04-25-2007, 02:27 AM
Here is an interesting passage about rebellion..
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Right in front of our house was a choultry of the Vaisyas where one rich merchant would distribute, once every fortnight, half a seer of rice and half a rupee to bramhins of all sects. There would normally be a long queue for this gift. Although it was time consuming, I would join the queue in my religious garb to collect my share of rice and cash. All my efforts to persuade Parikshit to join me in this proved of no avail. He was the first rebel among us children, against religious orthodoxy and social traditions. It was not a rational development with him, for he was too young when he showed signs of dissent. Perhaps it was an instinctive reaction. He made constant fun of the Vaishnavite caste marks and the dress which I put on when seeking help from religious folks. He declined to wear them even to please his parents. He had stopped fasting on Ekadashi and this had upset Father. At school, he was drawn more and more to the company of Muslim classmates than to bramhin friends. He was the first among us to discard the long tuft of hair and get a close cropped hair style. Father was really concerned at the strange behavior of this boy and expected me, the conformist, to bring him back to the traditional ways. Perhaps his was a spontaneous reaction to the excessive demands of fanatical behavior made on him while he was being exposed to an open and permissive society in his school. With Parikshit the rebellion started when he was very young and it bloomed in me five years later. The same spirit flowered with the rest of the family a decade later.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Right in front of our house was a choultry of the Vaisyas where one rich merchant would distribute, once every fortnight, half a seer of rice and half a rupee to bramhins of all sects. There would normally be a long queue for this gift. Although it was time consuming, I would join the queue in my religious garb to collect my share of rice and cash. All my efforts to persuade Parikshit to join me in this proved of no avail. He was the first rebel among us children, against religious orthodoxy and social traditions. It was not a rational development with him, for he was too young when he showed signs of dissent. Perhaps it was an instinctive reaction. He made constant fun of the Vaishnavite caste marks and the dress which I put on when seeking help from religious folks. He declined to wear them even to please his parents. He had stopped fasting on Ekadashi and this had upset Father. At school, he was drawn more and more to the company of Muslim classmates than to bramhin friends. He was the first among us to discard the long tuft of hair and get a close cropped hair style. Father was really concerned at the strange behavior of this boy and expected me, the conformist, to bring him back to the traditional ways. Perhaps his was a spontaneous reaction to the excessive demands of fanatical behavior made on him while he was being exposed to an open and permissive society in his school. With Parikshit the rebellion started when he was very young and it bloomed in me five years later. The same spirit flowered with the rest of the family a decade later.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->