Two Church of England bishops called for Britons to cut back on carbon, rather than alcohol, for the period of Lent.
After reading this, I was wondering about abstinence and especially, when it gets linked to food items. Our political parties have perfected the art of 'Fasting' as a protest - Gandhi will cry to see our politicians conducting 'relay fasting' ! Mockery of the concept of satyagraha Gandhi practised ! Gandhi wanted to punish himself by fasting continuously for days. But, our politicians fast between 9 AM to 1 PM, then a lunch break, then they fast between 2 PM to 4.30 PM, then a tea break; then someone else takes over to fast from 5 PM to 8 PM, rush home for a sumptuous dinner before retiring for a good night's sleep.I have heard about the practice of Hindus not eating on certain days; the sabaribala swami not eating non-veg during those 40 days; our muslim friends not eating during the day time in Ramzan season etc. Wanted to learn a bit more about this Lent abstinence. Here is what I read about Lent in the internet.
"Fasting during Lent was more severe in ancient times than today. In some places, all animal products were strictly forbidden, while some will permit fish, some others permit fish and fowl; others prohibit fruit and eggs, and still others eat only bread."
I wonder, how do they decide which one to prohibit ? The most popular ones ? Tastiest ? Healthiest ?"In some places, believers abstained from food for an entire day; others took only one meal each day, while others abstained from all food until 3 o'clock. In most places, however, the practice was to abstain from eating until the evening, when a small meal without meat or alcohol was eaten.Interesting ! There is prescription not only for the kind of food, but also how much you can eat ! But, how do they measure this ?
Today, in the West, the practice is considerably relaxed. On days of fasting, one eats only one full meal, but may eat two smaller meals as necessary to keep up one's strength. The two small meals together must sum to less than the one full meal."
"Many modern Protestants consider the observation of Lent to be a choice, rather than an obligation. They may decide to give up a favorite food or drink (e.g. chocolate, alcohol) or activity (e.g. going to the movies, playing video games) for Lent, or they may instead decide to take on a Lenten discipline such as devotions, volunteering for charity work, and so forth."For people whose devotion to food is as much as that to God, there is a loophole in the rules, of course. A bit similar to our 'special darshan' in many Indian temples, where you can see the God faster - jumping the queue - and for longer (you are allowed one second more than the other normal 1.5 seconds).
"However, dispensations for dairy products were given, frequently for a donation, from which several churches are popularly believed to have been built, including the "Butter Tower" of the Rouen Cathedral. In Spain, the bull of the Holy Crusade allowed the consumption of dairy products and eggs during Lent in exchange for a contribution to the war against Islam."There is a cusom in Hindu religion. People are required to visit Kaasi (Varanasi) in North India at least once in their life time. When they visit, they are required to take a vow that they will stop eating one vegetable, one fruit and stop using one flower. I know, what will be my choice, if ever I get to go to Kaasi. It is going to be Brinjal (I don't eat it anyway), Straw Berry (we don't get it in Gudalur at all) and I will stop wearing Jasmine in my hair ! (or, should it be rose ? Anyway, there is time to solve this dilemma. I can decide that while traveling to Kasi in the train.)
You too think ahead and plan for things that you would like to abstain from. (I should not have added the words 'like to' in the last sentence on abstinence, I think).
But, if we take the spirit of abstinence seriously - leaving out the popular association with sex alone, what are all the dear things that we should consider abstaining from.
As a cartoon said, should we 'Leave Google during Lent' ? Checking Emails or reading newspapers ? Listening to Music or going for the relaxed walk in the evening ? Enjoying the morning mist or laughing aloud for a silly joke ? With changing times, if the religious institutions come out with such stipulations, what shall we do ? I will tell you what.
Let us contribute to the Iraq war and abstain from any such abstinence !Turned out to be a rather long, sacrilegious blog !
I can't help but remembering the bad old days when people were bought and sold like things. Slaves they were. But, these modern Gods have also become things that can be bought and sold, bargained, negotiated and bid.
If all these millions have gone to improve the sports infrastructure of the country, if not for other social investments like health and education, what difference it would have made for hundreds of thousands of people, I thought.
Question : Now, why is it illegal if someone hits a six or does not hit a six, if someone pays them the money ? Why betting is considered wrong ?
And, North India is reeling under terrible cold. In Srinagar, there is nine feet of snow, we read. Soon, we may have sun rising at 12 in the night and the street lights getting lit just after lunch. One can't say. The children in UK had written that they had floods this year due to climate change. Probably, that is the reason, I am having running nose continuously for two weeks now ...
So, I was wondering what will be the size of my carbon foot print ! How much am I contributing to the global warming. How am I cheating my grandchildren by borrowing resources from them. We can't say that only rich people or people in rich nations or people in cities are contributing to global warming. (On the other hand, most of 
I get a feeling that this fight on carbon emission will work, because religious tinge is also being given to this. If God says, I am sure, all Britons will follow suit and cut carbon. (Will write about what our Indian Gods want us to cut back. In another post later. I need to consult my mother for the details and fine prints !)
My father learnt grafting of trees and raises his own nurseries. Old used fertiliser bags are used for this nursery. These plastic bags are big and sturdy; plants are grown in these for about 2 years before planted into the field. (In fact, these fertiliser and cement bags are quite useful for many things in our villages - people make them into handbags, carrying sand in construction places etc.)
Sometime ago, I had seen this used for storing drinking water for the cows. Plastic cans, buckets of any size, any shape will be useful and treasured in the villages. These days, Paint companies sell materials for painting walls in plastic buckets. As they have handles, people use them for carrying water, vegetables and fruits from the fields, garbage from home ... almost anything.
Not that they do not buy anything in plastic covers. They do. These days, everything purchased in the shop are sold in plastic covers only. But, the difference is they recycle these covers. Like the carry bag and the cover in which detergent powder was purchased. They wash them, dry them to store household things - ranging from onions to cash, from rusted nails to ash. Here is ash stored in a '
Why Ash, you ask ? Since most of them use firewood, they get quite a lot of ash. It is used for cleaning vessels. Vessels get really black and dirty when cooked using firewood. So, they need good powder for cleaning them. Sometimes, they come out with some ingenious methods. My father has hypertension and hence has to take tablets every day. All the used tablet covers were saved in our house and I asked my mother the reason.
She said, "They are quite good for washing dirty vessels. We use ash and these tablet covers, rub the vessels strongly and all the dirt, black soot, everything will get cleaned," proudly she said - without realising what a terrific method of recycling this is. This comes naturally and people want to use anything that can last again and again - in whatever way.
The old cycle tyre is used by this boy for playing. He never tires of running around, driving his vehicle - a sight that symbolises the recycling spirit of our people in the villages.
When the Jewish man arrived for his interview, the chief asked him, “Who killed Jesus Christ?” The Jew answered without hesitation “The Romans killed him.” The chief thanked him and he left.
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