I just got angry at my mother for something. I was working on my computer, and my mother came in and told me that I have to put a knife in a pumpkin or a kaddu.
I got irritated because I was working on something, and she interrupted in the middle, and I lost everything. I was dictating something. It was natural for me to get irritated, but I have made it a point that I should never get angry or get irritated at my mother because I have realized over time that her intentions are always right. She has never had bad intentions, and she is the one who is always caring about you. She, on the other hand, is never shouting at you or getting irritated by you. It’s you who is getting irritated with her and shouting at her, so this is very wrong. Anyway, she went out, and what I did was I googled it out of guilt. Why do men have to put the knife first into a pumpkin? I realized that it has been related to Orthodox methods of ancient Indian society, and the three reasons came forward:
- It is believed that if a woman cuts a pumpkin, it is equivalent to cutting the head of her elder son for some reason.
- I came to know that when a woman is considered a creator of this world, while a man is considered a destructor of this world, only he can destroy. The woman cannot destroy something. It is not in her nature to destroy something, so she should not cut the pumpkin. The pumpkin is considered very auspicious and like a topmost vegetable in Hindu rituals, so it should not be cut by a woman. It should only be cut by a man.
- There were sacrifices of animals and humans given in ancient India, which was not part of any Vedas or Purans, but it was a societal thing, a societal evil which was happening in India. That’s why the sacrifices were there, and animal sacrifices were there. In order to replace them, they decided that we will give the sacrifice of a coconut or a pumpkin, which is a much more humane way of sacrificing instead of going to the devious ways of sacrificing an innocent animal or a clueless man. That’s why the pumpkin is being sacrificed. It can only be sacrificed by a man through a knife.
I just got angry at my mother for something. I was working on my computer, and my mother came in and told me that I had to put a knife in a pumpkin or a kaddu.
I got irritated because I was working on something, and she interrupted me in the middle, and I lost everything. I was dictating something. It was natural for me to get irritated, but I have made it a point that I should never get angry or irritated at my mother because I have realized over time that her intentions are always right. She has never had bad intentions, and she is the one who is always caring about you. She, on the other hand, is never shouting at you or getting irritated by you. It’s you who gets irritated with her and shouts at her, so this is very wrong.
Anyway, she went out, and what I did was Google it out of guilt: Why do men have to put the knife first into a pumpkin?
I realized that it has been related to orthodox methods of ancient Indian society, and three reasons came forward:
- It is believed that if a woman cuts a pumpkin, it is equivalent to cutting the head of her elder son for some reason.
- I came to know that while a woman is considered the creator of this world, a man is considered the destroyer of this world; only he can destroy. The woman cannot destroy something. It is not in her nature to destroy something, so she should not cut the pumpkin. The pumpkin is considered very auspicious and like a topmost vegetable in Hindu rituals, so it should not be cut by a woman. It should only be cut by a man.
- There were sacrifices of animals and humans given in ancient India, which were not part of the Vedas or Puranas, but were a societal thing, a societal evil that was happening in India. That’s why the sacrifices were there, and animal sacrifices were there. In order to replace them, they decided that we would give the sacrifice of a coconut or a pumpkin, which is a much more humane way of sacrificing instead of going to the devious ways of sacrificing an innocent animal or a clueless man. That’s why the pumpkin is being sacrificed. It can only be sacrificed by a man through a knife.
These were the theories and beliefs that I came to know today. It was a revelation for me.