Around 1993, when I was living in Toronto, Canada, I made friends with an Indian fellow named Ramesh (not his real name). I liked him because he struck me as a simple, yet highly educated fellow.
I found that he had married a young, middle aged Indian woman when he was around 45. One day I asked him why he had decided to marry so late in life.
He remarked that it was actually his second marriage. I then asked him what happened to his first marriage. He replied by telling me a story that was extra-ordinary. He was a religious Hindu man and he married his first wife, a Hindu lady, when he was around 25, in India and they both came back to Canada.
Ramesh had studied at a prestigious American university and strongly believed in women's liberation and in giving women equal status and the freedom they deserved.
One day, a group from a religious cult came to his house and Ramesh and his wife had a long discussion with them. This group returned again next week. Being busy with his job, he could not talk to them much, but he allowed his wife to talk to them. In a few weeks his wife started going out with the members of this cult.
For the next two months, she continued going out regularly to attend meetings of this cult and to volunteer for them.
One day, when the wife came home, she picked up the statues of Lord Sri Krishna and dumped them in the garbage can in the bathroom. Ramesh was furious and tried to reason with his wife. But his attemps at reasoning over the next few months failed miserably and this matter finally ended in a divorce.
I asked Ramesh if she had asked for alimony or child support. He said that they had no children. But his wife did not ask for money. She was just happy to have the unrestricted company of her new found friends.
The moral of the story is this. Give your loved ones some freedom, but also protect them. My friend Ramesh failed to protect his wife.
You have to protect yourself and your loved ones from the dangers of brainwashing. Click here to read Barry Nirmal's essay about the dangers of brainwashing.
Ramesh thought that he was giving his wife the freedom but he actually was failing in his duty to proetct his wife. He had taken a marriage vow to protect and cherish his wife.
The groups that carry out brainwashing are not only Christian but belong to other religions too. There are many political and non-political groups and parties that have mastered all the techniques of brainwashing. Hitler's Nazi Party is one example of such a political party.
As one wise man said, the world is complicated and we must have complicated brains to deal with it.
Hello from Riyadh.
Both the parteners are blamed here- the husband is blamed for giving 'extra' freedom to his wife and the wife is blamed for 'misusing' it. But the bigger problem is this....we (the hindus) do not have any formal religious education or teaching. Please tell me, how many of us have actually read the vedas- our religious text. or our bible, i.e. the Geeta?
Our fundamental knowledge of our religion is almost non-existent. We do not have answers to FAQs of our religion..for example, why do you worship statues? Why do you consider cow as holy? Why do you guys worship elephant, rat, etc...etc...We can not argue in defense of our religion.
What we know is or are taught is...the stories of our Gods, which are more than one. We have innumerable sects and sub-sects. It is irrelevant here, but the caste system has done irreparable damage to our religion.
In reality, all of us believe the almighty is one, the higher power, who is running the affairs of this universe...
Because of ignorance of the fundamental knowledge, we get easily brainwashed. How could poor husband have prevented the brainwashing in this case? If the lady had deep understanding of and had sound belief in our faith, she would not have fallen prey to the brainwashing. In fact, she would herself have brainwashed the 'other' guys.
I don't blame any particular religion. Everyone feels that his religion is the best and has the points to prove it. There is nothing wrong in it. You must have come across such experience, during your own stay in the Middle East. Please tell me, what makes you an ardent supporter and follower of the Hinduism? Do you have answers to the FAQs about the hinduism. The answer is, we have to strengthen the base and foundation of our religion. Today, We need a Swami Vivekanand badly.
I, myself am not a very religious person. Actually, this incident should be a wake-up call for all of us. Otherwise, one day we will lose our wives and even children, too. I don't see anything wrong in giving the freedom to our spouses or the children.
Regards,
One of my very close friend got converted to Jehovah's Witness because of his girl friend. For that his father went into coma in India and eventually died without recognising his son. One day I found that he dumped all his Indian music cassettes, books etc. Which I took them in my home and I still have those. Several of our friends have tried to stop him from getting converted but did not work. I was surprised to notice that all the traits are same about how to brainwash people.
Thanks
G. Mallick
When Indians do not teach their children about thier history or heritage they get lost and confused and then they seek a sense of self in other cultures and other communities.
I am speaking as a person who once seriously was planning to become catholic.
Durga S.
Mahesh, USA