Shitala Saatam – Religion Vs Science; Inoculations Vs Vaccination;non-acceptance of intellectuals
August:patriotism and religious Fervour
ShitalaSaatam– A religious festival of India
Shitala is a folk diety, worshipped largely by many faith in the Indian subcontinent specially in North India, West Bengal, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan. In Gujarat continent ShitalaSatam as religious festival is celebrated every year in Shravan month. The mythical story or faith behind this is that this goddess will prevent diseases of small pox.
In a religious country India, earlier it was necessary to connect scientific facts with religious beliefs for making them generalize among people. As a part of religion,everyone is ready to do whatever is being told to them. At that time perhaps it was appropriate but the complication is that even today also after a tremendous progress in the field of science and technology; we used to see ShiatalSatam as a religious festival which was generalized in our mind. Though society pretend to be a modern, but it still not able to rationalize their minds. On the many occasions we see the conflict between religion and science, ShitalaSatam is one of them.
Religion Vs Science
In the ancient time any kind of disease regarded as a punishment from deities, or the work of evil spirit as well as of an effect of a kind of supernatural power. In order to prevent themselves from diseases they believed in worshiping the deities. As a part of so called tradition people still today also worshiping goddess Sitala by eating a food on previous day as called cold food.
There is a belief that if anyone make a hot food on the day of ShitalaSatam, goddess Shitala(known to cure poxes) may become furious at them. When the vaccine against smallpox was already invented by Edwad Jenner, why still we have the same belief which was there before 70 years? Very surely everyone know that now because of vaccination diseases of small pox is under controlled yet even they are following the tradition of worshiping diety Shiatala. In south also this festival is organized annually in the month of Sharavan, the muslim community who do not believe in worshiping yet even they be a part of this practise as they were afraid of village god and goddesses as the Hindus.
Inoculation Vs Vaccination
Inoculation generally known as tikah was practised in 17th century in India. This operation is performed by selected Brahmins only. When the small pox come to maturity, by taking a little pus and then dipping these in the point of a pretty large sharp needle. It was a quite painful as in this they did some puncture in order to get rid of bacterial infection even after the operation they do not allow to eat fish, milk and ghee for the one month from the day of inoculation. In order to succeed operation four collans of water were thrown on the patient early in the morning and was continued till the patient got fever. This traditional method of operation was continued but than even many people killed in India because of small pox.
At Calcutta in mid 18th century, the yearly death rate from smallpox was around 12,000 per million. It was very common technical operation in India around 17th century. But as soon as small pox vaccine was discovered in 1798 by Edward Jenner and was introduced in India under the guidance of Lord Clive, technical inoculation operation was banned under the Bengal Presidency.
Today when we know that, prevention of smallpox is possible only because of vaccine, than even the scientific idea is not accepted very widely. Rather than to praising this scientific advancement still people is trying to connect the religious idea of Sitalasatam with various phenomenon. The new breed of nationalist have connected the idea of eating cold food as it was a practise to overcome deficiency of vitamin B12.
Only by eating a cold food on the day of SitalaSatam, how one can overcome deficiency of vitamin B12?
On the one side people go for vaccine yet even they believe in safeguard of diety Shitala. It showcases that we are not yet able to think rationally. By sticking to particular tradition we are still doing the same which people did at 70 years ago.
August: Patriotism and Religious Fervour
In the August month we have mingling celebration of
religious festival and euphoria of 15th August August is the month
full of festivals such as Rakshabandhan, Janmashtmi, Pateti, Bakri-id, Molakat,
Gauri Vrat, Divaso and also a deep pooja as it is the month of Shravan which
considered as holy month in Hindu Cakander. Almost all the important religion festivals
are celebrated in this month. In a way this year also August is full of festivals.
When thinking about Independence day it also reminds
about partition which happen along with Independence day. Many controversial
post colonial writer write about it in their work. In the Indian history 15th
August, 1947 was marked as Independence day but do it be a independence day in
the real sense for Indians. Salman Rushdie highlighted this point in a great manner in his work Midnight's children. This is the day when we also shower our gratitude towards the freedom fighters. K.R.S.Iynger also wrote about it which showcases the real India even after these many years of independence day.
"Freedom had come indeed, but it was not exactly the freedom that our writers of yesterday had dreamed or sung about about or the freedom that generations of patriot had visualized and striven for.It was flawed freedom born in the hour of communal disturbances of unprecedented ferocity and unbelievable bestiality."
Partition by W.H.Auden
"Freedom had come indeed, but it was not exactly the freedom that our writers of yesterday had dreamed or sung about about or the freedom that generations of patriot had visualized and striven for.It was flawed freedom born in the hour of communal disturbances of unprecedented ferocity and unbelievable bestiality."
Partition by W.H.Auden
Unbiased at least he was when he arrived on his mission,
Having never set eyes on the land he was called to partition
Between two peoples fanatically at odds,
With their different diets and incompatible gods.
“Time,” they had briefed him in London, “is short. It’s too late
For mutual reconciliation or rational debate:
The only solution now lies in separation.
The Viceroy thinks, as you will see from his letter,
That the less you are seen in his company the better,
So we’ve arranged to provide you with other accommodation.
We can give you four judges, two Moslem and two Hindu,
To consult with, but the final decision must rest with you.”
Shut up in a lonely mansion, with police night and day
Patrolling the gardens to keep the assassins away,
He got down to work, to the task of settling the fate
Of millions. The maps at his disposal were out of date
And the Census Returns almost certainly incorrect,
But there was no time to check them, no time to inspect
Contested areas. The weather was frightfully hot,
And a bout of dysentery kept him constantly on the trot,
But in seven weeks it was done, the frontiers decided,
A continent for better or worse divided.
The next day he sailed for England, where he could quickly forget
The case, as a good lawyer must. Return he would not,
Afraid, as he told his Club, that he might get shot.
~W.H. Auden
Having never set eyes on the land he was called to partition
Between two peoples fanatically at odds,
With their different diets and incompatible gods.
“Time,” they had briefed him in London, “is short. It’s too late
For mutual reconciliation or rational debate:
The only solution now lies in separation.
The Viceroy thinks, as you will see from his letter,
That the less you are seen in his company the better,
So we’ve arranged to provide you with other accommodation.
We can give you four judges, two Moslem and two Hindu,
To consult with, but the final decision must rest with you.”
Patrolling the gardens to keep the assassins away,
He got down to work, to the task of settling the fate
Of millions. The maps at his disposal were out of date
And the Census Returns almost certainly incorrect,
But there was no time to check them, no time to inspect
Contested areas. The weather was frightfully hot,
And a bout of dysentery kept him constantly on the trot,
But in seven weeks it was done, the frontiers decided,
A continent for better or worse divided.
The case, as a good lawyer must. Return he would not,
Afraid, as he told his Club, that he might get shot.
W.H.Auden in his poem, “Partition” describes a British
civil servant Cyril Radclife a man who drew a line which forever divided a
country. He know very well that how to divide land in the Indian subcontinent between
Muslims and Hindus who hate each other. In a way his poem alludes to the period
in the late 1940s when Indians got freedom from Britain but it was not marked
by peace of Independence. At that time half a millions paid their lives in the
conflict of creating India and Pakistan as separate country.
This Bloody Line by Ram Madhvani
Country Vs Nation
While the nation can not be defined in particular way. The notion of nation keeps on changing. The state is reality which nation can not be, it can be only an imagination. The term nation is defined rather in poilitical and cultural meaning while the country can be mainly defined by its geographical setting.Though both are used as synonyms of each other which they do not have. The country only refers to the particular territory while the nation is used defined the larger community.
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