Recently I saw one episode
of TED Talk (in YouTube)...it was about Rituals... and certain things came up
on my mind.
Over the years I have felt
that people have started identifying Rituals as Religion. I have serious objection
to this, we need to clear the cloud on our Head on that. Religion is supposed
to be something which helps shaping up minds, rituals are just the means. But
that does not imply a particular set of Ritual is the only Correct way. In
short, Ritual=Practice. Doing a Pranayam in the morning or going to a
temple/church/mosque may be a Ritual for one but may be an act of irritation
for someone else. Aim of ritual (and not religion) is to help yourself Holding
on to your own in times of Stress or Pain and prepare yourself to get more
disciplined. It's a way of building self-confidence. For a cricketer the
morning Net Practice might be his best ritual, or for a singer the morning
riwaz. Someone might like to finish a day by reading some pages of a book, or
may be watching a movie, some might like a family time or some a solo space at
the days end. All these are Rituals and as much HOLY as visiting a religious
institution. So, everyone should have his/her own Ritual and not get influenced
by other's rituals. On a lighter note for someone a morning tea or the nature's
call in the morning might be the most important ritual of his day.
Sunil Gavaskar used to speak
about the on field 3Ds ( discipline, dedication & determination) when asked
about his batting. In my view a player like Rahul Dravid is one such player who
might be having similar set of Rituals. If someone recalls the Eden Test 2001,
the sublime innings of VVS Laxman overshadowed everything, but those who saw
Day 4 batting got a classical example of Cricket Ritual from Dravid. A man who
was struggling in form, from 1st test to 1st hour of Day 4 of 2nd test finally
scored 180 runs, the runs which enabled history to be scripted. Call this grit,
determination, religion etc. but there was a Ritual which has helped him
shaping up his mind over the years.
I re-iterate, it is of
utmost important that everyone should have his self-made Ritual. Type of Ritual
will help shaping up his Religion, rather the requirement (or not) of Religion
will help him find his Ritual.
