Just Some Stuff

Tomorrow is election day. I haven't decided whom to vote for yet. I do have choices but remain undecided because it is a strange competition here in my constituency.

My exams are comming soon. I need to study a lot more now. I am not doing any better with the depression. I was hoping that the rain would make my moods lift. Well, that didn't happen. The rain has been sporadic. More sound and light than water or wettness. I guess it is rather too early for the monsoon to set in.

I am coming to the finish of Swann's Way. I am beginning to completely fall in love with Proust's writing. I had deciced to return to Guermante's Way in July. I think I will stick to that. I really could use some change is style. Some minimalist author would be great.

Yesterday I was reading Garuda Purana. I have always felt that scholars and priests, colour and distort ones faith beyond recognition. Most of the things I have been told and made to follow, I find now is just made up nonsense.

The Garuda Purana which is a hindu sacred text says, the wife has the right to decide when and how children to have. The husband has no say what-so-ever. That is really a fair stance seeing that it is she who goes through child-birth. It further goes on to say that the husband does not have the right to refuse intimacy with the wife when she is ovulating. We see many examples of this in history expecially Kashyapa and Diti. It is ordained that the woman has complete right to decide on the matters of child-birth.

These positions seem moronic and obvious to someone form the 21st century, but is radically different form what I have been taught and told all my life. I spent most of my life thinking that I need to make a compromise between religion and liberlism. Now I find out that religion, at least mine, is as liberal as one can get. I have found in most of my studies, of late, that no religion treats woman badly, it only the men of these religions that treat women badly. I am in a way glad that I have come to these realisations sooner than many others.

I intend to continue to study gender politics in religious context. I have always wanted to research the history of homo-phobia in oriental religions, I think I will come to that a little later.

I am seriousely considering serialising one of the books I am reading on a seperate blog. I am thinking Ramayana or The Bhavishya Purana would be ideal. I think a regular documentation of my readings would encourage me to keep up my reading schedule and stick to my timetable.

That's about it.