When "Veil" & "Untouchability" is our birth right......

A very curiously anxious look crept into some of my fellow passengers at the Dubai Airport terminal when we were waiting to board the flight for Delhi today (Jul 1, 2009) morning. The reason behind that was a teenage girl coughing vigorously. At any other time it could be ignored to be a common cold / flu which is congenital (Dont you think that Flu should be legally given sibling status, 'coz we are born with this?) in our country but not today. Quietly people moved little away as the girl reached for her hanky and closed her mouth.

It just dawned on me then that it’s just not only that the economy is globalized but our whole life, health and wealth are. In my opinion the fear of contagious disease is worse than the disease itself. Contrary to popular belief, swine flu does not spread by eating pork and Middle East countries are not insulated from it, esp. considering a large influx of European travelers.

The silver lining is actually the scorching heat which “pleasantly” ranges between 48 degrees C to 52 C, which prevents the virus from spreading. I am not sure why the airlines or the respective governments are not making it mandatory for passengers to wear masks. As a global strategy i suggest we can move all the H1N1 affected individuals to countries / places with hotter climates like this and avoid infection. I know that this is not the brightest of the ideas but yet its an idea on the table.

Talking about the masks and veils, I was astonished with the recent comments from Sarkozy on muslim women wearing burkhas and saying that this is not accepted in France. This came as a shocker to my much held firm belief that Dubya Bush Jr. was the dumbest leader of our generation and made me realize that there is severe competition at every level.

Though the veil / burkha / purdah signifies suppression and oppression of muslim women to many “forward” thinking liberal minds I still believe that sarkozy’s comments highlights his height of cultural insensitivity and demands an crash course lesson in objectivity.

· Let’s understand that Sarkozy and his country leads the world into a belief that fashion and vogue is in nudity. While we all agree that “sex sells” but I don’t frankly see any fashion in bare skin. Not to discount that I do enjoy every show as an healthy adult but neither do I believe in the culture of nudity in the cover of fashion nor can accept anything closer to it in my value system. Many of us can't.

· From a culture of dressing to cover our body we are ghastly moving to a culture which is “dressing to reveal”. I don’t see any mistake in this but thinking that this is superior to covering it all is where the problem lies.

· I was window shopping at the airport lounge where some watches were displayed. A sudden thought stuck me that I have completely ostracized myself from the world of watches as I stopped wearing them few years back. I have one watch which was gifted by my friends and when I ever use it, I have a problem. When i start thinking, I remove my watch from my hand to think clearly. Gosh! I realize that I can’t think wearing my watches. It’s a peculiar problem and I am planning to raise funds for a research program to unravel this link.

Looking at the collections, I also realized today watches tell more about our personality to the world than time to us. I am still dumb stuck at the thought that we need a piece of electronic to reveal who we are to the world.

· This passage is from a book called “Prevent & Control Infection”….. In reality human hair is a continuation of dry layer of epidermis. The same micro organisms that are present in the skin are available in the hair but in multiple numbers. While we wash our skin / hands multiple times, we don’t wash our hair so many times. Hence micro organisms multiply and thrive in human hair, mustache and beards. When a man scratches his head, sneezes or coughs these micro organisms are splashed across spreading infection. (more here http://books.google.co.in/books?id=kSKwP3v99dYC&pg=PA237&lpg=PA237&dq=Human+hair+and+hygiene&source=bl&ots=DCRVbS_2cU&sig=dfJgZC3lk1qgbvtKJRmuM-FpvDg&hl=en&ei=MStTSsyMGefBtwfgo5yoCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1 )

· What I see is purdah or burqa is a very efficient way of concealing your hair and face and very hygienic from a individual & society perspective. I can see many scooter driving ladies dressed worse than burqa to avoid pollution.

· Consider these statistics:

1. 10% of our dirt in our house is formed by human hair or dry scalp material. Can you believe this?
2. One of the main reasons for facial paralysis is the exposure of our ears to cold air. This could be even fan in the night which blows cold air into our ears.

So if we think rationally (which i bet is so unnatural for many of us) this purdah system is extremely hygienic for an individual and for the society. I don’t see anything morally wrong and there could be some symbolism of repression which could be a –ve, but in my opinion the +ves far outweigh the negative. From the perspective of an adult it also leaves a lot for the imagination than the skimpily dressed urban girls, where nothing much is left to the imagination. :)

Above all for me, it is an individual’s right. No one can say how they want others to dress. If muslim women want to wear a veil, let us let leave them with their choice.

Our Indian way of wishing is a “Namaste” which does not involve touching / shake hands or palms. We need to understand that palms, soles of the feet and eyes are very effective transmitting points and this transmits and receives electromagnetic energy. Hence as per our belief shaking hands is unhygienic.

As per hindu scriptures during the “Kali Yuga” which has started 5000 years ago and which would last 432000 years totally, dharma shall decrease and diseases shall increase. Many of the diseases can be expected to be contagious diseases given our firm belief in “unhealthy” and “unhygienic” life style and finding “vogue” in the same.

Its just 1% of the Kali Yuga that is over now and we can expect diseases that are more prevalent and more contagious and more deadly than the ones that are prevailing now. A time may come that an individual wearing a veil may become a law to protect the society. A time may come when “Untouchability” shall be an individual’s birth right and people touching each other can be considered socially dangerous and a criminal…

A time may come when "Veil and untouchability are our birth rights"...... and enshrined in our constitution and criminal laws.

I just wish that we don’t live to see those times!...

PS: It finally took a bottle of "Glen-Fiddich" and a visit to Rockman's Beer Island, Gurgaon with friends to sanitize my body and mind of any infection, yet still cannot accept Mr. Sarkozy as a leader of our generation :)


Yours hygienically,

Happy reading!