Allow me to preempt someone from asking why I chose to write this story. No, really, let’s get it out of the way, this nimisham:
• Did this really have to be blogged?
• Slow news day?
• Aren’t X,Y and Q more important?
• And furthermore, doesn’t your lack of blogging X,Y and Q indicate that you are a heartless bitch who doesn’t care about Pakistan/the Nuke Deal/the environment/immigration??
Yes,
maybe,
perhaps and
refer to my finger, for that last one. It’s an extra-challenging week at work, so I can’t write anything dazzling, not that the performances which I usually phone in are sublime. I don’t have much time, but when something’s on my mind, it’s easier (read: cathartic) to type, so a “Musings†post it shall be.
Unless you were the last person to be found during hide and seek yesterday, you have heard the cringe-inducing-on-so-many-levels news about an Indian man “marrying†a dog (thanks, Aggiebabe). It is somewhat like the whole “Aish weds trees…twiceâ€-fiasco…except in TMBWITW’s case, she was doing it to compensate for her apparently unfortunate nakshatram and not because she had killed two trees.
An Indian man has “married” a female dog, hoping the move will help atone for stoning two other dogs to death.
P Selvakumar, 33, said he had been cursed since the killings, suffering paralysis and a loss of hearing.
The wedding took place at a Hindu temple in Tamil Nadu state. The “bride” wore an orange sari with a flower garland and was fed a bun to celebrate.
Superstitious people in rural India sometimes organise weddings to animals in the hope of warding off curses.[BBC]
Buried among the hundreds of jokes which punsters are giddily guffawing over (enjoy your free pass to bitch about how the bride is a bitch…but more on that later) is to me the most appalling aspect of this story; this man killed two innocent, defenseless creatures.
I didn’t know how he killed them until I settled in to my seat on the subway this morning and found out that he had stoned them. That detail bothered me so much, because my imagination doesn’t need any assistance in recreating actual events. Have you ever seen an animal cowering in front of a human? Yelping and whimpering out of fear and pain? It’s heartbreaking, but that’s what this so-called man saw, as he brutally stoned two dogs. I remember the way our late German Shepherds looked terrified and anxious, when they were merely being scolded…and that was after they had committed capital offenses, like uprooting our only curry leaf plant.These dogs must have been perplexed as to why they were being hunted down by this sadist. The whole crime makes that red, squishy thing in the middle of my chest ache a little bit. Achtung, it’s lame that I have to assert this, but I’m not some granola-lite, bleeding heart Aggie who puts the welfare of puppies over people—no, I’m someone who, like most of you, is well aware of the connection between perpetrating violence against animals and committing it on humans.
Many studies in psychology, sociology, and criminology during the last 25 years have demonstrated that violent offenders frequently have childhood and adolescent histories of serious and repeated animal cruelty. The FBI has recognized the connection since the 1970s, when its analysis of the lives of serial killers suggested that most had killed or tortured animals as children. Other research has shown consistent patterns of animal cruelty among perpetrators of more common forms of violence, including child abuse, spouse abuse, and elder abuse. In fact, the American Psychiatric Association considers animal cruelty one of the diagnostic criteria of conduct disorder. [woof]
Dogs and cats are simple, available targets, and practice makes perfect, if the definition of perfection involves torture and murder. What else has this person done? And to whom? And I recognize that I was born here, in the first world, that I am privileged because of that and thus view this news story through my very American eyes, but at least I’m aware of this heinous flaw o’ mine. At least I am ashamed that I have this privilege to be bothered by what some consider a triviality.
But he killed two dogs. That’s all my mind returns, when I pause between Outlook storms. Maybe I should add the Humane Society to my slowly-expanding list of Causes on Facebook, since I’m obsessed with this. And dogs in general (and this cat, but she’s the exception which proves the rule).
Back to our story- after slaying two canines, the groom lost his hearing and according to most stories I’ve read, became paralyzed. Obviously this is divine retribution for being such a flaming merde-bag, oui? Oui. How could one fix this? But of course! Have him marry a dog! Easy atonement, even as such atoning is gleefully retold the world over, ensuring that some desi kid at a less progressive, less diverse school– like the ones I went to– will be having a GREAT recess and lunch period.
Crowds cheered the newly-weds at the end of the ceremony in Sivaganga district, about 50km (30 miles) east of the city of Madurai.
The “bride”, who is called Selvi, was led to the temple in Manamudurai wearing a sari before vows were exchanged in a traditional Hindu ceremony.
A relative of the groom who attended the wedding said he hoped Mr Selvakumar would now be cured.
“Fifteen years back Selvakumar was physically fit. But, once he attacked a pair of dogs and thereafter Kumar could not move his limbs freely,” the relative, Ramu, told the BBC.
“He tried every cure for his ailment but could not be rid of his disability.
“On the advice of an astrologer and others, he decided to marry a bitch to get cured. Then we arranged Selvakumar’s marriage with a bitch.” [BBC]
Who is going to look after that bitch and protect her from abuse–no, I don’t want to get in the possibilities– or is the prevailing assumption that he’s learned his lesson and now will behave? Speaking of “bitchâ€, that is the final snag on my mental stockings—the B word. Is “bitch†commonly-used in India? Does it have the same connotations? Yes, it’s an even more trivial triviality, atop that other triviality, i.e. my soft shpot for dogs.
This entire story leaves me feeling weird and I don’t feel like I have the “privilege†to explore one of the other aspects of it, which is bothering me- religion. I don’t know enough about Hinduism and though I eat like one, I’m certainly not Hindu. What does this story tell the world (or us, or martians, or…) about religion and what we are willing to tolerate within it?
Then again, maybe there’s some weird Christian tradition that makes even less sense to some girl in Madurai*, I don’t know. Maybe she’s not even thinking of such things. Maybe she’s already rolled her eyes, written this off as mega-superstitiousness which has nothing to do with her or the life she leads, and moved on. I wish I could shake this or make sense of the maelstrom this story evoked within, as easily.
*the closest city to where this happened, I think.
“So, are we all set to conduct mass marriages in Puerto Rico? I’m ready when you are.”
some of the neat “solutions” used by these “humans” are truly bizarre and deranged. i think that’s one of the worst accounts i’ve read recently.
High Court asks: what is Hinduism?
ANNA, dont get defensive, not everyone is a nasty commentor, but heck, being a “first timer” on SM I appreciate the warmth you exude.
I wasn’t “getting at” anything, I used a Christian context because I’m Christian! I was just making a point that meaningless rituals referred to by an astrologer (who isn’t equivalent to a priest in any sense), couldn’t possibly bear weighting on the religion that is Hinduism. The philosophy is separate to people’s perversion of the philosophy was my point. And it was a genuine question, not a nasty remark.
RE: comment number 183
SriLankan Airlines also has a “Hindu Meal”
Hindu Meal
All meats, with the exception of chicken and fish, are excluded from this meal. The Hindu meal includes a vegetarian option as well, for which characteristics of the Asiatic Vegetarian meal is followed. If you wish to reserve a total Vegetarian meal, you may select one from our Vegetarian selection.
http://wwi.srilankan.aero/onboard/reserve_form.asp?id=8
128 · Kush Tandon “Often in Raj Kapoor movies, when he played Charlie Chaplin like characters, he would share moments with a stray dog – telling them his heart, sharing food, or singing songs with them.”
Kush: When are we going to start a blog on Hindi movies, from Independence to the 80’s? What a clever observation about RK films?
There’s a reason why I “get defensive” and operate under the depressing assumption that most people are nasty, anonymous trolls, especially if they are commenting on my posts. After four years of attacks, you might, too. I often use this suddenly-extra-apposite metaphor: if you kick a dog enough times…they’ll growl.
I had no way of knowing you are Christian or anything else about you. I’m not sure if you’re being sarcastic about my “warmth”, but I’m too exhausted to worry about it. I hope you appreciate my situation; I have no way of knowing what’s a “genuine question” unless someone has a commenting history here. Sorry if I offended you and thank you in advance for (what is hopefully) your understanding.
::
I have to say, I’m considering disabling comments on my posts; it’s exhausting to have to apologize and reexplain myself so much, when really, I’m not an asshole in the first place.
Kush: When are we going to start a blog on Hindi movies, from Independence to the 80’s? What a clever observation about RK films?
Soon (02/08 onwards). Thanks, Floridan. You have given me an idea. Pick offbeat and even common observations about hindi movies and other movies (building links between Sergio Leone, Akiro Kurosawa, and Bollywood) too, and discuss them. I would get bored with reviews soon.
RK (in his earlier movies), V. Shantaram and all had a very strong social commentary in their movies.
One more thing: I’d choose a different handle besides “confused”, “brown”, “Indian” or anything else vague– if you want to continue commenting and allow people to get to know you, that is.
I had a Hindu meal on Lufthansa . They served Lamb. When they first offered to me that option while making the reservation, I rejected it initially thinking it was only a veg option. The agent sensed it and said it was OK, there was meat.
So “Hindu” just means…desi food?
Thanks for the clarification razib. It will be interesting to see how things pan out. Perhaps India gets to be the California of the New World Order ;).
If you meant “Hindu meal”, then that just means “desi Hindu food”, Jains and some Hindus are “pure vegetarians” (and I guess they don’t eat even onions) and desi Muslims eat “Hindu meal” + beef (but do not eat one variety of sea food, I think “shark”, maybe Muslims on this board can clarify), I think desi Christians generally have no such restrictions.
re: muslims: the main exception to eating anything from the sea is eel. but this isn’t universal, some schools let you eat anything of the sea. also, lots of muslims make up stuff about what’s permissible based on their cultural biases. some syrians once brought frog legs to our mosque when i was a kid and the brownz all had a hissy fit and insisted it wasn’t halal. i googled this once and it seems there are conflicts about it.
Muslim Meal
All products made of species of animals that are not acceptable to Muslim religious laws are excluded from this meal. Fish without scales and scavengers are strictly avoided. Alcohol is also forbidden in the preparation of any Muslim meal.
http://wwi.srilankan.aero/onboard/reserve_form.asp?id=14
Never new that fish without scales (shark?) were haraam
Never new that fish without scales (shark?) were haraam
yeah, that sounds like crap. from islam online: There is a difference of opinion among Muslim jurists regarding including those among the permissible seafood. The majority of scholars view that all seafood is halal, and therefore snake fish and sharks are allowed to eat.
so a minority is probably dictating this.
Loved the intro to the post, Anna. Too funny!
Although it’s sad that it’s come to a point where you need to use disclaimers in the first place. Sigh.
those of you taking umbrage at anna’s sensitivity might try and moderate a blog where comment threads routinely go into the hundreds, and on occasion hit quadruple digits. perspective matters.
Correct me if I am wrong but my understanding is that that no religious group in South Asia has beef or pork as part of their traditional cuisine. Muslims in India may be allowed to eat beef but that isn’t part of their cuisine as isn’t frogs, turkey, etc. Same for Christians.
I’m not saying they won’t eat those meats but that those meats are part of their traditional food recipes. Am I wrong here?
I’d initially hoped that maybe at least the reason the guy had stoned the dogs was to prevent them from attacking another animals, as in the case of a guy in Houston, TX who’s on trial for shooting a cat that was attacking a rare bird species. But now the groom is being shunned by his neighbors for bringing negative attention to their village by his marriage.
206 · A N N A said:
Say it ain’t so!
181 · Nafar said:
Um, hello! What do you call this?
Anna, while I understand all of the trouble you have to go through for many of the posts, I feel that the comments that come out of these posts surface some very interesting ideas from SM’s readership, and elucidates the biases of both the writer and the readers through statements, questions, and attacks typically not addressed to other SM authors.
Would you be willing to elucidate the bit above? I’m half asleep, which is probably why to me it reads like “attacks on this blogger clarify things”. Mmmmm, sleeeeep….
“no religious group in South Asia has beef or pork as part of their traditional cuisine.”
Um yes, Christians in Sri Lanka rear pigs especially for Christmas slaughter. Pork is “the meal”
Anna you are a troll with blogging privileges. In “Anti-kara…to Ensure Equality” post Razib said “anyway, i tend to not say anything on these sikh related threads because i don’t want to be an a**hole”, Anna you are being that what Razib did not want to be. You know how to use your gender & your vegetarianism to your advantage on sepiamutiny, you are smart in DBD woman kind of way, good for you.
thanks but I’m quite alright with my unknown-commentor status.
don’t take this the wrong way, but having read some of the stuff on this post, it sounds to me like you could use a holiday (no im not being sarcastic). and yeah, I understand that its hard to know who’s on your side after four years of putting up with a lot of nasty people.
anyway, Godbless you. I’m off for a stroll in the mid-afternoon sun.
Christians in Sri Lanka rear pigs especially for Christmas slaughter. Pork is “the meal”
They do the same in Cuba and some European countries as well.
Basically Anna, your posts bring out the trolls. The really insistent ones. The dialogue that ensues brings out a lot of (mostly related) information that I find valuable for both the factual content that comes out and the varied values and judgements of the readership that make this blog as great as it is. It’s not that by attacking you the trolls clarify their point, rather, their points are contextualized for the other readers through an attack, which generally is followed by a shift in the responses.
“They do the same in Cuba and some European countries as well.”
I always thought it interesting how it is the opposite for Buddhists and Hindus…animals are saved on their holy days (despite most being non veg) but for the Abrahamic religions animals are slaughtered for holy days.
Thats not entirely true, a lot of communities sacrifice chicken and goats and a variety of small and large holy days amongst hindus.
Also I am not sure what is meant by traditional cuisine, but beef and pork do form a big part of the diet of desi christians.
I think you are wrong. Beef is part of the traditional cuisine of Muslims. Maybe it differs from region to region. Beef Korma is a tasty Indian recipe. My brother used to goto a road side shop in a Muslim neighborhood to eat beef. I have heard that it is very common in Kerala, even many Hindus eat beef and pork.
You would call Ash illiterate and poor? I’m absolutely A-religious but it sort of irks me when faith is seen as something . Atheism is just another ideology next to all the other belief systems. Who ever said that Atheism is the superior ideology? Just because you don’t believe in God doesn’t mean that God does not exist. I mean maybe there is no evidence that God exist but do you have evidence that God doesn’t exist?
If you want to argue with educated believers start with Einstein, Blaise Pascal, Ibn Rushd, Hegel Ghandi or Kanada. I could be wrong but they all were educated I believe. And even if you would tackle all there thesis’s there’s always the belief that rationalism is the highest form of religion.
The Mumbo Jumbo? The man who married the dog could not, after 15 years of trying, get rid of his disabilities right? Some of my parents patients – who are terminal, suffer from an incurable disease, had to go through a trauma, suffer from depression, have a relative who’s ill etc. etc. – go to pilgrimages (Lourdes, Mekka, Ladhak – you name it) and bring back all kinds of religious artefacts, bottles with water and other stuff they believe are helpful in their process of becoming better even if they deep down know that they might never be.
Should you dismiss that as Mumbo Jumbo? There’s this saying ‘mens sana in corpore sano’ which means something like a healthy mind in a healthy body I believe. In most of the cases a positive attitude can literally do wonders for one’s health. Taking a pill is one thing but the mental fight , whether you find strength in your religion/God or decide to take things the positive way, is crucial. Religion/ faith are very personal and you simply can not judge somebody over it or dismiss it as something for the illiterate and poor.
If he truly believed that marrying a dog would be the answer than bless him it’s his believe and as loony as it seems it’s his personal choice. Maybe he will get ‘nothing’ out of it, maybe he will be cured, maybe karma really is a bitch.
After first reading I thought: “So-called man? now that’s a little harsh†as it did happen 15 years ago and he might have felt some remorse for his actions (and showed that in an very odd way by marrying a dog). However as laughable as the whole marriage was I never stood still with the fact that his actions were extremely brutal and two dogs were tortured over nothing. It’s like that Bob Saget show (America’s funniest home video’s?) where babies/children fall of tables and other objects with a funny sound at the background and people laugh while in reality a person got hurt/injured. To me that was the ‘weirdest’ part of this story.
Hinduism does not exist to begin with (Can I say that?). There are (too) many different believes within Hinduism to speak of one general believe. From what I know is that The Arya Samaj has a firm stance against superstition and things like marrying a tree are simply not done . Whereas the main stream Sanatan Dharm allows a lot more within the borders of her belief system.
I think it’s not about what we are willing to tolerate within religion but how much you are willing to tolerate in the name of Religion. The Qu’ran, The Bible, The Manu scriptures etc. they all have elements that cause harm, when taken literally or used as a political tool, to animals and human beings. Perhaps we should insist in taking the ‘rules’ that go against the modern days ethics as metaphoric.
I always thought it interesting how it is the opposite for Buddhists and Hindus…animals are saved on their holy days (despite most being non veg) but for the Abrahamic religions animals are slaughtered for holy days.
Christianity has nothing to do with these customs so its not all Abrahamic faiths. Its basically Islam. Islam does have a religously mandated day for animal slaughter. Roasting pork has nothing to do with Christianity. JC was not a big pork eater anyway though who could resist the delicious famous Judea Pork Chops on Sabbath 🙂
Wonder if the bitch has found any secret gold stashes in the backyard?
As soon as I read the man marrying dog story couple of days ago….I instantly knew ANNA is going to blog about it! Not Amardeep or any other SM blogger but ANNA definately is!
This comment thread doesn’t exist so you can attack (vaguely or otherwise) the blogger. Keep that up I will close this thread.
The suggestion regarding handles wasn’t to “unmask” you, “Confused”, it was pragmatic. Over a dozen people use that handle to comment occasionally. It’s a kindness to your fellow readers to use a less confusing handle. You’re still anonymous, even if you comment as “holiday pusher”, for example.
“like that Bob Saget show (America’s funniest home video’s?) where babies/children fall of tables and other objects with a funny sound at the background and people laugh while in reality a person got hurt/injured.” There’s a lot of underlying (emphasis on “underlying”) hostility in those videos. I became quite sure of this when I read of Saget’s part in the dirty joke movie, the Aristocrats, done by a couple of loud-self-proclaimed atheists, including Penn Jillette of Penn&Teller. Somehow that seems appropriate. Anyway, get a gag. It will inform anyone who looks again at America’s Home Videos. another thing you might notice here, you can tell a lot about a man in how he feels about the word ‘bitch.’ People are usually true to form
another thing you might notice here, you can tell a lot about a man in how he feels about the word ‘bitch.’ People are usually true to form
It seemed like you wanted to complete a thought here?
That bitch married him for his money and his access to all the biscuits/fire-hydrants in the world! Please tell me this: Were they astrology compatible at least?
Hilarious!
also hillside #236, that is completely uncalled for. I don’t get that impression from anna at all, and I’m more sensitive to anti-Hindu sentiment than most.
I think we’ll all be much happier if we can just come to terms with the idea that Islam and Christianity are very much Indian religions.
Well, it depends on how you mean, if you mean “existing within” then sure. But then Islam and Hinduism are also “American” religions in the same way.
But HMF- Islam (and in the south and east, Christianity) have a much greater impact on Indian politics and society than Islam and Hinduism do in the U.S.
I mean not only existing within, but contributing to the social and cultural framework of the country. And yes – Islam and Hinduism are very much American religions.
Also, historically, the presence of Muslims & Christians in India goes back much much further than the presence of Muslims or Hindus in the U.S. I still think it’s important to recognize where religions were founded/what they’re based on, but I just wanted to point this out.
True. Also, I guess, religion in India has more closely correlated with “ethnicity” or “social grouping” more so than in the US (where it’s been historically, race). In fact, in the old days, there was something called the “Pentangular system” when it came to cricket.
And of couse, here you had the Negro league in baseball (and now MLB might as well be the Latino League)
But that’s not the way it should be I think – religion should be separate from state. In other words, Indian gov funds shouldn’t be appropriated for Hajj, etc… but people identify themselves as “of a certain religion” first, and Indian second, I guess.
Hillside, you’d think she’d get the hint by now.
Also, historically, the presence of Muslims & Christians in India goes back much much further than the presence of Muslims or Hindus in the U.S.
True, but their presence there shouldn’t be seen as 100% noble or accidental. We have to take care to not rewrite history in some kind of candy-coated way. Reminds me of a “History of California” movie they have at DisneyLand. the narrative goes “California was originally part of Mexico…” then later on “..when California became part of the United States” glossing over the war that was fought to cause the land appropriation. Of course, it’s disney land,
Don’t know about all of you, but this is exactly how I like to start my Fridays.
I rushed through the creation of this post.
I accept responsibility for not doing a better job articulating my point.
My point was, unlike (or perhaps much like? who knows?) many people who were forwarded this story, all I could focus on was the dogs. Not, “eewww, icky weird Hindus” or obvious opportunities for jokes about bitches, sexual positions, digging et al.
It occurred to me a bit after that, that perhaps that was a very Western approach, since some of my friends who are not ABDs find the typical American relationship with pets amusing: the expensive collars, the wool sweaters, the doggy health insurance to cover doggy prozac. We love domesticated, traditional house pets (especially dogs) so much, pet crap is now a $15 billion a year industry.
All I was trying to say was, I had that tiny epiphany, that the way I saw the story was through a privileged, American lens. “But what about the doggies??”
As for my muddled ending, when I brought up Hinduism, it wasn’t for any of the reasons I’m being emotionally assaulted by a few of you over– you forget that people think I’m Hindu, too, and even those who know otherwise, fwd’d me this story asking, “Hinduism allows this?” THAT’S what I meant when I clumsily asked, “what does this story tell us/martians/world about religion and what we are blah blah blah”.
Finally, for those whose hate-erections drained their blood before they reached the ending, thus preventing their brains from processing what I wrote, I did acknowledge that it goes both ways, that indeed, there is probably a girl in Madurai who finds the mystery of the Eucharist odd, so it’s universal to find different religious/cultural traditions…different.
There was no need for all the, “But…but…Christians are weirdoes who do THIS! So….there!” I am not saying nor have I ever said that Christianity is perfect, superior to the faiths each of you may or may not practice or that it’s the only way to salvation. I have never said that.
I’m not sure what message some of you want me to get– I’d love for you to point out posts where I lay waste to the faith of my ancestors. The only message I’m getting is that despite the occasional temptation to move on to other, less abusive pursuits, I should stay, just to annoy Hillside, DK and others. That way they get the opposite of what they want and exactly what they deserve.
I don’t. Then again, I’m Hindu. Other people I know are more aggressive about asserting their non-Hindu religious identity, sometimes due to a genuine reverence for their own religion that they wish other people would respect, sometimes due to condescension toward the backward masses of India, sometimes both.
are you actually indian, or are you a ‘merkan? (out of curiosity)