India, Aug. 3 -- While the etymology stays contested - like most other associated things - there has been some consensus among scholars that religion comes from the Latin verb religare, which means 'to bind'. Ritual comes from ritus, which means a correct way of doing things. The roots of these words, along with their meanings and thus intent, appear forgotten when we look at some practices that are neither correct nor bind human beings, either to each other or to divinity. The annual mayhem created by the kanwariyas in the states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and the National Capital Territory of Delhi is one good exhibit.

As monsoon peaks in the region, so does the pilgrimage of bringing the sacred - in the form of water from...