Media source- Article on dangeroud ritual practiced in India.

Superstition is a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge and can rightly be considered something people would identify our country, India, with. Blind faith, ignorance, believing and practicing something without taking into account its consequences and effects on society is one of the evils created and suffered by society, especially in our country. The practice of throwing babies off the temple roof is something completely revolting and pathetic in my opinion and that too on the pretext of ''It is to give them courage, intelligence and strength”.

I saw this practice on a news channel and I was petrified and disgusted at the thought of people belonging to the 21^st century still following such practices. I had an outburst of emotions and although I tried extremely hard to find something logical about this practice, I could come to no conclusion. The entire practice does not only prove how blinded the people are by old customs and traditions but it is also completely wrong ethically, as the children are too young to understand what they are being put through and thus, cannot even voice their opinion on the injustice they have been put through. What was also shocking about this practice is that the civil authorities also support this task. Watching and also reading about this practice affects my emotional side to a great extent, and no matter how I perceive it, it will always be wrong.

These practices completely ignore science and are biased to the superstitious beliefs which the society has been passing down through the centuries. When questioned, the people resorting to these practices say that this has been done to please God and is for the goodwill of their own children so that they grow up to be bold and courageous as being thrown from great heights is one of the greatest fears faced by humanity. Do they ever take into account the consequences? How it could mentally affect the child if the impact of the fall remains in his memory? If the child died or met with a very serious injury? Is there any guarantee that something unfortunate would not happen only because it has not happened so far? No. there is absolutely no guarantee for this, but for the people, it is a confirmed pass to the gateway of pleasing their God and the guaranteed fact that their children are going to grow up to be brave.

Science has been proven and every hypothesis is backed up by numerous proofs before it is certified as a theory. This practice of throwing babies completely ignores Science and is blinded by superstition. Scientific knowledge is when the data is proved to be right through observation, experimentation and a hypothesis. Superstation does not involve knowledge or any logic and thus risking the life of your child for something that is most likely to not occur is ethically wrong.

The world has progressed in every field and thus, one expects maturity and literacy to also increase and advance but these practices are a shame to this modern society and the civil authorities who support these practices are a greater shame. These ignorant and foolish acts have been questioned numerous times but nothing has been done to actually stop them. Not only is this morally wrong, devoid of knowledge, but is also a scar on society:

''This is an old tradition. Our elders used to do this and now we are
continuing this and it will continue in future as well. The children
will be healthy and we will get God's blessing if we throw them off the
temple,'' said another mother.”

This statement itself is a proof of the ignorance of the people and shows how they are lagging behind in this modern world of technical advancements. A question of conflict does not arise as there is absolutely no reason to justify or support this practice. This evil and disappointing practice should be put to a complete end as it is totally useless and extremely dangerous. It is like one is deliberately putting an end to his child’s life as there are more chances of a threat to his life, than there are for his goodwill.

Man does many things, some of much may be justified and the others which are completely wrong and immoral. It is essential to take into account the consequences of the acts so as to not regret doing them in future. Forgetting to reason out and think logically can only lead to dangerous or wrong decisions as there should always be a balance of reason, and emotion, and although traditions are important, science should never be completely overruled by superstition.

[Article can be viewed on this link and also came on 'Aaj Tak' news channel]

http://www.metrojoint.com/blog_more/Dangerous_Ritual___Babies_Thrown_off_the_Temple_Roof/pid/28759/userid/34445

reflection

The eagerly awaited summer break was something we all needed as it was a mental and physical break from the extremely exhausting IB. We all planned on doing something constructive and worthwhile in these two months and although I did not travel, I made use of the break by taking up an internship in a law firm and by doing some social service. By doing these two things which I would not have otherwise done I learned something totally different and also reflected upon certain thoughts that came to my mind when I was by myself.

When I took up my law internship, I expected it to be less tiring than it actually was and walking from the High court and back. The experience was really enriching and taught me a lot but there came a point when the company I was doing my internship with was fighting a rape case. We were on the side of the defendant who was wrong in what he had done but we still had to support him and fight on his behalf only because it was our job to do so. I was in a conflict with my reason on one hand, and emotion on the other. I thought to myself quite a few times, whether it is ethical to support something that you are totally against and furthermore, something that is completely wrong. A person should be punished for the wrongs he has done, and if not punished, the last thing I would want to do is to support and try to protect that person. Then I reasoned I out and realized, that being a lawyer is a profession that demands you to manipulate the truth according to what your client wants it to be. Thus, during the period of this internship I was at a conflict between my reason and logic versus my emotion which including my guilt.

As I did not go out of town and spent my entire break in Bombay itself, I had spare time so I utilized it by helping some children with craft as they were mentally handicap and unable to use sharp objects such as scissors and blades without adult supervision. The students were quick at learning and after a few days I observed that they could use the sharp objects without having to be told how to use them, there was again a conflict between my emotions on one side, which said that if the children were permitted to do something on their own, they would improve at it, and the constant restriction from the teachers side is in some way restricting their potential and development. That was my emotional side as I wanted the children to be able to do something completely on their own but then when I reasoned with myself I realized that what was being done was only for their safety and compromised on my emotions as I went b my reason.

I realized that in life, in day to day tasks we face conflicts, be it between our emotions and reason, perception and emotions, there is mostly a conflict, we may be aware of it at times, and oblivious sometimes too, but these conflicts are inevitable as two of reason, perception and logic will always be against each other and thus the human mind faces a paradox when it actually has to make a choice or come to a consensus or take a decision.