Flowers prayers and waste...

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We Indians use flowers to appease god - Imagine I make Pony extremely miserable forcing him to hit a full bottle ...and then I go to god and give him a flower with my left hand under my right hand elbow....sounds saintly does it not.... Well, I stopped being a saint ages ago... I realized that we no longer live in joint families where one person prays ritualistically and rest do the "dry prayer"...meaning no fresh offerings, including flowers. Just fold your hands bow in front of god, tell him, if you don't do this for me, look what I am gonna do to you...eat some offering sneakily and push off to college or work..whatever. Yeah...those were the days...but with nuclear families....everybody gets to be the main prayer and that means we need more flowers!!!! There is nothing wrong with flowers, they are beautiful...and their presence in the house or surroundings should make us feel good. I am not speaking of those who sadistically separate the petals of roses thinking they can create something more beautiful than god. Our Hindu god said somewhere that you just have to offer one flower, one fruit, to me to make me hear you... That is forgotten and lots of flowers ...garlands...go on deities at home as well as in temples. In fact, I put a garland on Sai Baba's neck the other day, and oh boy, was I thrilled. Nevertheless, I carry a guilt. We live in a country where some regions do not get enough water. Farmers fight, states fight. We live in a country where many people sleep hungry. We live in a country where sewers are small, and flowers and garlands of the previous day find their way in them, especially during rains, clogging them. Even if people redeem their conscience by putting it on tree, hoping for it to become some fertilizer. So.... me abstaining from using those flowers ..........possibly feeds somebody. Possibly keeps mosquitoes and such things away.......I agree that flower sellers need employment...but what is wrong if the water remains in the farms where these people get to work and get reliable crop since water supply would be more reliable. I am just concerned about this ...as well as periodically pulling the mango leaves for festivals and decorations. We Hindus have just lost it. Nowadays we have fewer trees. We need them to clean environment. The Oxygen factor. I cringe when I see educated people failing to realize the effect of nuclear families and growing population on the diminishing numbers of mango plants. In the past, it was necessary to prevent spreading of fires....since nobody was cleaning up the area, so we had this system. Use it to pray to god ...put it in river or pond...it decomposes.........but does not cause fire. Being ritualistic without understanding the science behind it....somehow I am not ok with it. Are you ritualistic?