Why I have lost faith in religion

Friday, January 26, 2007
WHY I HAVE LOST FAITH IN RELIGION
Untill recently I was a God-Believer and ardent Hindu.
But on listening to my brother who has come back from States, I feel that we Hindus are being taken for a ride in the name of our religion.
I hate the Temple that is in front of our home in Chembur.
Come December,January each year, instead of hearing the "sounds of silence" and "enjoying the cool weather" for a change all we get to hear is the "cymbals of Panchvadyam" to begin with in the first week over the Loudspeaker from as early as 6 or 6,30 am. The sound decibels are so ear-drum bursting that one feels like calling up the Temple guys to let them know that there is a bomb set to go off immediately. Have these guys any sense of how much disturbance and tension they create to the residents of our area by their blaring cymbals? Apparently they hear their own sounds and are deaf to the pain caused all round. At around 8.00 am these Panch-Vadyam guys go for their "tiffin and coffee" break as if to say their Gods are also having a "Tiffin-break"! And after that they resume their cymbals with added vigour for atleast an hour or so. And this co-incides exactly with the hurry-burry to leave for office after attending to your morning chores. Come evening from office at around 6.30-7.00 pm the same shit continues unabated. Imagine the plight of the housewives who patiently suffer the loud sounds the whole day long.
Come Jan and there is a different type of "wake-up" sound-burst in the morning. The fleeting cool air is all cracked up at dawn by the "Padi-Vizah" blaring out of the loudspeakers. The main "Singer" just swoons over the mike with a bunch of ladies howling "Muruga,Muruga" over the Loudspeaker in chorus. It is at such times the Main Singer goes into a trance of Song and howls out louder in higher and higher pitch. And if U have a holiday like say on the 26th of January, you are resigned to your fate of listening to this orchestrated high-volumed singing for hours in the morning. That one holiday too of yours you cannot relax and have for yourself and family.
Can I leave this place,my home for years,even before the Temple grew in size? Ruled out. Can I call up the Temple authorities and tell them about my grievance? Ruled out, unless I want to face their direct and indirect ire like in TN or Bihar/UP.
I just wish to hell that there is someone in the media who puts it across to the Temple guys that they are crossing their limits to public nuisance.
10:01:40 AM
Posted By TV Subramanian Comments (3) Musings
Comments
jkeshav Monday, January 29, 2007 7:32:45 AM
PLS EXPLAIN WHAT DID YOUR BROTHER TELL YOU TO CHANGE YOUR OPINION ABOUT RELIGION APART FROM WHAT YOU "HEARD" FROM THE CHEMBUR TEMPLE.
TVSubramanian Monday, January 29, 2007 8:50:54 AM
Simple! He has come back from the US after spending about 4-5 years. Does your GOD or RELIGION pay for your "Electricity or Telephone bills"? If your answer is Yes then I believe there is your GOD and RELIGION!
K.Venugopal Tuesday, January 30, 2007 1:57:11 AM
How ironic, TVS. The very purpose of religion is to help you to overcome external disturbances, be it of sound pollution or paying of electricity bills, by getting to know the peace within. I am with you on doing something about sound pollution, but electricity bills? You have a right to trouble God on this only if He has asked you to consume electricity!

TVSubramanian Tuesday, January 30, 2007 8:15:13 AM
comment in CNN IBN==================am one of the Urban Indians who has lost faith in his Hindu religion. The main reason is the "cacophony" of Religious Noise that ensues come any Hindu festival. And I am the most affected by my Home being right in the sun-shadow of a boisterous Temple in Chembur.Can U imagine the racket these chaps create as early as 6.30 am on the Loudspeakers? Can U imagine the decibel-levels of "Panchavadyams" and "Nagaswarams and Kottumolams" in a purely residential area? Can one not get the benefit of "cool weather" and "silence" of the winter? But NO! These Temple heavyweights will invite all the noisy singers and cymbal players and let them loose on Loudspeakers so much so that your ear-drums continue to hear only the Loud Singers instead of your heart-beats in Dec-Jan every year.What right have these religious fanatics to imagine that all and sundry "enjoy" their loud singing in the name of their Gods and religion? Or do they imagine that the louder they intonate "MURUGA,MURUGA,MURUGA!" the Lord above will "condescend" into Chembur right into their homes and "bless them" out of the ordinary?The same goes with the "AIYAPPA" Chanters who kill the early morning respite with their howls.Does their religion have any respect for "peace and tranquility" a rare commodity staying in front of a boisterous Temple???If it was the United States of America these "SHATTERERS OF PEACE" would be "sued for millions of USDs"!( Posted: Friday , January 26, 2007 at 14:28 )
K.Venugopal Tuesday, January 30, 2007 10:57:37 AM
Dear TVS, In saying that you have lost faith in Hinduism you appear to be saying something meaningless. Hinduism does not ask you to have faith in it. It is a corpus of teachings asking you to have faith in yourself. About sound pollution, you do have a genuine problem. But you should also wonder if you are being hyper-sensitive. If all the others living around you also have a similar problem, you ought to get together and move the courts. While justice is slow in India, it is always balanced.