Rituals and customs.

And so the journey begins.........

I was having this discussion with a friend about Indian culture and the relevance of certain rituals in the lives of Indians in this day and age. What her argument came down to was that certain Indian rituals are rather silly and pointless. Her reasoning? She wanted an explanation and the history for everything that is part of our culture, else it didn’t make sense to her. Got me thinking.....

Is it really necessary to understand the history behind every tradition or the meaning of every shloka or ritual? Is it really essential to know why you make a rangoli on holi or why a sister ties a rakhi on rakshabandhan or why you light firecrackers on diwali? Does the meaning of those funny sounding words that that funny looking priest in those funny looking clothes chants when people get married really matter? And what exactly is the significance of that fun dance we do every october?

It’s great to know the meaning of these things. Iin fact, thats what I woud strive for .It’s great to understand your culture, and where you come from, to whatever degree you’re comfortable with or curious about. But at a certain point, maybe it’s okay to say that this is part of my heritage which goes back several thousand years. These are the traditions that have been assimilated over a period of several centuries. Maybe I can’t understand all of them. Maybe I can’t learn the history and the roots of every single ritual. But maybe I don’t need to. Maybe I’m just proud of where I’m from and like following those rituals because they are a part of me and my roots..

I guess what I am getting at is that not being able to understand or rationalize it is not reason enough for me to give up something like my heritage.