Hindus response to Denigration of the sacrament of Marriage

Falgun Shuddha Panchami

Congratulations to Smt Lalita Godbole for the prompt response to the article.Hindus can learn from this. This is the result of lack of Dharmashikshan among the Hindus that they are slowly imbibing the perverted western culture as they do not have pride for their religion and culture. Giving Dharmashikshan to Hindus including the younger generation is of utmost importance else there will be no true (Karm) Hindus in coming years.More Hindus should respond to this article as part of their service to Dharma

Protest Letter From Mrs. Lalita Godbole

To,
The Editor,
Times of India
Mumbai.
 
Dear Sir,

Your Article ‘Yamdoot gives wedding planners the frights’; is extremely disturbing. We in India considered marriage to be one of the 16 Holy Sacraments. It is not a theme party nor a fancy dress event. Why do we need to hide Skulls in the wedding feast to remind the couple that we are mortals and that in the middle of life and joy there is always death; are we not made aware of it every day by the news papers? And if we need to be reminded about it at the time of the wedding; there is a beautiful ritual in the wedding ceremony where the bride prays for the boon of longevity for the bridegroom from Goddess Gauri and the Saptapadi includes rituals which tell us that joy and sorrow go hand in hand and that to withstand them they shall have to stand together like a rock. I compliment Vimal Thakkar for refusing to make a black wedding invitation that had a skull instead of a Ganesha on it. Ofcourse she must have bristled, All of us should also be annoyed about this new trend! No wonder the divorce rate is increasing. Why ape the west and copy their Gothic rituals in the name of Globalisation and progress? But unfortunately with Globalisation; has come money and with it aping the west. Why can we not take what is good from the West? Swami Vivekanand had said that both the East and West have much to give one another. Let us take the meticulous ability of making money from them, but let us not lose the wealth of Spirituality which Swamiji said the East could tech the West!

Yours sincerely

Lalita Godbole

Letter to the Editor of Sanatan Prabhat for creating awareness among Hindus

To
the Editor
Sanantan Prabhat

Sending herewith the scan of an article in the Times of India of the 2.3.09. I found it offensive and I fear that such practices among the rich might slowly influence us in the middle classes, and the rest of society would follow. Including such things in the sacrament of marriage amounts to denigration of the sacrament. I feel that these practices should be nipped in the bud. Hence with great hope I am writing to you to create awareness among the general public through your esteemed paper. For my part have written to the paper but what can my lone voice do, so please educate us.
warm regrds

yours sincerly
Lalita Godbole

The article that was published in TOI dated 2 March 2009 is as below

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumbai/Yamdoot-gives-wedding-planners-the-frights/articleshow/4209782.cms

Yamdoot gives wedding planners the frights

Mumbai: You are not necessarily in the middle of a bad dream if Yamdoot hands you a glass of chilled milk. You may just be in the middle of a friend’s wedding reception. Recently, Chaitali Katira got the shivers when she saw a man in black dhoti and silver jewellery serving starters at her Gujarati colleague’s marriage party. "He even doled out Urdu couplets,” recalls Katira, awedding planner. While the children seemed a little frightened at the God of Death’s nonchalant appearance in their midst, the elderly crowd was largely attracted to him, despite his periodic high-decibel cackling.

The unthinkable presence of Yamdoot at a wedding signalled not merely a bold playfulness but a new way of thinking–the acceptance of the fact that auspicious occasions are not just about warding off evil but welcoming their presence. In the West, for example, the memento mori (Remember you are mortal) practice is one that dates back to the Middle Ages, with skulls being hidden at the wedding feast to remind the couple that in the middle of life and joy, there is always death, and that it does not need to be feared.In countries like the US, it’s not unusual to see entire weddings being set around a gothic theme replete with high arches, fireplaces, scarlet roses and oak panelling.

Young Indian couples too are cautiously sneaking gothic elements into the conservative boundaries of their big, fat weddings. Vimal Thakkar, a graphic artist from Malabar Hill who has been designing invitations for ten years, recently received an unusual call from a youngster. "He wanted a black wedding invitation card with the image of a skull on it instead of Ganesha. I obviously refused,” says Thakkar, adding with a bristle that the cheeky boy had even zeroed in on a skull image from google. Another card printer refused to print the invitation card in black type, insisting that the couple choose red or maroon.

Even the colour black, which was banned as the personification of all things adverse, has made a quiet yet resolute foray into the mandap, appearing either in the garments of guests who show up in little black dresses or black silk saris on the wrists of rich grooms who bask in the glow of their masculine bracelets.

Twenty-five-year-old Shamik Jain, a textile designer, who wore an entire black diamond set consisting of bracelets, rings, pendants and cuff links and a black jodhpuri to match them, says, "Black is the colour of the rebel, that’s me.” The four ornaments set him back by Rs 80,000, but he says it was worth it. Although there were some `black sheep’ in the form of orthodox aunts who asked him why he was wearing that colour to his wedding, Jain received many admiring compliments from his friends. "Even my wife liked my doc tag, I still wear it,” says Jain, who bought the set from a store that’s promoting it as gothic fashion.

Another aspect of this fashion trend that’s becoming increasingly visible in modern weddings, is the tattoo. Al, who runs a tattoo parlour in Bandra, says youngsters come in to tattoo their fiance’s names or designs that are reminiscent of mushy moments in their affair like a flower. "This is probably to surprise their better half,” guesses Al. Or perhaps a silent hope that the marriage lasts as long as the tattoo.

Source: Dainik Sanatan Prabhat

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