Prashant's Solace

Scepticism as oppose to denial is about the believers and non-believers - my little world of people, places, events and perspectives. A question in a school text prompted me to come up with this musing. It asked whether throwing/showering rice ( akshata, in a Maharastrian marriage ) justified when many go to sleep daily without a single meal ! If the child throws this question to a believer parent, teacher or a guardian, they come up with religious explanations for the practice. In the process, they are supposedly quelling the child's doubts. If this child plays with rice at home, throws or tosses it around he/she receives a big smack on the back, a dressing down and lectures on respect, privilege and positioning with respect to poor kids. What adults are doing here is not assuaging the kid's doubts but their own deep-rooted dilemmas. More like suppressing them. Adulthood comes with self-justification and more doubts for any curious child. Maybe I