Hinduism: The Friendliest Religion In The World

My love/hate relationship for my religion began from my childhood. My granny was an orthodox lady. She used to worship a banyan tree and circumvent the tree. For every circle she went around the tree, she used to offer the prasad to the tree. At that time, it was funny to see her doing it, but now I think it is something to preserve nature. By doing such things, our forefathers have subconsciously implemented in our mind the need to grow trees.

I feel that Hinduism is more environmentally friendly than other religions. It was considered sacred to plant the Tutsi tree in olden days. Even nowadays, some houses plant this holy tree. By venerating it probably we are saving the environment, long before it has become fashionable in the modern times.

Animal lovers will definitely take kindly to Hinduism, as most of the Hindus will offer the food to the crows before eating. Some of the Hindus offer the food to cows and other animals. We hold the animal in the highest regard, as there are certain functions, like the Mattu pongal, and these are celebrated as a gratitude to them.

Women like me can thank the religion - women were regarded as Shakti and were given equal status to men. In the olden days, we had swayamvaram: The bride will choose the groom. With the passing of time and under the influence of other religions, we had child marriage and other social evils.

When we were children, we were forced to wash our legs and hands after going out. We used to perform this with a lot of grumbling but nowadays, I find just doing this act so as to prevent radiation.