history

So the other day some people were discussing the practice of marrying in your own bloodline, specifically marring your cousins (mostly distant) etc… However, the conversation soon shifted to the fact that Muslims do it all the time. And then to speculation about why they do it. “May be its to preserve their bloodline”. Some one said. “Cheeeee… how awful!” Some one briefly mentioned that in
South India every one does it as Muslims do… but that small fact was ignored. Some one said, I told my daughter, don’t you dare think of marrying your cousin. Etc. etc. etc… cut the bullshit people. Why does every debate has to turn into a we are holier then them issue!?

What does it matter how American’s marry, Muslims marry, you marry or I marry. You don’t marry a certain way. Fine. Don’t try to prove you are better then the other… And this specific topic of marriage, in all probabilities you may be the result of some secret (or not so secret) love affair of a very happy ancestor! Even the birth of our gods is suspect for example; Following king Dashrath’s inabilities, Kaushalya drank some divine juice (the result of a major yagna) got pregnant and gave birth to bhagwaan Ram.

No marriage tradition is without blemish. I am told, people like Genghis khan and such, muddied a lot of bloodlines and so do heroes, conquerors, politicians, affluent people, etc…, in any era or time. Marriages were also an instrument of politcs and business, revenge, and  on. So chill. There are no superior ways of getting married. You are no better marring your cousin or some one else’s. It’s like feeling yuk at the people who use toilet paper. They feel yuk at those not using toilet paper.

Claude Monet, Impression, Soleil Levant, 1872, Image source: Wikipedia

…so the other day I was standing on a hi-rise building (yes yes… 6 floors are quiet high in India) looking down at the world, enjoying god’s eye view of the surrounding etc… being short sighted and refusing to wear glasses (to avoid being “misunderstood” as a geek/freak) I borrowed my extremely short sighted friend’s glasses. While I was admiring the sharp, even if a bit zoomed-in, view of the Hussain Sagar Lake, my friend remarked – ye chashme ke bina accha dikhta hai (it looks good without the glasses). I asked why and he exclaimed, “I can’t make out the shape of things but the colors are so prominent and bright!” read more »