"The rituals—for instance, those we go through during a marriage ceremony—were devised to imbed certain values into us: the experience of centuries had led thoughtful persons to see that going through those steps, that reciting those mantras and reflecting on them would help us internalize those values, and mould our lives accordingly. But what do we do today? First, we outsource the ritual—to a pandit, say. As he goes through the motions prescribed for solemnizing a marriage, as he chants those mantras, we don’t have a clue about the meaning of the words that he is reciting, nor of the steps—‘Now pour some water on the earth, and then on . . .’ Nor do we care: ‘Panditji, puja zaraa jaldi khatam kar deejiye. Guest dinner ke liye wait kar rahen hain’—‘Panditji, please conclude the puja a bit quickly. The guests are waiting for dinner.’"
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Original Language: English
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Arun Shourie, Preparing: For Death. Penguin Random House India Private Limited, 2020. ISBN 935305978X, 9789353059781
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arun_Shourie
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Arun Shourie
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