I was always fascinated by the rituals of marriage. I mean, didn’t they make the bride and the groom look rather stupid, walking around fire seven times and what not. Another ritual, which one of my professors found rather depressing, was the so called “ragging” of the juniors. In fact, our lives are so full of rituals that I sometimes wonder if the notion of culture has more to do with the creation of experiences and memories through the use of these rituals!
I was hit rather strongly with this realization recently when the seniors in our college organized a symbolic puja before the most dreaded examination here. This was to be followed by a fresher’s party in a couple of days. These events, in isolation, do not really mean much. However, to a new student, these can actually create the difference. In fact, I think that rituals are solely responsible for the initiation of a person into something new, be it student life in college for a student during the ritual of ragging or be it the ritual of marriage initiating a boy/girl into the realm of manhood/womanhood. In this perspective, I think that rituals help clear the chaos that might otherwise result in such transitions. Hence, contrary to the popular beliefs, I think that rituals are a source of order rather than of chaos.
