Since it's the weekend and traffic is a little slow, I thought I might as well post this, just in case some of you missed it a while back. This will be the last India related entry for a while. Unless there is some more Monkey News, of course.
Recently in the Indian state of Maharashtra, locals participated in a 500 year old ritual where infants are dropped 50 feet off a tower into a blanket below. This is done for "good luck." Who's running this town, Mola Ram? (Thanks for the joke Drew.) You know, I'm all for cultural tradition, but maybe there are a couple we could lose. Dropping babies off a tower is probably one of them.
I can't stop imagining how this started 500 years ago.
Like I said, I can't stop imagining the origin of this ritual. I think the conversation may have sounded something like this;
Two farmers are sitting on a hill beneath a tree, looking down at their village.
Abu: You know, the crops aren't coming in very good this year.
Punjab: Tell me about it. And our cows aren't giving milk. Dry as a bone. You know what else? I lost my favorite pair of sandals in that last flood.
Abu: We can't get a break.
Punjab: I hear you. What we could use is some better luck. Some good luck.
Abu: Right. We need some good luck. But what could we do? Any ideas?
Punjab: Well, let me think. Give me a minute. (Both men ponder in silence for ten minutes or so.) I have an idea, it may sound a little strange, but hear me out.
Abu: Go on.
Punjab: You have an infant son right? Well, so do I.
Abu: (Intrigued) Go on.
Punjab: There's that 50 foot tower over there doing nothing. It's more decoration than anything else. I say we go to the top of the tower, have the rest of the town down below holding a blanket, then we drop our sons off the tower. For good luck.
Abu: (Still intrigued) Interesting.
Punjab: What's the worst that could happen? A couple broken necks? I really feel this is our best shot at better luck.
Abu: Well, I've heard enough. Let's do this.
The two men shake hands and begin to walk back towards the village to retrieve their sons to drop them off a tower.
Punjab: I have another idea. I call it "Russian Roulette."
Abu: Tell me more.
It probably went something like that. 500 years later, we have this:
Two farmers are sitting on a hill beneath a tree, looking down at their village.
Abu: You know, the crops aren't coming in very good this year.
Punjab: Tell me about it. And our cows aren't giving milk. Dry as a bone. You know what else? I lost my favorite pair of sandals in that last flood.
Abu: We can't get a break.
Punjab: I hear you. What we could use is some better luck. Some good luck.
Abu: Right. We need some good luck. But what could we do? Any ideas?
Punjab: Well, let me think. Give me a minute. (Both men ponder in silence for ten minutes or so.) I have an idea, it may sound a little strange, but hear me out.
Abu: Go on.
Punjab: You have an infant son right? Well, so do I.
Abu: (Intrigued) Go on.
Punjab: There's that 50 foot tower over there doing nothing. It's more decoration than anything else. I say we go to the top of the tower, have the rest of the town down below holding a blanket, then we drop our sons off the tower. For good luck.
Abu: (Still intrigued) Interesting.
Punjab: What's the worst that could happen? A couple broken necks? I really feel this is our best shot at better luck.
Abu: Well, I've heard enough. Let's do this.
The two men shake hands and begin to walk back towards the village to retrieve their sons to drop them off a tower.
Punjab: I have another idea. I call it "Russian Roulette."
Abu: Tell me more.
It probably went something like that. 500 years later, we have this:
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How often do they screw it up?
One of the nice things about not being a kid is that you don't have to put up with shenanigans like this. Plus the circumcision thing is behind you.
I wonder when they started using a blanket. It might have been Abu at the bottom holding out his arms whilst Punjab tossed the kiddos.
I wonder if MJ (The King Of Pop) participated in this event.
MJ didn't drop the kid on a blanket. He just named it Blanket.
Yeah, the advent of the blanket was probably a big step. Before that is was just plain dangerous.
What if someone maybe... uh... just drop the blanket?
- Sorry Apu, my bad... it won't happen again (at least with this child)... Send another, now I gripped it tight...
Nice, Leo.
Beauty.
it all looks horrible but to them it is as normal as it might be to us to take our children to get their first hair cut. these types of illogical, ritualistic and superstitious rituals are spread world wide. some can be a benign and dumb like baptism or scaring are barbaric like circumcision (both make and female) or China's foot binding.
hopefully the baby throwing will, like my examples, begin to wane due to laws against it or understanding that it is not needed.
Well, with India farmers offing themselves in droves (Due to drought, hooray climate change!) , combined with a chaotic political system, little oversight and severe lack of basic resources, baby tossing is probably going to be around a while.
I believe it will last a long time too...
How many email-chains are sent over and over to stop female stoning, mutilation, circumcision in Africa and just don't work...
Tribal rites last. They can hide somewhere else to do it far from public view...
yes, of course they last a long time yet they do decline like female circumcision in Senegal (also male circumcision is down almost worldwide) . these things pass as people's thinking "evolves" and sadly that does take a long time.