Periyar is the man who started the complex in which I live in. He was an activist in Southern India, mainly Tamil Nadu, who was an atheist. His rational was that religion caused too many problems and that religion was the force behind the caste system. He believed that in order to rid India of the caste system they must leave religion behind. I am in the process of reading a book titled, Periyar on Feminism, so I will inform you of that when I know more. I think Periyar was pretty cool, he respected all these religions but made a point to say that most of the conflict in his country was based on religion and he tried to call this to the attention of his fellow citizens.
So, on his birthday along with all the children from each and every school on the complex as well as the two colleges we all went down to Trichy Junction where Periyar's statue stands. The crowd gathered around him and several men wearing black shirts raised a flag while chanting praises in his name. After that several people or groups of people with some prestige in the organization went up to put flowers around the statue. During this time, Sylvie, a woman who works at the orphanage and was herself an orphane there, stood up and began yelling praises to Periyar. All the students and children were chanting back to her. It was actually quite beautiful. Of course we were asked to put flowers around Periyar's statue being that we are their special guests. We then rode home in a bus with a bunch of pharmacy college girls and they chanted most of the way back to the complex. It was a very nice day. Jonathan took a very great picture of Sylvie while she was standing up and chanting.
So, on his birthday along with all the children from each and every school on the complex as well as the two colleges we all went down to Trichy Junction where Periyar's statue stands. The crowd gathered around him and several men wearing black shirts raised a flag while chanting praises in his name. After that several people or groups of people with some prestige in the organization went up to put flowers around the statue. During this time, Sylvie, a woman who works at the orphanage and was herself an orphane there, stood up and began yelling praises to Periyar. All the students and children were chanting back to her. It was actually quite beautiful. Of course we were asked to put flowers around Periyar's statue being that we are their special guests. We then rode home in a bus with a bunch of pharmacy college girls and they chanted most of the way back to the complex. It was a very nice day. Jonathan took a very great picture of Sylvie while she was standing up and chanting.
Here is the link from all my pictures from vacation: I will blog about our vacation a little later! http://s1150.photobucket.com/albums/o602/kyliejedwards/Holiday%20in%20Kerala/
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