My first major brickbat ... ouch!!

Finally I did get under the skin of somebody, atleast somebody with the good sense to take me to task. Followed in italics is the email about a previous post Goddamned!... don't forget "If you are not outraged, you are not paying attention"

"... The Christians protest anything that goes against their definition of family values, the Muslim imams add fuel to the fire by adding pictures that were not even published and go against their own code by carrying around the picture of the prophet. The Muslims don't want anybody to make fun of their prophet but will make fun of the Jews and the holocaust. The Hindus will not let valentine's day corrupt their culture (Do you know where Kamasutra comes from?), they will send their sons and daughters to America and wear Nikes and Reaboks, but will blame the ...."

"Y do u blame others for what they are ... u blame Muslims and Hinduz for what they r but what good r u first ... I mean don't u think u r doing the same ... reading what u have written I don't find u any better to (than) the description u have given for (a) Muslim or (a) Hindu ... Touch ur heart and first tell u have not made fun of any religion or religious person or ritual which may mean nothing to u but must have meant everything to someone else ... What the heck u tell about someone when u have so much in urself ...

(I'm) Not trying to tell everyonez fine and u have said is something wrong ... Yes Muslims do make fun of .... and hindu (BJP Politicians ) for their own selfish publicity bet up the shopz and y didn't u talk about Christians(sic) ... I really wish Christians stop talking about rituals of any hindu as dumb and stupid (I have seen 90% of them doing it... and I have not seen much of hinduz or muslims talking things about other religions..)

Every religion has their own cultural values.. I think the best would be when no one pokes their nose into others and mind their own bloody business (sic)... We need to look at people like human being and not like hindu christian or muslim ... I don't know when we can see that day in India

Itz not that everyone in India wants to celebrate val day... itz just that shops and fast foodz get more of business in the name of this day... no parents would feel that their kidz go (to) celebrate val day (and) dance around in roads and night parties (heard so much of it happening here) and I really think itz different from using a nike shoe.... I have known so many who fear if their kids r fine without an affair... (that doesn't mean i'm for people hitting the shops and beating up people in parties ...) and what does val day got to do with kamasutra.. totally irrelevant.. u r not talking about sex education or sex in movies to pull ks here...

I really wish to stay in a place where we look at each other as human being... I have always wished to since my school days... Don't know how things will be.. Have not seen anything changing ... I personally have never commented about any religion or culture but yes I'm not for the idea of aping western without even knowing what it is all about ..."

I don't know how that started off, but heck I have made fun of everybody and everything that mean nothing and everything to me, starting from the Pope to the Sankaracharya! I don't know if you have read all my posts, if you had you wouldn't have made such a sweeping judgment of me (Atleast not by the views expressed in the blog). My definition was not of a Muslim or a Hindu (or for that matter a Christian) in general, but the fringe elements in each. I don't think I (of all people) would promote atheism or agnostism by attacking religions ... I might attack some of the practices of each but then that's what I do (Atleast a part of what I do). Also my aim is not to just attack but to spark a debate. If you had gone further with your quote, It would be hard to come to your conclusion, Atleast if you know about the crusade and whets been happening in the US with the topic of evolution.

While talking about my double standard, you mention BJP when you talk about the Hindus but make no such differentiation when it comes to Muslims. It is indeed a big deal to know what 90% of Christians feel and do, while I am still trying to find what atleast mille-fraction of them feel or do. Looks like you have a beef to settle with one of the communities and I don't know if I am the right scapegoat for the same.

Let me also point out, religions don't have cultural values, they have religious values. Untouchability and the caste system started off as a religious edict that entered into the cultural mainstream. No amount of sugar coating it is going to make me believe that it didn't/doesn't exist as it has.

If you had seen my next post, you would have known that I don't really care about V-day. I was talking about the hypocrites who publicly protest it as a western influence but privately don't mind doing the same. Why was kamasutra brought into it? To negate the feeling that V-day has broken India's culture by promoting promiscuity (It most definitely does), while we have the homegrown subject matter expert and one of the most well known exports of our country. The reference to nike was to show what some protectors of Indian industry and darlings of the right in India (read the RSS and Swadeshi Jagran Munch) who promote Indian products themselves use western ones and who talk about Indian ethos, send their kids westwards to follow a different path.

The thought of utopia is like the search for Atlantis ... hope you find it. But lastly you did comment about other religions in this same mail! What do you think is aping ??? Ghandi said that western culture would be a good idea so you lost me there :)

But you know what? I realise that I have pussyfooted the message I was trying to convey. I was talking about the issue in California organised mainly by the Vedic Foundation and which denied the effect of untouchability ... I didn't want anybody to think that I was attacking the Hindu religion and included something about Christianity and Islam into it to make it balanced (And thus the pussyfooting effect!). It could be called as one of those Aryan vs Dravidian thing (Which only a few could understand) I should have probably mentioned in passing that a number of South Indian associations were opposed to the interference of the Indian right, which in itself would have been enough to prove the cultural significance of this move (rather than the religious).

I did generalise it and tried to point out the various fringe elements in all religions. Just because I attach those fringe elements doesn't mean I am attacking everybody (Unless ofcourse you are part of it)

So no more pussyfooting and lots of dishing. I may not be perfect but heck I still got a blowhorn, take what you want and ...

“In order to keep anything cultural, logical, or ideological, you have to reinvent the reality of it.”

P.S: To the one who wrote this email - Hope you don't get the free time again (jus' kidding as always)