Friday, September 21, 2018

original sins

Everyone except the Brahmin male
has stories of why
they are the way they are
why they have as little as they have
why they are left out
disadvantaged

these stories compare them
to the brahmin - chhetri man

(And if you do not have these stories
you know you are on top of the pyramid)

why do the sarangi players
not have any land?
Because when the god was distributing wealth
the sarangi player, the kanchho bhai
(the disenfranchised is always the kanchho,
the youngest)
was running around playing the sarangi
too lost in his own music, 
he missed his chance

the damaha player will tell you
something very similar
about how the elder brother
loved his younger brother who missed out
and said, little one
you will get something from each of us
you won't have any land to till
but you can entertain us in exchange
and so for playing the drum
everyone was supposed to give him
some of their produce every year
but not everyone loved the little one
as much as the trend setter
and when famine strikes
or when your own family grows
to squabble over land and produce
guess whose name gets
cut off from the list first

the Newars, they will tell you
how they were vanquished
and their mighty civilization
laid to ruins

 the Rai will tell you
how the rais loved their land
and did not go out to seek
more than what they had
brahmins are adventurers,
they will tell you
going where no one goes
talking, negotiating,  settling
and leaving
many cleverer peoples behind

the Limbus might also tell you
how stubborn and unambitious
they were in these matters
and how they refused to listen
to these sense of exploring


and the women,
even the women of the brahmins
have something to say about
why they lack
what the menfolk have
they were always busy
doing this and that
for example the business
of extracting oil from mustard
back when there were no mills
was extremely laborious
the oil dripped into your jar
drop by drop
and dozens of women went together
to a little mill
to get their jars filled for the month
or even a week
our mothers, they said
were always busy doing pressing for the oil
that is why they could never attend
the sabha where the gods were announcing
who would get what
and so they missed out
on lands and property

these are stories
old, old, old stories
passed down from generations
today most of them are replaced by
how they lack education
and how that has deprived them
of opportunities

#folktales i collected
#finding a pattern
#looking for more

#inadequacy #inferiority #complex
#disadvantaged #disenfranchised
#divine explanations for #social problems
#if only this hand't happened
#wishful thinking #achronic utopia

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