Gre Issue Practice 3

If rituals did not exist, we would have to invent them. We need ceremonies and rituals to help us define ourselves socially and culturally. 

Rituals can be defined as a set of actions or procedure which is repeated again and again. Usually a ritual depicts or signifies something important to the person performing them. Rituals are not just confined to religion though religion uses them heavily. They are present in almost every walk of life.

Rituals are present in our social interactions. In eastern cultures, people bent their backs and bow in front of a stranger as greetings and sign of respect. The ritual takes its meaning from the prehistoric times of predatorship. A person by bowing presents his neck (the most vulnerable part of the body) to the other party as a sign of trust. Obviously, in today's times nobody will pounce on your neck to tear it apart, yet people still follow it for greetings. We have elaborate rituals for almost every important event of our lives. Every culture has detailed rituals for passing school, graduating, dating, marriage, divorce, having a child etc. Every job is preceded by a ritual of interviews. Every business dealing requires rituals of signing various contracts. Religion requires rituals of song and dance in praise of the almighty. These rituals bring a peace of mind and every ritual means something.  

Some rituals define our culture while some are conceived as a way of explaining things to our young ones. For instance, in christian families, the ritual of Santa is an excellent way of teaching children the importance of doing good things. According to the story, Santa comes at night riding a sleigh and drops gifts into socks kept by children beneath the christmas tree. Santa always fulfils the wishes of children who have done good throughout the year. 

Although, a skeptic can scoff at the rituals as a characteristic of an irrational and uneducated person. Rituals are performed by every human being. They satisfy our desire for stability and certainity. A ritual provides the mind with a sense of calm and peace. This is because, we feel certain while performing them. For instance, every sportsperson has his own rituals which can range from something sensible to downright bizzare. As an example, a very famous cricketer, Sanath Jayasurya, touches every part of equipment on his body from his pads to his arm-guards once before playing every ball. Why does he perform such repetitive action? He performs it to feel calm before facing a delivery. 

Like everything else, rituals also change from time to time. For instance, while the early Afrikan tribes required a young adult to kill an animal before letting him classify as an adult; modern societies confer degrees to individuals which allow them to become a contributing member to the society. Often a society's popular rituals can give deep insights into the beliefs and practices of the people in that time. For instance, in Roman empires, the rituals of gladiator fights and slavery portray the lack of compassion for human life during those times. Surely, our civilization has advanced from that time. Thus, rituals are not only present, but they are constantly evolving because of our need to define and depict ourselves.