IN A POST ‘FORWARDED AS RECEIVED‘ (Feb.24, 2017) I wrote about many who keep forwarding WhatsApp posts “as received”, sometimes even without fully reading them, often without verification.
So a young mother may get a forward about herself ‘missing’ as a schoolgirl, urging all to report is they saw her, posted years ago, but
reaching her after going around from phone to pone’
A WhatsApp friend, who forwarded me a post about Brahmins being beef eaters once, was angry when I replied that ancient practices found wrong, like Sati, were discarded. “What do you know of ancient culture? Do you know anyone who knows?”, she asked.
I shot back “Yes. I know. There are scores of YouTube posts by clerics quoting Smritis, Upanishads and other texts with verse and page numbers to shout from rooftops about how bad Hinduism is. They know. But do not say Hindus discarded all those bad practices when found wrong, changing with the times. But they themselves advocate practices of another age, meant for those fighting to survive in deserts, simply because an ancient book says they should.”
Change is life. ‘Unchangeable’ is death.
But what angered her, more than the defence of Hinduism, is the advice to think and verify the contents of a post before “forwarding as received.” I too did so before. When I forwarded a message defending a girl who assailed India, saying the war did not kill her father, a soldier, but the government did (because it was ruled by BJP, not the dynasty), I received several replies giving her background and the politics behind her post.
The speciality of life today is: “Who has the time to read.” Or even think.
This post on Brahmins being beef eaters caused a lot of havoc this side too 😂 I thought of writing the whole story here, but I think I’ll write a post, its way too long 😂
But I really liked what you said, that nobody makes a mention of old practices that we discarded.
Brahmins were not compulsorily vegetarians till they realised that, at that time, Buddhism produced great intellectuals. When hunting was the only source of food all vere meat eaters and earlier even cannibals. But only a few idiots among them support untouchability or killing of women when their husbands die. But still malicious elements keep promoting caste hatred and anti-Brahminism. Politics is the main cause of this.