is talking about other Pundits?  

WAIT, WAIT -FIJI PUNDIT WILL TELL YOU ABOUT THIS IN PART 2 OF THIS ARTICLE - COMING SOON.........................


[About the Author: Thakur Ranjit Singh is a media commentator, a journalist, a community worker and a practicing Hindu who believes that change is inevitable. He subscribe to the principle that it is height of absurdity and gullibility to be shackled by outmoded and obsolete practices under the guise of parampara and tradition] 

ANDREW COSTER – NEW COMMISSIONER OF POLICE – NEW HOPE FOR POLICING IN NZ

ANDREW COSTER – NEW COMMISSIONER OF POLICE – NEW HOPE FOR THE “UNDERCLASS” 

[Excerpts and photo from  NZ Herald of 7 April, 2020 from article by Elizabeth Easther, My Story, as told by Andrew to Esther]

I normally do not copy and paste articles for my blog. However, when I read the views of our new Commissioner of Police, I was impressed. He seemed to have empathy for the underclass people who have high statistics in crime.

As most of my readers do not subscribe to NZ Herald, they would miss out on his very brilliant, frank and welcome views. Hence I decided to present extracts in this article.

It gave me hope that a young, family man of higher decile, having such a soft spot for South Auckland is a good and bright ray of hope for policing in New Zealand.

Newly appointed Commissioner of Police Andrew Coster has been with the force since 1997 and is now responsible for close to 14,000 staff nationwide. His police career has seen him serve in front line and investigative roles in Counties Manukau, Auckland and Dunedin. To set an example to staff, his beard came off this weekend. Here is as he spoke to Elizabeth Easther of NZ Herald.

New Commisioner of Police ANDREW COSTER, who has shaved his beard in solidarity with those at the front line of Covid-19. Earlier, he had made a request to frontline police officers to shave-off their facial hair in response health regulation of the virus. [Photo: NZ Herald]

“I didn't know what I wanted to do when I finished school so I went into the workforce rather than tertiary education. I was a sales consultant for Blue Star selling business telephone systems. I was doing very well, but I got to a point where I felt intensely dissatisfied and, within about two and a half months I was at Police College in Porirua. 

I'd never aspired to join the police but at age 20 I felt a strong sense of a calling, a drive to perform a public service, to make a difference.

I had a privileged upbringing and, within a couple of weeks of graduating from Police College, I was stationed at Mangere. Seeing the way some people lived was an incredible eye-opener and, at times, very depressing. I was 21 and my life experiences hadn't shown me that side of life but, in a quick space of time, I saw how desperate the need was in those communities.

I also learned that the police often see the worst parts of people's lives, the times when they're really struggling, and that's why good policing is vital, to ensure that justice is available to all and people can access the help they need to be safe.

I started with the police before I had children. I now have three boys, and I think I'd find it much harder now to deal with some of the scenes I saw as a detective. Because our people do really tough work, it's important that we, as an organisation, support each other and provide safe places for staff to express what they're going through.

The other side to that, it's easy to become quite hard and it can be difficult to have the most appropriate response if you just look at a snapshot of a person's life, victim or offender, and possibly lose sight of the context of where that person is. When people offend, they're not at their best, so as police we need to take a wider view, then work with our partners to offer appropriate interventions……………………………”

“There's a sense of deliberate and purposeful calm around the way we're policing in this Covid situation. More than ever we are dependent on New Zealanders believing the police is going about this the right way, in light of what we're facing. The vast majority needs to buy into the controls being put in place by public health officials for us to be successful. It's a fine balance, but nearly all policing is reliant on community buy-in.

The key message during Level 4 is that we're in this together and we have a window to beat this thing. Our ability to deal with this virus will be due to all of us doing the right thing. Police will do our best to help people do that in a way that enables them to enjoy the maximum realistic freedoms during this time. We don't want to be heavy-handed, but when we need to, we'll deal with people who aren't doing the right thing, that way we can beat this rather than find ourselves dealing with a worse situation if it spreads more widely.

Our bubble is me, my wife and our three boys who are 15, 13 and 10. My family make a big sacrifice to let me go and I'm really blessed they're so supportive and see the importance of my job. Being recognised, I don't know what that will look like. It's not always easy for teenagers to have their dad in a high profile position, but the kids have great characters and I know they'll look out for each other.

With my focus on work and family over the next five years, my hobbies will be secondary. I do enjoy motorcycling and hopefully I'll get my motorcycle to the racetrack now and then. I enjoy sports and I try to go to gym, when I can go, to keep my body and brain active. I've been in busy jobs for a long time, so it's not a new thing yet, with each one, there's a new layer of expectation, but I am very privileged to serve in this role.”

[New NZ Police Commissioner, Andrew Coster’s story as told to NZ Herald’s Elizabeth Easther]