Imagine your day scheduled according to natural phenomenon and synced with celestial movements that maximizes your productivity, increases creativity and keeps you in harmony with nature. Seems too idealistic and utopian?
Have you ever thought that host of daily and seasonal routines; from waking hours to morning rituals, from food habits to clothing pattern, from agriculture to festivities; from nutrition to health management and wellness all these aspects are directly related to the calendar which we follow?
Well, we Indians were following such calendar and routine, until British disrobed us through their imposed educational system. Unfortunately, after independence we did not try to reinstall the age old Vedic Calendar system (Hindu Calendar), which was more scientific, more intuitive and meaningful than dry and box cut English Calendar (Gregorian Calendar). On contrary, we tried to dissuade young minds to follow any Vedic practices, finding false solace in so called modern education, which derided our meaningful traditional practices for out of sync idiotic practices.
However, if we were to examine the Hindu (or Vedic) Calendar with number of parameters That serve the purpose of a calendar, it becomes aptly clear that Vedic calendar(s) are far more practical, meaningful and insightful than any other calendars (particularly the English or Gregorian Calendar). Nepal is the only country in the world which still uses Hindu calendar (Vikram Samvat) officially. The reason is aptly clear. Nepal was never colonized and thus has managed to preserve and use Hindu practices. However, increased influence on communists and western culture on one side and willful abandon of traditional practices on other side has led to rapid decline in practical use of Hindu calendar in Nepal also. Even if the official adoption of Hindu calendar in India can take some time (because of ‘seculars’), we as ‘woke’ people should start aligning ourselves with Vedic calendar for our own benefits. Even as Professor CK Raju, author of The Eleven Pictures of Time (Sage, 2003) makes a strong point on why Vedic calendar is more scientific and ‘secular’ than Gregorian Calendar, as the later only represents Christian beliefs and whims of a Priest and a King, while former is in sync with natural phenomenon.
Its high time we realize that we need not follow idiotic and mediocre practices of West in spite of having superior systems which suit our culture, habits and climate. The calendar is not only useful in time management but it practically can impact all aspects of our daily routine.
Here are some points which will compel you to think on adoption of Vedic calendar rather than Gregorian
- a) Vedic calendar is in sync with Lunar and Solar Cycles which is better for time keeping and provides seasonal approach to our daily activities. The accuracy of time keeping is far more accurate in Vedic Calendar than Gregorian Calendar.
- b) It takes into consideration geographic location, sidereal motion and tidal changes to give finer picture on micro climate which is very useful for agriculture and crop management.
c) Adoption of Vedic Calendar facilitates day light saving, thus increasing productivity and save consumable energy at work places.
- d) Adoption of Vedic calendar facilitates eating habits as per seasonal changes and thus provide better options for nutrition management. It also provides insights on type of clothing changes required as per the seasonal variations. Thus it has direct impact on our health and well being.
- e) Learning and teaching Vedic calendar to children helps them to understand and appreciate Maths (yes, the dreadful Maths..!) and Science (mainly astronomy, astrology, celestial science and climatology)
Of course there are several variations in Vedic calendar used in different parts of country. But by and large all these calendars are far superior than Grogerian Calendar and thus; as we see diversity in our festivals and culture, we can also have diversity in the calendars which we adopt regionally, but ultimately unified as Indian Calendar system.
We need a strong pitch to government to adopt Vedic Calendars officially in all our activities; but before that, let us align ourselves to this, practice it and appreciate it for its genius. A people’s movement towards this cause will compel the government to recognize our buried treasure and revive it for all practical and educational purposes. We can start with teaching this in the schools, at home to our kids and take this forward to other aspects of out life.
