Monday, September 28, 2009

Practical Programming: The ritual of implement worship

Navratri = Nau + Ratri = Nine Nights.

Today is the Tenth/Final day of the Navratri festival; one amongst many of a period of fervour for those who adhere to the Sanatana Dharma.

The tenth day symbolizes the victory of good over evil. Many legends are attributed to this day, paramount amongst these are
  1. Execution of Ravana by Rama
  2. Execution of Mahishasura by Durga
Similarly many rituals are bound to this day too. Vehicle/Tool worship is one amongst the many esoteric rituals performed on this day to empower it till the next year.

Imagine the situation if you will : The villain has secured a secret weapon, and aims to enslave the entire universe. Just when it seems things are going to go from worse, to worst, a hero appears on his trusty steed and challenges the villain to battle. A _terrific_ battle has raged for ten whole days finally comes to an end. The protagonist has emerged victorious, and is ready to return home. The invincible protagonist is unscathed. The adulation of millions applies not only to the protagonist, but to all that is associated with him; weapons, garments, vehicle/mount etc.

All well, and good.

Even today, distances in India are large. Merely travelling to/from work consumes close to 20kms, without including pool-travel distances; mid-day chore driving and so on. A good deal of wear and tear is involved. Travelling back in time to the period of our Hero and Villain there were probably few, if any, roads. Most travelling would be through the wilderness guided by the moon/stars etc.

I wonder, could what we deem to be vehicle 'worship' actually refer to the task of servicing the vehicle after the rigours of a full-blown battle? A means to drive a community of people of less evolved thought in the direction of maintaining their implements to prolong the existence of the tool directly, and the survival of the community in the long run?

2 comments:

Ernst said...

good point. Needless to say we do not have such feelings in the Netherlands. In my dad's Indonesian culture (which has some pre-Islam Hindu influences as well as animism), the tool/weapon has a spirit which needs to be "respected". We forgot that we forever are fighting battles just like Rama. And as always the outcome of the world is in the balance.

Abhishek said...

Good point there about animism.

Back in school we were informed about Rutherford's atomic model.. then in high school we learnt about Protons, and Neutrons.. and other subatomic particles.

At engineering school we learnt about the wave-particle theory, and how there are super-sub atomic particles which are so small they can only be detected by the effect they have on the energy levels.

I sometimes find myself wondering whether our ancestors aeons in the past may not have had a better understanding of the universe, and that we're only just beginning to rediscover what they already knew