Damn!!! And to top it off they get heavy police protection during the ritual???

Shlok,
It does seem government approved and protected. And I read in another article that both Hindus and Muslims perform this dumb ritual.

This is a bizarre ritual, but I speak as someone whose roots are in the large metros - Bombay, Delhi, and Bangalore. As audio-visual recording devices penetrate the smaller towns and the countryside, we’re going to discover more such ‘bizarre’ rituals. The guy in the clip is obviously from a larger town himself, though probably not Bombay or Delhi. He argues it should be banned not because it is harmful, he claims it should be banned because it offends his rational sensibility, and the existence of such practices in the milieu damages all rational-thinkers.

I think there is scope for a little bizarreness in life. People are not really so stupid as to knowingly harm kids they prayed for the at the dargah. As the TV report said, there is no record of any harm coming to any kids from the ritual. Still, there are some lines I probably wouldn’t allow to be crossed. Last year Vinod had posted a clip of a ‘ritual’ in which a full grown cobra was introduced into a baby’s crib (I didn't couldn’t watch that.) That was too bizarre.

Chachaji,
I have no problems with the bizareness. If grown up adults want to be bizzare so be it. If grown up adults want to jump off roofs they can jump their stupid kundis off empire state bldg for all I care. It is when they throw infants off roofs that I think they cross the line. It is untrue that none of these kids were hurt. Besides the obvious sheer physical torture of being in free fall, it is also possible some of these kids suffered internal injuries or some kind of damage that could affect them for long periods, possibly even for life.
Btw, the Cobra as babysitter post was featured here as well last year

OK, one more comment. Friendly discussion, and a bit of Devil’s Advocacy.

You say that it is untrue that none of the kids were hurt. Can you give details?

Kids upto the age of about 2 or 3 are remarkably resilient - both physiologically and psychologically. So your point on “it is possible that these kids suffered internal injuries….” is fully debatable.

And BTW, free fall is not “sheer physical torture”, it is exhilarating beyond description. I have skydived, and can personally testify to this - though admittedly that was as an adult. The bawling kid doesn’t mean much, kids that age bawl for all kinds of reasons. Bawling is good for the lungs too, and might well have evolved for that reason.

Chachaji,
Friendly discussions are always welcome

You say that it is untrue that none of the kids were hurt. Can you give details?

Unfortunately I have no statistics to support that assertion. But that is like saying no one died of cancer in the stone age because people did not know what cancer was. And no, I’m not equating internal injuries to cancer or the people in this village to cavemen

So your point on “it is possible that these kids suffered internal injuries….” is fully debatable.

Everything is debatable, even relativity. While I agree that kids that age are resilient, there are a few injuries that could result from above exercise, whiplash and shaken baby syndrome being a couple. Since there were no major maimings or deaths, if people do not know what they’re looking for, their perspective is that its not there or nothing happened. These people are not aware of the above injuries. Even in Indian cities, only now are issues like whiplash being addressed medically because of the rise in number of drivers and auto incidents. These injuries often show apparently unrelated symptoms like headaches, pains and nerve tingling(whiplash) and may cause developmental disabilites which may show up later(SBS). Just because people do not possess the knowledge to relate the two doesn’t mean they are not there. Maybe someone with more expertise on above issues can chime in.

Again I have no problem with the (lack of) rationality behind this particular exercise, as long as it’s adults participating, or even children old enough to understand what they’re doing. I just think it is unfair to involve infants in this kind of activity.

And kudos on sky diving. I do not possess the belly or gumption for that kind of endeavor

. People are not really so stupid as to knowingly harm kids they prayed for the at the dargah.

Unfortunately, chachaji, they are
Stupidity it universal - not just desi