WARNING: Gurkhas!!!!!!!!!!!

02/15/2005

[unspun]

But if they all kill each other in training, they won't produce a very efficient fighting force....

[unspun]

From what I understand, the Gaelic folk got bagpipes from the Asian hill folk. Also, bagpipes of one kind or another are not uncommon for highlanders across the world. Better use of one's wind in thinner air, than such things as flutes and piccolos.

[archy]

The story I heard was the Argies were caught between a Gurkha unit and the Scottish Black Watch. The Argies took the easy way out and committed suicide.

Not quite. They surrendered rather quickly, which REALLY disappointed the Gurkhas, who'd been spoiling for a bit of sport after the Argentines opened fire on them with artillery.

The unit on Mt Tumbledown was the 2nd Scots Guards, commanded by Lt. Col. M. I. E. Scott, who received a DSO for his actions. The Gurkha unit was the 1/7th Gurkha Rifles on nearby Mt. William,who found it more-or-less unoccupied when they came to pay their respects to the Argies stationed there, along with units of the British 5th Infantry Brigade.

[bd476]

I am sorry to hear of the loss of your brother-in-law.

The photos raise some questions. If you feel uncomfortable answering, please skip them and forgive my asking.

There is a photo above (which did not post) which mentions a Hindu chaplain and swearing on the Bhagavad Gita. There also is a photo showing a Gurkha as he decapitates a goat.

It is my understanding that Hindus will not kill any animal nor hurt another human. Are Gurkhas practicing Hindus, and if so, how do they reconcile Gurkha discipline and training with Hindu tradition?

[archy]

But if they all kill each other in training, they won't produce a very efficient fighting force....

They don't always kill each other in training [I've been told that most of their casualties involve explosives, with which they also enjoy sporting about] as they do pushing others to try and meet their standards. At times, that's involved picking fights with Royal Marines and the SAS that have involved serious damage when someone plays a bit too hard. Or there's mistaken intent or identity involved.

[bd476]

Scroll down the photos to see them "practicing" full contact karate. Ouch, there goes the man's sternum.

[SandRat]

Hey Bart I just saw your mom walk by ---- hide!

[Gengis Khan]

There is a photo above (which did not post) which mentions a Hindu chaplain and swearing on the Bhagavad Gita. There also is a photo showing a Gurkha as he decapitates a goat.

It is my understanding that Hindus will not kill any animal nor hurt another human. Are Gurkhas practicing Hindus, and if so, how do they reconcile Gurkha discipline and training with Hindu tradition?

Yes almost all Gurkhas are Hindus. In fact Nepal is the world's only Hindu country with more than 90% of the people being Hindus (and the remaining Buddhist) and in general Nepalese Hindus are more devout Hindus then their Indian co religionists. Infact Nepalese Hinduism is more pristine (because of their relative geographical isolation) while Indian Hindusim was subjected to a lot of external influences. So the form of Hinduism followed by Nepalese Hindus is more puritanical.

Animal slaughter did exist in Hinduism in certain places and at certain times in history and those were considered as offerings to God (or more often to the Goddess Kali and the Gurkhas are also worshipers of Kali who is a war Goddess) to bring victory in war. In fact animal slaughter existed more among warrior communities/casts of Hindus. It very interesting that the war Gods of Hindus are always feminine forms like "Kali" and "Durga" and violence and destruction is often revered as a prelude to creation in the cycle of "Creation and Destruction".  

Today animal slaughter (as offerings to God) is banned in India but that doesn't mean there are no slaughter houses in India (People need to eat). And I suppose many working there in those slaughter houses would be Hindus.   

Since I am a Hindu, I can say this that, the practice of Hinduism often varies from place to place and time to time. Hinduism is not a monolith but many different cultures and belief systems were given a single terminology called "Hinduism". The only thing that connect all forms of Hinduism together is our common roots in the ancient civilization of which there were several offshoots as of today.

It is my understanding that Hindus will not kill any animal nor hurt another human.

While that may be true as a matter of faith but in practice Hindus were not always "non-vilolent". Not even with their fellow human beings let alone animals. I am not sure today's Hindus are any different from people of other religions when I comes to hurting  animals or another human. By and large historically, Hindus were less violent than many other religions but many things have change. Today's Hindus arnt as non-violent as they used to be. One reason for this maybe because of the cruel history Hindus have had to face for ages. And Hinduism to had to adapt and change a lot in order to survive the onslaught of Christianity and Islam. It is one of the world's oldest living civilization.

[archy]

Yes almost all Gurkhas are Hindus. In fact Nepal is the world's only Hindu country with more than 90% of the people being Hindus (and the remaining Buddhist) and in general Nepalese Hindus are more devout Hindus then their Indian co religionists.

There are also some followers of Jain Dharma among the Gurkhas as well, most generally known as *Jainists* to Westerners. There are quite a few Indian adherents in the Punjabi region as well.

[archy]

There is a photo above (which did not post) which mentions a Hindu chaplain and swearing on the Bhagavad Gita. There also is a photo showing a Gurkha as he decapitates a goat.

Khasi Maara (Goat's Head)

The name literally implies to the word “Khasi” which means “Goat” and “Maara” means “to sacrifice”. It is so called because of its ability to behead goats. During “Maar”, the 9th day of Dashain, Nepalese main festival, domestic animals mainly the goats are brought to be sacrificed at temples and homes in order to celebrate this special day.The sacrificial ceremony is performed as an offering to the goddess “Kali Maata”(the goddess of destruction). After going through all the rituals beheading must be done in one clean stroke otherwise it is believed to bring ill fortune. This Khukuri is also designed as a typical jungle utility knife like a machete. It comes with a stronger handle where the metal of the blade in the handle area is flat, not narrow and pointed as in other knives. The blade is therefore visible all around the handle. The handle is joined strongly to the blade with two metal rivets that can also be seen at the sides. The unpolish blade is given a shape of a world war type khukuri existing in ancient times. It is made more curved and longer than the current army issue. It is a typical Maar knife and a genuine jungle knife made especially for rough use.

[Kunwar_Ujjwal]

Well man our own army also has name which is "THE ROYAL NEPALESE ARMY" and we use weapons like M16, M4, INSAS, SLR, GPMG, LMG, SMG, Minimi etc and ofcourse our traditional and best weapon "KHUKURI" well it is not khukri or kukri it is
KHU-KU-IR.

[Kunwar_Ujjwal]

Not all pepole with flat nose and chinky eyes are gorkhali yeah but there are lots of gorkhalis migrated to India.

[Kunwar_Ujjwal]

Thank you very much for your suggestion but we are not that self centred we can solve our internal problem with our own royal nepalese army. we leave our rest of the brothers to keep world peaceful. (There are thousands nepalese fighting for peace all over the world. exp- Iraq, India, Congo, Burundi, Kosovo, East timor etc)