12 February – Love Week

 I was looking at the Times of India in English a couple of mornings ago and there was an article about ‘Love Week’. They don’t do just one day on 14^th here it would appear. Strange as love doesn’t seem to count for much so far as marriage is concerned!

So, I asked Ritesh, who was reading another paper. He assured me that things are changing and, so called, love matches are becoming more common. What, I asked, about marriages across religion? That is much more difficult, he said with a frown, and not at all common.

I know someone here whose ‘girlfriend’, a Hindi, is being married by her family. He is Moslem. So despite flirtations, or whatever we might call them, going on the family can still rule. I wonder if either family knew of the affair?

Another friend here said that it is getting easier. His family is Christian, though he assured me that he does not believe in god, and he has a girlfriend who is Moslem. He did say that his family was not a problem about it.

So the pattern is very mixed it would seem.

Thorsten went to a wedding while he was here, two sisters he said, both arranged couplings though one with the blessings of the couple who were clearly happy about it but the other sister was definitely not. He said it was sad to see the contrast between them. I am sure that those in favour of arranged marriages would say, ‘wait and see’. On the other side at least we could say they made their own decision and the eventual outcome will also be their own decision.

That, I suppose, is one thing I really have against religion. This idea that because you are of a particular persuasion your children should be also. They have no choice. Race and ethnicity are one thing but religion is entirely different and should, surely, be a choice? Race is about ancestry and genetics; religion is about faith and belief, as well, some would say, philosophy and a way of living.

And I am not writing just about the situation in  India. It is a world-wide issue. In the UK it would be ‘expected’ that the children simply follow the religion of their parents. At least in the early years. And I am certain that all the Sunday Schools don’t teach about all the other religions or about what religion is in the wider philosophical and scientific sense.

It has been argued, with some merit, that to educate or indoctrinate your children into your religion is actually psychological abuse. I see many small children running around here in overtly religious dress – can that be right? And, even at this young age it starts to set up the gender imbalance with the boys going to the Mosque for religious education and the girls, presumably staying at home learning how to make chapatti.

Someone here said they are just building their market!

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We went over the DB Mall again a few days ago, you may recall some of us went to the cinema there a little while ago. This time I had my camera so took a few pictures so you can see the inside of a super mall (or shopping centre in UK terms) here. It is just as horrible as those in UK!

Bruno wanted to price a camera but decided he could get one just as cheaply back home in Portugal. 

Then we went from there to a different cinema, nearer to Sambhavna. It was a romantic comedy and I could not follow it at all! Some of them claimed they got the gist, aided by a brief in the interval from Deven.

I think my brain is not wired for cinema! I have decided that most films (videos) have such short scenes that my brain can’t get around them. The live theatre tends to have longer scenes so maybe that is why I can follow that – and enjoy it of course also. I have the same problem with TV. Anyway, until someone comes up with a better theory on why a Jarvie cannot follow films, I’ll stick with that!