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Thursday, May 26, 2011

Monks, priests and the sinners

Living with a 12 year olds has its perks and the downsides. For one they ask too many questions, for the second, you must think intelligently before answering them. Such has been my life for the past two weeks. I enjoyed all the blissful time under the sun playing Frisbee with my brother but I had to constantly answer his innocent questions with my own wits.

Indian parents or may be just my parents have ingrained this bull shit in my little brother that all people who drink and smoke invariably turn out as black sheep or the so called losers. Now, this is what are some of the facts that I have picked up on my little ignorant journey through life. This has been told to me time and again, that the lovely beer that we gulp down in Germany was infact brewed by the monks. Beer itself dates back to 6th millennium BC and was brewed in monasteries because it made them self sufficient and was as nutritious as food. There is another fact/myth that I heard, that while our dear monks and saints were fasting, they could not consume solid food so instead they chose to have beer which filled them up and made them survive. Now, with this legend behind us, can we really call beer sinful...nah...its yummm...!!

Smoking, well nicotine as we take it in is harmful. Of-course I know that but the pujaris on our parvats smoke up weed, and any guesses why, well it makes them numb and they can survive the harsh weather in extreme climates. Ganja and cannabis has an ancient history of ritual usage.In Africa and China narcotic plants are often used for medicinal purposes. So really....?( Well, I'm not advocating anything here, I'm just placing facts and being unbiased ;))!

Well, I know that our generation doesn't live in super extreme climatic condition nor are we the fasting kinds but hey the extremities in our life vary today. A super hectic day, dilly dallying relationships and all the other unknowns...a little wine or beer or a sip of whiskey...come on...you can't just term us the sinners (:P)!

In conclusion, I gave my brother the facts the way I know them. I also told him that he should choose them the way it suits him and no one else.

And for the rest of us out there...monks, priests, sadhus, pujaris or sinners...who cares dude??

Cheers!!



2 comments:

  1. I liked your post . Just wondering if these views are really unbiased. Thinking if you would have written or told this to your 12 year old brother about smoking and drinking had you been a non smoker and tee totaler ? :)

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  2. Oh you are sane and so you drink! :) You are already in sync with 'life' :)

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