India Votes - and How!

391...me too.they are shining examples of secularism and democracy.pakistan shining.

390 and 389

I personally tend to accept whatever the pakistanis tell about secularism and democracy. They have core competency in these fields.

#389...ASFAND....hey, why doth ye hate india so much???...go ye to india and ye can see fer yerself....we have our flaws but by and large all of us who make up the indian diaspora are united and willing to overcome our regional, ethnic, linguistic, religious and socio-economic differences......that`s why we are respected among the nations of the world.....that,despite flaws and ugly incidents due to the incredible diversity of the country the majority tries to overcome them...hey, it wasn`t india that was on a list of 25 countries whose nationals were deemed a threat by US authorities....pakistan and bangladesh were....justice is being served and the perpetrators of the godhra incident will face justice in a fair and free trial...that`s another reason why india is respected..the judiciary is free and answers to no one.it is slow to react but surely performs its` functions...i could go on and on but why bother, when you have decided that india is your bete noire..remember what jesus said``love thy neighbor as thyself``....

Indian secularism. A joke.

Since you all (alephNull, MaheshG2 and others) have accepted the fact that the fourfaced lion, the chakkar and the namasker is BUDHIST in natere then how come India becomes secular. The definition of secular is as follows again:

Definition of secularism from the random house college dictionary:

`` tendency of a political and social philosophy that rejects all forms of religious faiths.``

My questions is Why even Buddhist. What does buddhist has to do with ``secular`` India.

To answer the dude who asked about the phrase on dollar bill ``In God we trust`` should learn that this will be removed soon as the word GOD is already under question that is used in pledge of allegiance. Ten commandments palques have already been removed from so many places.

Try burning a mosque, church, or a temple in USA and you will find your self in jail for a long time. The people who destroyed Babri mosque are still free.

Beofer calling India secular please read the definition of secularism again and again from an english dictionary and not from a ``hinglish`` one.

-Asfand

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re iyer/iyengar etc just yanking your chains. i noticed sridhar`s name, and therfore figured he must be an iyengar. the iyer-iyengar ``rivalry`` extends to many of the ``temple`` trusts of north-america, and its a fun thing to watch for relative outsiders. i could not figure out jaya`s origin based on name alone..it was not rukmani or parvati, therefore the fumble. some day, an irreverent anthropological article on similar other rivarlries will be super. whats a ramgharia sikh, and offcourse a khatri panjabi is superior to a jat and so on.

man, india is a rich coutry.

harimou, sridhar:
Thanks for the correction. On Chennai and Karnataka brahmins, I had noticed that they someitmes pronounced names differently; for example Srinivasan and Srinivas, just like utappam and utappa....

re:#380 by dost-mittar
DM ji,
I am now convinced Gujjubania is not from South but is posing as a South Indian on Chowk.

A little clarification.
You are right when u say that Iyers are worshippers of Shiva and Iyengars are followers of Vishnu.
You got the symbols on the forehead wrong, though.
It is the other way round. Traditional Iyengars wear 3 vertical marks on their foreheads. These are usually red marks. Iyers wear 3 horizontal marks. I do not know their symbolism, so i can`t help u there.
Sridhar

Ref dost-mittar #380

[Let a Panjabi educate you. :) ]

Well, let me provide the facts :-)

[Iyers worship Lord Shiva;]

Correct. But they have no problem acknowledhing and worshipping all the gods in the Hindu pantheon.

[... and the orthodox ones used to have 3 vertical marks on their forehead symbolising, I believe, Shiva`s trishul.]

This mark is worn by Iyengars!

[Iyengars worship Lord Vishnu..]

Yes. And the more orthodox ones won`t set foot inside a Shiva temple!

[.... and used to have horizontal marks on their foreheads.]

This mark is worn by Iyers.

Ref gujjubania #379

[Iyengar = tambrahm from Mysore.]

Iyengars from Mysore are probably more famous (think Vaijayanthimala Bali!) however, Iyengars are not exclusive to Karnataka as you seem to imply. Their tribal memory states they are immigrants from Tamil Nadu and they speak a mixture of Kannada and Tamil at home. Two groups are the Mandyam branch and the Hebbar branch.

Some questions remain about Jayalalitha. Is she a Mysore Iyengar or not? Her family did move to Tamil Nadu from Bangalore. She speaks fluent Kannada.... actually campaigned in Kannada in the border districts between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Also speaks perfect Telugu and Hindi in addition to flawless English and Tamil.

Of course to the Maasanamuthus of Tamil Nadu, since she was once a film actress (this, I must remind you, is sufficient to elevate one to godhood), she is a native of Tamil Nadu just as Sonia Gandhi is a native of India according to the brainless Congresswallahs.

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DM

You have the orientation of the lines reversed. The shaivites will apply the lines horizontally across the forehead. They use the ``Vibhuti`` which is grayish white. The Iyengars apply the naamam vertically. Normally Iyengars wear a single red namam.

The Iyers are considered to be the Original scholarly Brahmins. Although they are shaivaites, I know them to pay equal homage to Lord Vishnu. I am not so sure about Iyengars doing the same to Lord Shiva. :-)


The Iyengars who have settled in Mysore still speak Tamil at home -- although it is now heavily ``Kannadized`` as do the Iyers. It still does not alter the fact that they originated from Tamil Nadu. I know Iyengars from Andhra and who speak Telegu like the locals. It is quite possibe that the Iyengars originated from Andhra -- around Thirupathi -- and migrated to Tamil Nadu -- Srirangam area -- first and then to other parts of South India more recently.

Please be aware that superiority of Iyers vs Iyengars is an on-going explosive debate that has been raging for centuries.

gujjubania#379:

``Iyer = tambrahm from Tamil Nadu.

Iyengar = tambrahm from Mysore.

Thats the only difference , as far as I know.``

Are you really from Karnataka?

Let a Panjabi educate you. :)

Iyers worship Lord Shiva; and the orthodox ones used to have 3 vertical marks on their forehead symbolising, I believe, Shiva`s trishul. Iyengars worship Lord Vishnu and used to have horizontal marks on their foreheads.

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re:#376 by jang
What the heck are you blabbering about? Are u on drug or something?
Sridhar

Ref jang #376

In case you didn`t know this, Jayalalitha is an Iyengar! So according to your logic, RSridhar should support her and I should oppose her!

Re the use of Sanskrit v. Tamil, Iyengars have more of their holy hymns in Tamil than Iyers do.

I think you need to stay out of areas you know very little about.