Hindu Vs Hinduism!

 

“मैं  सबसे अच्छा हिंदू हूँ “, asserted a man who was buying earthen pots and diyas (traditional lamps) to decorate his home on the evening of Ram Janambhumi temple bhumi pujan from a poor seller toiling hard to make the ends meet for his family, under a tree on a dusty city road, rattled by irritably honking motor vehicles. The poor seller is groggy, not very well educated but has the wisdom to analyse what he just heard, before accepting it to be the ultimate truth. He mutters to himself quietly "when did being a Hindu become a competition"? He labours to hide the expression of astonishment on his face because he knows so much as a sign of disagreement with his well-fed, pot-bellied, ill-mannered, and arrogant customer would most certainly mean loss of sale and perhaps even he could be forced to vacate the 2 feet area that he occupies to spread his shop. So, he hides his disagreement behind the dual cover of dutiful nod and a broad helpless smile. He packs the purchase neatly in a newspaper that he bought earlier in the week and hands it over to the buyer, to cement his relationship with the 'best Hindu', he tries to fill as much pride as he possibly can in the "जय श्री राम", for a parting greeting!

One of the holy books of Hindusim, Ramayan, decribes RamRajya, in the following verse.

दैहिक दैविक भौतिक तापा। राम राज नहिं काहुहि ब्यापा॥

सब नर करहिं परस्पर प्रीती। चलहिं स्वधर्म निरत श्रुति नीती॥

भावार्थ:-'रामराज्य' में दैहिक, दैविक और भौतिक ताप किसी को नहीं व्यापते। सब मनुष्य परस्पर प्रेम करते हैं और वेदों में बताई हुई नीति (मर्यादा) में तत्पर रहकर अपने-अपने धर्म का पालन करते हैं।

Lord Rama, specifies "स्वधर्म" and talks about a social struture in which no one, has any pain (Physical, economic, spritual, worldley or otherwise). He also, says that one practices their belife at a personal level ; rulling out the case for a competitive display of 'faith'.

In the know of how Lord Rama envisioned the ideal society; let us try and analyse, this situation briefly.

The seller was not as Hindu as he was hungry, not as Muslim as he was weak, not as Christian as he was hopeless about his future, not as Sikh as he was in pain. He did not express himself, he accepted the payment thanked the buyer to conclude the episode. Who was the thinking seller; we will never know. But he represents, a vast majority of this country, that is both socially and economically oppressed so much so that they think they do not have a political choice either. This group of people can afford to engage in just one fight at a time, so they give every other struggle a pass because poverty almost always holds every ounce of their existence hostage.  The social and political discourse of the day is unfortunately not about him (or shall we say them) but the other lad, for whom, being a Hindu does not come without the obsessive compulsion of asserting that identity, which is not so much religious as it is political but he does not have either the sense, the education or the curiosity to make such a thoughtful distinction. He goes around exerting his beliefs as aggressively and as passionately as humanly possible for him. For him, faith is not a private matter; he is not content in himself unless he measures himself against others he does not feel the sense of fulfilment.

श्रद्धावान्ल्लभते ज्ञानं तत्पर: संयतेन्द्रिय:।

ज्ञानं लब्ध्वा परां शान्तिमचिरेणाधिगच्छति॥

भावार्थ:-: श्रद्धा रखने वाले मनुष्य, अपनी इन्द्रियों पर संयम रखने वाले मनुष्य, साधनपारायण हो अपनी तत्परता से ज्ञान प्राप्त कते हैं, फिर ज्ञान मिल जाने पर जल्द ही परम-शान्ति (भगवत्प्राप्तिरूप परम शान्ति) को प्राप्त होते हैं।

It is safe to assume that this assertive kind of Hindu has not read the Shrimad Bhagwat Geeta, and therefore not in the know that religion is not something to be made a show of, therefore, he goes all out.

He (the buyer) is a brand of Hindu, for whom, unison with God in the serene hours of the dawn making silent prayer the medium is not religious enough; he gets a high when he gets to parade with others like him on the streets shouting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ out loud. As if the lord is hard on hearing. He surely hasn't read.

सर्वत: पाणिपादं तत्सर्वतोऽक्षिशिरोमुखम् |

सर्वत: श्रुतिमल्लोके सर्वमावृत्य तिष्ठति ||

भावार्थ:-:वे (परमात्मा) सब जगह हाथों और पैरोंवाले, सब जगह नेत्रों, सिरों और मुखोंवाले तथा सब जगह कानोंवाले हैं। वे संसारमें सबको व्याप्त करके स्थित हैं।

He feels alive when he identifies the ‘other‘, in his illiterate notion, service to God is in hurling insults towards those unlike him and on occasions he does not even hesitate from physically violating their freedom. Extremes of these affirmations end in merciless crimes too, this nation has not forgotten the horror of beef lynching, its victims and other innocents who were killed in various communal tensions that have stained, the constitutional republic of India, perhaps forever.

This Hindu finds solace in the company of fringe and strength in hateful utterances of the political leaders. He believes, he is being like his PM when he marks people with their clothes (remember, the speech that Narendra made, in which he said that those who create disturbances can be identified with their clothes"). And he is not entirely wrong in making that assumption, what else is a common man supposed to draw from the image of a union minister garlanding an accused released on bail from charges of lynching Aklaqh khan. He believes strongly in the power of symbols, puts a large Tilak on his forehead, wraps saffron with pride and wonders around teaching people the history that he learns from his Whatsapp. He thinks his religion is in danger and is willing to sacrifice everything to save his ‘Dharma’. He does not know the concept of Dharma or understand its meaning, let alone its practices and implication on the societal structure.

श्रूयतां धर्म सर्वस्वं श्रुत्वा चैव अनुवर्त्यताम्। आत्मनः प्रतिकूलानि, परेषां न समाचरेत् ॥

भावार्थ:- अपने को जो अच्छा न लगे, वैसा आचरण दूसरे के साथ नही करना चाहिये।

He has been made to belive with constant reinforcement that his acts are for the benefits of his religion first and for the welfare of his country at large. He has absolutely no idea that he is not becoming a saint by practising this kind of toxic routine, instead, he has been converted into a political worrier, armed with hate and intolerance. When he waves a gun at people peacefully protesting against the decision of the government, that he believes is working for the same faith like his, in his mind, he is pulling a modern Bhagat Singh. He does not believe that his bullet, if and when fired, will hurt and kill another India, but an anti-national, who has no right to be in this country. He thinks his extreme hate for the 'other'; makes him a purist, an nationalist. He finds comfort in the hate-mongering MOS of finance (देश के गद्दारों को, गोली मारो…को), venomous saffron-clad chief minister's obnoxious utterances and terror accused lady member of parliament who openly celebrates the killing of Bapu and hails his murderer.  He thinks that he can't be punished for being a true Hindu nationalist.

Let's take a step back, a reflective pause to think if he is entirely wrong? If recent developments are anything to go by, you can say that he may be unwise but not entirely delusional.

He knows it very well that a grand Ram temple will be erected before the next general election. He knows that those responsible for the demolition of the mosque, an act outlined as criminal by the Supreme Court, are the very people, who are in charge of building the temple; so by extension, if he also crosses a line or two in the expression of his love for the Hindu Dharma, he would have the full protection of the state as well.

Millions of people welcomed the Bhumi Pujan, as they should - Lord Rama, is indeed revered and who in the right mind would oppose building up of a temple at his birthplace; a fact registered in epics and folklore for thousands of year, and now even has the seal of the highest court of the land. The construction is perfectly legal. The debate, unfortunately, does not end there, though. Such overwhelming sponsorship and exuberant participation of the Indian state in religious activity, the Indian PM inaugurating the ceremony; is where the question of constitutional morality, secular character of the nation and political impropriety comes in. But before we quote the conduct of democrat, par excellence Jawaharlal Nehru, the then PM of India, who did not participate in the Somenath Temple, to preserve his righteousness as the head of a secular state. He did not stop there, he also took exception of the then President Dr Rajendra Prasad's desire to be a part of the celebration; to say that Mr Modi's conduct was not Prime ministerial, we should examine the below facts too.

+ BJP under the leadership of Narender has won a full majority in a 'free and fair' election, for the 2nd time in a row; so they are indeed the bearers of the will of the people.

+ BJP and the RSS, have been unapologetic in their public position with respect to building the temple or other contentious issues like Article 370, Uniform Civil code, Citizenship amendment bill etc.

+ PM Modi, is also a citizen his right to religion is guaranteed by the same constitution that gives us our rights.

+BJP is a political outfit and as the way of the world in politics goes, creating and swinging public opinion is what their core job is and they are going about it well.

So where, does that leave us - the common voiceless and faceless citizens?

"Hindu - Hindi - Hindustan" is the slogan that PM and his party swear by, secularism, plurality and unity in diversity is not how they describe India in their Idea of her.

The choices now will have to be made by us, the people!

Do we wish to remain secular and prosper the way most of the western world has or do we relegate into becoming a theocratic state, like our neighbour (Pakistan) and descent into chaos of extremism that the idea of a nation based on religion brings with itself? At this point, it is vital to understand that only 32% of Indians voted for the agenda that Narendra and Amit wish to operationalise; twice as many Indians do not approve of it. But to make any substantial difference on the ground, ordinary voters will have to unite and vote for their idea of India, one which had the blessing of the great Mahatma, a Gujarati, every Indian is proud of.

संघे शक्ति कलियुगे

भावार्थ: कलियुग में संगठन शक्ति ही प्रधान है

So, when the opportunity presents itself, DO VOTE and VOTE FOR AN INCLUSIVE INDIA.

Till then, राम राम।

#MeToo & Us!

Half a million people responded to a tweet from actress Alyssa Milano within 24 hours of her asking anyone who has ever been 'sexually harassed or assaulted' to reply to her post, she wanted to demonstrate the scale of the problem and thus was born the most successful and the most scary movement of our time - #Metoo. In the week since, there has been a flurry of posts leveling acquisition against many high profile men in entertainment, politics, academics, business and in social life. Last autumn a watershed moment in the history of mankind happened with painful revelation and in less than a year, victims from all over the world .. of all genders, social and economic background have come out with their horrific stories, each one more painful and daunting than the previous. Ever since Tanushree broke her silence on her agony.. spotlight of sorts have got fixed on the issue, at least in the Indian context .. many have come forward too with their stories implicating some very senior, accomplished and respected people. The tainted names include journalists, writers, politicians, businessmen, actors, directors, singers, music composers - in short, it is profession agnostic.

We grew up learning that humans are social animals .. we are however reminded that it is not true for all of us, some of us, are just animals dressed as humans. We live, learn and grow together but that does not necessarily make us alike. Many among us are predators, cold-blooded criminals ... with a crooked sense of belonging and we surely did not need a #MeToo movement to know this for a fact. Crime against women both physical and sexual in nature are brazenly normalized in our society.  I wrote an article on 7th Jan 2017, titled “Crime Against Women - Why?”

Liking it here (https://lkstates.blogspot.com/2017/01/crime-against-women-why.html ). I won’t repeat what I wrote back then .. but would say that in that article I tried dealing with the “why” part of it and in my own limited way suggest “what” could perhaps be a remedy. Oppression of women, inequality and organized injustice to the gender has a long condemnable history which has been kept under tight covers carefully by those in power .. occasional whispers have always surfaced but nothing to the tune of what is happening now. Silence is no longer a companion to the atrocities .. Skeletons are falling off the closet people are making conscious effort to stir the still waters .. and I couldn’t be happier to know that the truth is coming out, finally. Newspapers are tired of carrying the dead weight of rapes happening across the length and the breadth of our country, it is not merely a coincidence that what is the political capital of India is also the rape capital of the largest democracy of the world. 

“Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely” for the longest time I’ve resisted this philosophy because as a thinking individual I have firmly held that neutrality is the key unless we distance ourselves from the extremes we can’t make a fair assessment or an objective evaluation of the situation. When you subscribe to a certain viewpoint .. you tend to give it preference. But recent developments have shaken that belief a little bit... Look at the names that have come to the fore, MJ Akbar, Pachori, Nana Patekar — these are all, educated, successful, wealthy, politically connected and thus powerful men.

Power must have had a role to play in this. We will come back to the power and some of the other elements that I think are causing these but before we get there I’d like to address the elephant in the room which has to do with trivializing the incident because it is being reported late or by someone who isn’t seen perhaps as a credible figure. And I’m picking this up from an incident that happened to me at the Bangalore airport, I was returning to Hyderabad after a fulfilling day at work and was one among 100 other people who had queued up in the line for security check. I was talking to my mother on the phone in Bhojpuri ( 2nd most popular dialect of Bihar, Magahi is the most spoken one. I’m fluent in both. if you happen to know someone from my home state who says Maithili is the most popular .. you should just ignore that person because .. it is not true) was louder than my usual self because I carry an Airtel SIM card and if you do too you’d know that sometimes speaking louder is the only way to send your voice over to the other side. The gentleman standing behind me .. asked me politely if I was from Bihar .. I responded happily and in a hurried manner, we completed the first 3 questions .. which part of Bihar .. why here .. and how traveling is a pain etc and went back to minding our own businesses. That is when another gentleman wrecked the topic of Tanushree Dutta’s indelicate commentary on Nana, the actor most of us love. I was quietly listening while also surfing through my Twitter timeline. He said that Tanushree is trying to defame Nana to grab limelight which she has lost long back, the person added how her career was nearly over and if it wasn’t for this controversy none of us would even talk about her and then another friend of his pulled out a video from YouTube of one of her songs in which she is seen getting comfortable with Imran Hashmi in a scene that is clearly written to flame passion. The person based his argument on her openness in the song and her being out of work to suggest that it was all false. Nana should file a case against her and how media should ban her etc. A few unparliamentary comments were also made with a few gross remarks on women in the entertainment industry.. at this point, I felt obligated to interject. I wanted to say very many things not all in polite tone but maintaining how unimportant their beliefs were to me and that the setting wasn’t suitable for an argument .. I just said that Tanushree hasn’t denied filming that scene .. it had her consent and therefore she isn’t voicing displeasure on that incidence but the other one in which she felt violated by Nana. I also said that it would have been wonderful if she made her telling to form an FIR back then .. but then truth is not perishable and therefore is not guided by the limitation of expiration. if what she is saying is correct .. she can say it now, a decade later even a century after the incident. Doesn’t matter all that much. Dignity is everyone’s right .. no matter what they wear, how they talk, which part of the world they come from or how they make their money or their gender for that matter.. while I was making my argument I got to the yellow line, which meant that I had to cross over, allow the security personnel to go about his business .. I collected my belonging from the conveyer .. thanked the CISF jawan and walked towards my boarding gate. Telling myself that idiots like those come in the way of creating equitable society and then .. boarded . 

By means of this article, I’m not trying to sit in judgment on what happened. I think due constitutional process should decide punishment after free and fair investigation & trail, hurling accusation doesn’t make someone a criminal. Civil society maintains that unless proven otherwise no one is guilty and certainly not of a crime that can’t be substantiated by hardcore evidence and facts. Those being accused are also equal citizens and deserve to be heard .. we know the legal process and we also know how difficult it is to prove a dirty look or an inappropriate touch. In all likelihood, 95% of criminals will walk free leaving the victim sore, ridiculed and perhaps more melancholic. It is sad, and the order of the day .. but does that make #MeToo inconsequential, certainly not.

In many bold and meaningful ways .. this social media campaign has done three important things which will bring about positive change. Let’s not forget all historic changes have had similar revolutionary past ( not the sexual oppression but people voicing against injustice), from voting rights for women in the US to the most recent abolishment of triple talaq, allowing women the legal right to enter places of worship like Haji Malang Dargah in Bombay , Shani Signapur temple in the west, also the Sabarimala temple visiting rights. Injustice .. needs united voices and therefore I say, this movement will not go to waste. It won’t be the Lokpal Andolan. 

Coming back to the three things. 

Unite voices for meaningful change: This movement gave the weak voice, the Internet got people together, amplified the concern to the right tune. It gave people the belief and courage needed to feel for one another. I salute all of those who have come out, it wouldn’t have been easy.

Detailed narration to change behavior: Victims have literally re-lived the horror in documenting what is it that they had to go through. It serves the twin purpose of alerting others of being mindful of such advances at the same time give those who would like to arrest situations like this enough details to formulate policies and encourage social norms to make our society a better place.

The power of culture: Over 95% of these incidences have happened at the place of work, which underlines the need to re-look at the culture that makes and feeds such monsters. Balancing of power, holding people accountable and creating an open environment which encourages people to blow the whistle is needed.

Harassment is born out of inequality either of real terms or of perceived value. Low self-moral fed by fear is the key reason why victims did not react right at the very first move that the predator made, in my view; reasons could range from economic liability to the desire to succeed in career to lack of support or an understanding or one being an introvert personality trying to avoid confrontation. 

It is upon us to create a just society, one which is based on respect, one that doesn’t violate personal space, one that does not believe that the weaker is to be exploited carelessly. We have to encourage people to speak .. tell their stories .. if needed provide them with security, not just emotional but also financial and legal to enable them to live a dignified life. 

If you let someone walk over you .. you are guilty of not protecting your own dignity. 

I render my support to every victim and offer my apologies on behalf of all from my gender. May you win!!

Padmavati is not the only issue!

Dear Readers - You’ll find the tone and tenor of this write up cynical and even negative to some degree, it on purpose focuses on things which are not quite alright. It is my attempt to tell you ..romanticising without reason or results in view will not serve your long term interests well. For larger good sometimes you need to leave the neutral plain and lean towards one of the two extremes. Go forward, only if you’re up for it, too!

A country, that, under arguably most corrupt regime in independent India grew at a rate of 9% has come shattering down to 5.7% under a nationalist who is not only brutally honest, insanely hardworking, reclusively righteous but also sports a 56’ inch chest. Superb schemes likes start up India, skill India, stand up india has forcibly made job creations sit down in a pit that someone unknown seems to have dug quite deep, govt took a target of creating 2 cr. jobs in the formal sector every year on itself, so far as per their own figures they have created just about 1% of their own target. FDI kept headlines hot and brewing for good about six months, but in real terms, those promises have not even transformed in one nail getting driven into the ground for real, as Dr. Tharoor exclaims in his famous talk. A rather healthy and agile country suffered a massive fracture in its right limb when it was hit by a rod that read ‘creative & courageous’ without a reason and inflicted upon itself a wound that’s sore even after a year of the injury. Demonetisation monetised banks and rendered the informal sector crippled. If that blow was not enough ‘one country one tax' idea that was originally conceived by the very economist who opened India’s economy to the world, was snatched from him made someone else’s and then implemented in haste - resulting in one confused country with 3 taxes and 6 GST rates. Nothing in the recent decades has been known to create perplexity this grave - every businessman is trying to wrap his head around the rates and the filing methods - accountants are spinning their mills like crazy though. 

We live in times when dissent is perceived seditious, sloganeering and sensationalism fills the air, cows feel safer than those who even dream of seeing source of protein in its flesh, stories of people getting lynched float with ease and repeatedly. The whole nation is busy, registering PAN numbers, linking Aadhar with banks and SIM cards and then back with PAN, so much so that they have no time to notice that prices of commodities like fuel and cooking gas have been revised over a dozen times in last three year and on an crude comparison basis, prices have gone up 30%. The railway platform ticket which used to be 2 rupees at one time not too long ago in the past is now 20 bucks but we’re so overwhelmed by the news of a bullet train on loan and the idea of hyperloop between already well connected Mumbai and Pune that we have no time to take note of the fact that poverty line that was wrongly defined at 32 rupees per day hasn’t been revised and every year more people are getting added to that lot, helplessly.

Children’s are dying for lack of life saving oxygen but the administration  is busy finding ways and means to erect another temple!

God knows what has happened to the quality of discourse, we do not speak or critique jobless slowed growth as much or put our heads together to solve the pollution issue but we are hurt immensely when we do not see a man on a wheelchair stand up for national anthem before a movie screening.We are too busy sending disagreements to Pakistan , glorying Bharat by disintegrating it from its own glorious past, TAJ has suddenly become undesirable. Mugalsarai Jn. has been remanded "Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Jn.”. Not just journalists and writers but also qualified judges are killed in cold blood and no one knows who murdered them or is even bothered finding out. Will you please pinch me and wake me up to the India that I used to be in the year 2013 when I believed my vote for BJP will pull India out of the mess that then seemed unbearable. In reality it has thrown on our faces arrogance and mindless race of finishing first in elections. PM’s love for winning elections after elections in eyes of many Indians has made him suitable for trumping Mr. Trump in next US election. 

What is this stupid thing that we’re trying to chase? Why does a Modi postcard on Times square, New York, makes us go swell? Don’t we realise that the money that got our man up on that wall would have fed many kids who die of hunger in world’s larger democracy? Grand respect for Patel doesn’t have to be shown by wasting monumentally in erecting a statue. India would be better served if that money is invested in ensuring timely supply of oxygen cylinders to hospitals where kids die. What kind of India are we living in? Where an elected CM has the audacity of saying criminals will be killed in encounter - where does this man get the courage from? I fail to understand!

Padmavati, yes, an imaginative figure occupies centerstage today! I’m a student of history have read it all my life, I specialise in Indian history - I haven’t read one .. yeah you heard me right, not even one historical account of Padmavati, who is now being referred to by an honourable BJP member as mother of the nation? Can we ask father of the nation his views please?

People have taken to streets, men and women alike, all in no uncertain terms are threatening to create mass ruckus if a director who merely tried  to imaginatively and creatively tell a story about a character that never really lived in flesh and blood, is allowed to go live on the 75 MM screen? What saddens me even more is that it is not the first time when we Indian people are behaving unreasonably.. our past is full of such foolish instances. Satanic verses was banned even before the physical book made it to the indian shores, ‘Mohammad, the Idiot’ article by times of India met the same fate. A flick on Jesus was not allowed to get screened in India become handful of people found it offensive. Taslima Nasreen is a living proof of the fact that we are people who have not become intolerant suddenly but have actually never been quite accepting of differences. Our constitution provides us freedom of speech but it unlike the west imposes reasonable restrictions in interest of morality, foreign relations, religion etc - so you can and at the same time can’t express freely - Article 19 (2)!

The Apex court has on innumerable occasions said that it is duty of the Government to provide its citizens with security so that they get an environment to freely express their views but because the government is also the upholder of law and order it often take hiding into that fact and for a perceived threat chooses to dismiss freedom of expression. States like Rajasthan, UP, MP etc have already banned the movie in their states sighting the same reason - but in reality what they care about is votes and just that!

Offending Rajputs means loosing a state .. so even if their demands are utterly rubbish it must be met! This is the truth!

In a democracy everyone has a right to disagree but as the great Mahatma once argued that so long as we agree on the ground rules of disagreement, expressing disagreements will never be a problem! But in present times disagreement has found ‘threat’ as it companion.

So here is what I’d like to say to all of you who are opposing Padmavati or just glorifying any such stupid move without really checking facts. 

If you find the director taking liberty with historical facts .. why don’t you make a movie with facts? If you find a book or an article offensive - write one carrying your views! You are free to not watch it but you can’t stop others from watching it!

On that note .. I would say that we really need to become a little critical sometimes to understand what is wrong around us. Unless we scrutinise we would not know how urgent we need to correct our course.

Bye for now .. see you in the next one.

Making of a BABA!

Before I begin, let me state this with a lot of conviction that I do not have anything against those who see value in following a religion or those who maintain that the staircase to GOD goes through the pavement of GURUs! We’re a free country, right to worship/faith is a constitutional grantee, no one under the sun can deny it. Freedom, however, remains absolute only for so much time as we treat it like a right just as much as we see it as a responsibility. Responsibility to exercise it right, for the betterment of self and the larger community. India of today is a result of meticulous political integrations of several hundred provinces, formed by one and ruled by another dynasty in every single case – political integration couldn’t have been possible if the marriage of faiths under one flag wasn’t arranged and made to look happy. Which is why ever since the Idea of India was conceived in 1884, religion was given importance more than it rightfully deserved.

In my personal view; Religion is the most disastrous of all human creations!

God and everything that is close to it is of extreme value to people who live on extremes (both ends); of wealth, success, sorrow, happiness & health – people struggling somewhere in the middle never have enough time and other resources to pursue their interests in GOD. Look around you’ll see either filthy rich or sick & dead poor going crazy after the idea of super power. People like you and me; may be believers but always have other priorities to take care of before we devote our time to searching GOD or uniting with him/her/it (haven’t met GOD not sure of the gender).

Founders of our nation knew for a fact that a nation built on religion is a recipe for disaster. And if  India were to be of any global consequence it would need landmass sizable to stand with its taller and older brothers in the world recovering from the wounds of 2nd-word war – secularism was the only answer. Bapu knew it since the very beginning of his freedom campaigns, Likes of Patel, Balgangadhar, Maulana Azad, etc. had to swallow it reluctantly. Nehru was agnostic of the structure as long as he had a role to play placed right at the center of it ( his idea of India was all that he learned from Bapu). But there was another factor that made it essential that herds praying differently were kept together – that was the tolerance that this nation had somehow mastered thru centuries of its existence. We hear a lot of great stories about how brave our ancestors were, and most of it is true but the hard fact is that India was never a military superpower – fighting and winning wars was never its forte. This landmass was RICH; in minerals, skills .. because peace time prevailed and people practiced vocations for generations; and most important of all the - the art of co-existence. 

An Indian even today feels out of the place if he only sees people of his faith around him; we are used to seeing a different flag and we like it that way.

Integration of the nation had happened both political and of faith; society, however, was tormented by poverty, floods, droughts, social ills and competitive communalism– good 80% of the nation was in distress always and did not know how to live their time on earth with hope and this is when they turned towards faith. Life became increasingly difficult, meeting demands were no longer something that could be bartered, the monster called money was a reality and people needed resources to cope up. More often than not, people failed, they had to; given the fact that literacy was in single digit, and every other indicator of prosperity - infant mortality, poverty, life expectancy, etc. in dangerous double figures. People started frequenting their place of worship they had always visited for generations, for hope first and remedy later.

Soon, places of worship become a market place; full of footfalls. Wise men saw devotee as consumers and alongside other articles, faith & hope also become commodities for sale. Those who could speak started making their voices up to sound godly, they temporarily gave up their small homes to end up in large ashrams, they parted with their families to gain the support of millions of those who were lost. And an empire got silently built on the crumbs and miseries of ordinary people.

These babas are a creation of lack of education, fear, ill health & lack of resources. It is just not a coincidence that from Saint Mother Teresa to Pervert Asharam Bapu to Rapiest Ram Rahim to Sexist Maulvi Abdullah – they all have claimed to cure people of their medical illness – people submit and surrender because they do not want to die and can’t afford treatment. Slowly these men cage them in their own fear and there comes the point when they completely own them. Initially, the deprived intellectually, financially and otherwise saw going to a baba as a small investment of time and time alone but slowly babas captured their imagination and they parted with their little saving, pride and sometimes even life to make their beloved baba stronger & richer. 

Those ready to die in Haryana are victims of ill distributed privileges and resources.

The situation will not improve till education makes its way in every home, and that education is also able to woe an employment contract that pays enough for its bearer to enjoy gifts of present and secure future. Each one of us can play a role, by educating people about fundamental principles of natural justice. Making them believe that they can achieve whatever they set their mind up to. By supporting them .. by being with them.

Think about it – see if you can pull one person out of poverty! 

Remember one Ram Rahim is in prison there are thousands out there ready to prey on the weak.

Protest & Humour, YES!

From a fan of Protests

The very idea of protest is very romantic for someone like me who has been a student of History and is particularly proud of the Indian freedom movement - the whole exercise of driving oppressive British out of Indian soil was indeed one mammoth display of what results can be achieved, if this awesome tool is applied in great sense and spirit. Today, with you, I’m going to explore, briefly, how is 'protest' seen today, what should be its objectives and if at all it is makes sense to support a protest. 

Yeah .. I know, this is not a cool topic, it doesn’t have anything even remotely funny associated with it but don’t be surprised when you find out, how humorously we sometimes start calling an agitated mob a “protest” - both terms to many minds are synonyms - those are cute people and I love them :) 

Let’s spend a minute finding out how is a protest born - what causes it? Let’s first agree that protest is a weapon of the poor and the week when they’ve to take on the mighty for a “cause” which is worthy of the effort! Key term here is “cause”! It is nobility of the cause that validates your act of protest .. lesser noble you are .. least meaningful your protest will be, it could still be strong though, take Jallikattu agitation for instance. Every protest in its infancy is a disagreement that with time grows into dissent powerful enough to engage people outside those in direct influence of the mind(s) in which this idea first takes shape, it spreads faster than wild fire when articulated well to people with similar background, history, tradition & of course, challenges!

Let me state a fact here only about 5% of protests are for forward looking objectives, rest are always an attempt of restoration (sometime for tradition and others for legal rights). People come on board with the idea and then decide to air it collectively so that it becomes so powerful and loud that no one no matter how far and wide & however up in the ladder is can not choose to ignore it - it’s initially about delivering that message & mood of the people supporting the cause.

The establishment always sees any uprising, not matter how just the cause may be, as germination of an anarchic Idea .. status quo is affable for those in power. Change scares them, as they know some changes are so powerful that they blow even those in power with them, so the initial reaction is always to ignore it publicly but they keep observing it from distance. People in power wish to see if protestors are committed enough to stay in it for as long as it requires them to. Most protests die here! Those who survive the first hurdle call upon themselves action of suppression from the powerful, which is generally their second reaction, tools differ - power, wealth, law to every other kind of trick that you can think of is applied, more than half of those who sustain the first period of ignorance, cripple at this stage and dismantle themselves, happily.

The ones that remain alive and breathing past this stage .. thrive as swiftly as mushrooms do post first monsoon shower and it then becomes a powerful force! They become the talking point, not only for them who they are protesting against, but also for those who aren’t really participating in the protests, columns are written on them, social media swells with their mentions - some even make it to prime time television (ultimate victory, we’ve seen people become Chief Ministers (Mr. Kejriwal) too from it). 

Then comes the stage of compromise where both parties sit and decide on the common ground, objectives are achieved and the protest is called off - society gains from these, mostly! There are also those who are so adamant that they just do not wish to move an inch from their demand .. they slowly loose popularity and then die .. here the powerful starts talking about all that are offering generously but is being refused arrogantly etc. Remember what Babu said, “Compromise is beautiful”

Many movements also become violent at this stage and then die a death of foolishness ( Jallikatu serves as a good example, even here). You’ve to keep it peaceful at all times, when in the land of Mahatma Gandhi!

From civil disobedience movement to Anna’s Lokpal movement to Nirbhaya to jallikatu to all other uprising that we may see in the future, will all follow the same chronology of growth and decay.

Let’s explore the other important aspect of protest, let’s call it nobility test where the purity or usability of the cause is ascertained. Let me give you an example, if 50 billion Hindus come together demanding that all Jains be made to leave the country - will it make the cause noble? The answer is NO! Numbers, therefore is not the sole measure, here. You can look at making ‘ethics’ the barometers, but ethics are generally biased towards traditions and therefore could be immoral, take Jallikattu for instance. Religion should never be made the base of anything to do with larger good, it is best kept private … locked safe! Traditions too can’t be trusted .. for even that suffers from bias - Sati, Dev Dasi etc are glaring examples. Then how do we look at the cause of the protests and what is to be considered valid is the question?

Fundamentals of natural justice should be our only trusted yardstick .. because it is not only fair but also just, unbiased and equal not only towards humans but also animals and environment and everything else thinkable that exists. - there you could bring inferences from law etc to take guidance.

Let us understand, it is extremely important to remain lawful because without discipline the idea of a nation is impossible and therefore always base your reasons on creating a more lawful and above all a just & kind society, one that treats all alike.. one that believes in empowering people with the ability to take right and courageous decisions. 

That brings me to the final aspect of this dialogue - what should be an ideal medium of protest, or let’s say how best can we channelise our protest? Well, a simple answer to that is not possible so I thought why not have a funny one, instead. Yes, you heard me right answer to this question may well be found in humour! Don’t believe me think of this - When our PM says “Mitrrrrrrroo” in his iconic style, most of us ‘cool’ people yawn but when a comic mimics him with “Mitrrrrrro” he gets all our attention - and that is my point .. But before I rest my case I would like to make a few more points in support of humour, not that it needs any.

When we laugh as a reaction to something funny .. there are three things that happen, we accept the message completely, we are honest in our reaction to the message and we expect more -preciously what every protestor would want to do with his audience or target audience. Understand this, there is a need to engage and what can do that better than laughter .. your guards are down when you laugh irrespective of you doing it in admiration, awe , shock or surprise .. you do it fully engaged and that’s the objective really to engage everyone - to the cause!

There is one group in India called AIB… they’re doing it for us .. it’s time we do it for ourselves too and make our lovely la la la ( added an extra la, because the this is not Oscars) land into a happy happy country!

See you on the other side!

Crime Against Women - Why?

We’re a country of extremists, yes, at least in matters, concerning women! On one hand - we accept and proudly thump our chest to a tradition which professes woman being deity, Devi & Durga are a few titles that we often associate with ladies, not just that, we even have full blown festivals to celebrate the very idea, observed across the length and breadth of our country. At the same time on the other hand - we shame our women for everything under the sun, from what they wear to what kind of lifestyle they lead, to getting brutal under the hideous cover of love Jehad, domestic violence, sexual crimes like - public to mass molestation and the horrendous incidents of rape - women of all age groups, backgrounds , creeds & colours are subjected to these atrocities.

Why the hell are we so hypocrite?

It is not that “gender equality” has had no place in our society, it has always been in public discourse, degrees may vary given contemporary political climate. Last year major breakthroughs were achieved, it of course was not an enlightened or self initiated move, but ones that were pushed down the throat of orthodox, ignorant & regressive idiots who were at the helms of affair at Shani Signapur and Haji Ali Dargah. The country did unite demanding justice when horrifically bone chilling Nirbhaya happened, Arushu talvar murder case also echoed in Indian voices, there has been considerable opposition to mad Khap Panchayat disciplines etc. Government, too, at least at a PR level is seen doing the right things .. “Save the girl child” & “free education for the Girl child” in many states have stood the test of time.

We're largely a free country, women have earned their place in important and well deserved positions in all walks of life. When a Sania Nehwal, Shakshi Malik or PV Sandhu makes it to the top in their respective fields .. the country rises in celebratory joy and doesn’t spare anything in rewarding and respecting them. Their stories of success are told and re-told with a lot of pride and sense of belonging.

Then, the real question is - why is that we still see upsurge in sexual crime against women? Why is it that the national capital is shamefully also the national rape capital? Why is it that most cases of sexual oppression aren't even registered? Why is it that  women become victims of acid attacks and triple talaq in our country - WHY?

What’s wrong with a country that doesn’t let an occasion pass by without shouting from the roof how rich its cultural heritage is and how profound its “SANSKARS” are? 

If you were to conduct an independent survey .. you would see almost everyone voting in favour of women, barring a few lost cases who think Burqa should rightfully confine women all the time, or that they should be killed before they are born, because "Jahan Dudh Dahi Ka Khana Woh Mera Haryana"! (These are just two examples, we have fanatics in all faiths and states) 

So, public awareness and public sympathy both are with the women, there are considerable evidences to support that! We’re a country run by very elaborate constitution, so we got our set of rules and laws right as well - yet, the reality of our times is as grim - mass molestation happens in India’s most cosmopolitan and progressive city, Bangalore, the IT capital of the nation, WHY?

We must be doing something really wrong .. what is it? Let's explore!

We sow the seed of this problem when we raise our sons and daughter differently, we mostly unintentionally engrave it in the minds of our kids that there are "things" that a daughter shouldn't do .. coz they could be "unsafe" and this very notion grows bigger & faster than a tumour in sick male minds, who see the false notion of female being unsafe as their inability to object and thus male considers it their license to harsh the other gender. This evil judgment when coupled with an education system that guards sex eduction as the deepest secret of mankind in a country which is 2nd most populous - result is crooked mindsets.  

When we tell our daughters to dress in a particular manner or not talk openly about certain things which are so integral to their womanhood  - we unknowingly but surly, make indelible impression of inferiority & restrain in our women, who tend to give up more often that not and the result is .. a world that actually belongs to all genders equally, wrongfully, continues to be called "Man’s world". 

When we encourage our kids to make friends in their own gender .. we create punishing mystery about the other gender which when gets company of an uninformed and evil mind, creates a false belief that a gender is stronger than the other gender and therefore the stronger may overpower the weaker for pleasure! - that is the problem!

The problem is that we still consider molestation and rape as sexual crimes, when these are essentially crimes of violence, in the heinous act the perpetrator overpowers the victim physically and then has his way - we need to set this narrative right! If we succeed in transforming this perception, our women would grow up knowing that it is not beyond their means to not fight, should they have to, for their wellbeing, they can learn ways to not bow down to physical intimidation - strength will come from that!

Making it present itself as a crime of violence, will also go a long way in saving the victim form the societal prejudice and the criminal will be seen in a whole different light, the judicial system will also benefit.

This is a real problem and not one that will get solved overnight .. the very nature is such! But we have to make a beginning today .. if we do not wish to live rest of our lives with our heads buried in sand of shame.

Let’s make this world a respectable place for everyone!