WHY THE HINDU BRIGADE IS WRONG

When a Tiger is convinced that it is a Sheep, then it creates problems for itself. But when someone else is convinced that the Tiger is a Sheep, then it creates problems for everybody. Of late members of the Hindu brigade are aggressively trying to protect the interest of the faith and making the wrong news in the process.

84 year old Dinanath Batra who managed to pulp the remaining copies of a published book on Wendy Doniger’s understanding of Hinduism and in the bargain exponentially increased the circulation of its soft copy, declares rather shamelessly "Freedom of expression cannot trample our identity, culture, religion and tradition. It has to have a limit. We cannot allow anti-national writings". Priceless! Old man, thank you very much, the great Hindu religion which has been in existence since the past several thousands of years desperately needs shoulders like yours to protect it from the evil intention carrying westerners. I had seen the book “The Hindus by Wendy Doniger” a long time back at the book-store and after going through the back cover I had opined that it was not worth reading. But now because of this controversy I felt that I probably should read the book. Definitely! I myself downloaded a soft copy. To my disappointment Wendy Doniger is not the villain that she has been made out to be. I would rather place the blame squarely at the doors of the great Hindu religion itself. It is so vast, so multi-faceted and multi-layered, so deep in its meaning, so full of parables and metaphors, so doctrinal and simple at the same time, that anybody and everybody reading a part of it is bound to experience a different understanding a different meaning. And also each time they read it. Therefore it is not strange and new when someone reads sex in the images of Hindu gods. We Indians do it, so why fault the foreigners. In fact to put it squarely, when you feel that you have understood the correct meaning of the scriptures, precisely at that moment you should tell yourself to stop fooling around and to look deeper.

A religion and culture that survived not one not two but many thousands of years, that survived the fall of Indus and Saraswati river civilisations, that survived numerous popular religions which sprouted in its wake like Buddhism, that survived foreign invaders like the Mongols, the Turks, the Mughals and the British, that survived numerous language changes like Sanskrit, Hindi and English, does it really need protection. If it was to have been extinguished, then it would not have survived for so long. However let nobody remain in the misunderstanding that it has survived in its original form. The current Hindu religion and culture is not the same that was practiced during the time when the Saraswati flowed. It also was very different at the time when the Buddha lived and preached. It has evolved, it has reinvented itself, several times. Every time it has come back strongly, become more relevant to the times, to show people the way to live. In fact, if it had remained unyielding, uncompromising, unchanging, then it would certainly have been discarded by the very people of this land. The people of this land have no dearth of religions to choose from. The soil of this land is spiritually fertile. Therefore for the same reason, the Hindu religion needs no self-appointed protector. It is capable on its own.

Essentially change is an evitable must. The Hindu Brigade should understand this. Recently the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha went on record proclaiming that it would not compromise on moral values, social systems and traditions in the name of individual freedom and would not accept homosexuality and live-in relationships. It seems to me that the days of RSS are numbered. They better not be so rigid in their stance if they wish to remain relevant. They should be more nuanced in their response to the reality of the environment.

While nobody denies the ills of society, one has to accept that society has never been free of ills right from the day humans started living together. Neither do we live the same life style that existed thousands of years ago. Indian society has seen rituals like Sati come and go. We have seen customs change, we have seen attitudes change. We have changed from joint family to nuclear family. While our religion exults the story of Shravan, today we cannot find place for our parents in our homes. While our religion glorifies a vegetarian diet, today we finance poultry and fisheries as a business to grow and kill life for food. Times change and people change.

Sexual inclination has changed. Rape or forceful sex has become rampant. Homosexuality is also a human condition. Live-ins have become more common in the present times. These are symptoms of social ills and social changes. The Hindu Brigade should instead rather focus on the root causes instead of addressing the symptoms. Today a father cannot marry of his daughter for the want of dowry money. Khap Panchayats won’t permit same gotra marriage. Marriages between different religions are also looked down upon. Life in the villages has lost its charm and people prefer the hazards of urban life. Economics has scored over the quality of life. Why don’t we hear anything from the Hindu Brigade on these matters. Banning a book, deriding freedom of speech, ridiculing homosexuality and live-in relationships is taking the easy way out to oblivion.

INDIA - THE IMPENDING DOWNWARD SPIRAL

It is after a very long time that I am writing again for the blog and I wish to write on a subject that is latent and waiting to explode, which is, India on the brink. The signs of mess are all over the place for everyone to see. People responsible for the mess are still hoping that things will work out, finally, somehow. However the seriousness of this dormant disaster is neither getting heard, nor getting discussed by the calm and intelligent brains. We do have political bigwigs shouting at the top of their voices, half of them about the precariousness of the problems and the other half assuaging fears of any devastating fallout, but today very sadly the voice of the politicians is discounted one hundred percent.

The decision non-making enmeshment crafted and perfected by the present government at the center has hurt the manufacturing, mining and infrastructure sector very badly. The pitiable condition of these industries can be best seen from the non-performing assets (NPA) list of the public sector banks. The Finance Minister raises a hue and cry about willful defaulters but not a word is uttered about the defaulters who are victims of gross governmental economic mismanagement. Truly the willful defaulters amongst the NPA lists are much lesser compared to the huge other list.

Businessmen are a breed apart, those who are willing to take a financial risk on the expectation of earning wealth in the future. If it was so simple, then everyone could have easily become a businessman. But the majority of people wish to live on a riskless yet certain monthly remuneration. The businessmen also like to restrict their uncertain factors to the minimum but when their uncertainty increases exponentially and goes beyond his capacity of tolerance, and then they give up. To add to their woes the political establishment questions their audacity, their fight to survive, their pricing policies, and calling for unprecedented audits. Today all businessmen who have become victims of colossal governmental bungling are on the verge of giving up.

That brings us to the immediate next problem, that of the public sector banks. If the domestic industry unable to bear any further harassment decides to throw its hands up, the banks would face an extraordinary dent in their Balance Sheet assets. Such a dent can only be covered by the central government who is the owner or the public depositors of the banks. Either ways it will be the citizens of this country who will take a hit on their past and future earnings. The imagination of the catastrophe if it really unfolds is enough to turn my stomach inside out. Yet I don’t hear anybody on this.

Next is inflation. The Reserve Bank is working overtime to make bank funds availability scarce and the costs of such funds disproportionate, in a general manner and due to which all sectors of the economy are feeling the pinch irrespective of whether they are contributing to the inflation or not. The government on the other hand has over the years increased all wages, increased the minimum procurement prices and distributed cash in rural regions through social projects like NREGS. Now if these two are not working at cross purposes, please call me a fool. The consumer price and the wholesale price index are both high because people are able to afford, they have the purchasing power and the willingness to spend. The deficit of the government is bound to exceed the budgeted specifications by the year end. But for this we the people of the country are also to share the blame because of huge domestic demand for gold, petrol and diesel that we have to import. The lack of a unified concerted action by all governing bodies is going to cost us dearly.  By the time the elections are held, the international rating agencies are going to call India non-investment grade and we in one voice are going to crib. Unfortunately that is all that we can do.

The question that comes to my mind is why we have brought ourselves into this situation. Is it that we are governed by fools? I think barring the political class every other sector whether it is the bureaucracy, the industry, the judiciary, all select people based on their talent and mind power. Only the profession of politics gives preference to money power over the power of the mind. And that exactly has been our weakest link, our failure as a nation. Our political system is rotten and beyond repair. It makes no difference whether the Congress or the BJP is in power. Both are of identical mindset, indistinguishable twins. The past five years, BJP has disrupted parliamentary proceedings. In case they win the next elections, then it will be the turn of Congress to disrupt the working of the parliament. I don’t know who wins in this bargain but definitely the nation loses. Supposing no single group or party gets an absolute majority in the next election which incidentally is the most likely scenario, then we are in for another period of chaos, of non-governance, of a definite downward spiral.

 However blaming the politicians is too simplistic. As citizens of this once great country, we the people have become increasingly narrow minded, fearful and intolerant. Everybody has started having such strong opinions that we have become intolerant of any dissenting views. We have become so parochial territorially as well as through customs that we have bounded ourselves into small groups and distrust every such other group. We have become so fragmented that practically we don’t see ourselves as a single country, we don’t want to share our local resources even for a common good cause. We have become a bunch of short tempered and fearful individuals, unsure and insecure about our own lives and living conditions, that corruption has become a reasonable and real option. Historically we never were one nation and therefore today in this difficult times find it impossible to define and identify ourselves as Indians except in the field of cricket. The real meaning of the word Hindu and Hinduism has been lost and buried deep under multiple layers of false teachings that today even if anyone criticized these false teachings we are offended.  Today any glib talking god-man can fool all of us and take all of us for a ride and we most usually blame him rather than our own gullibility. Over the years anyone with the means and the ability has had the desires to deport and stay put in a developed country to live far away from the pitiful situation over here.  Our urban cities have become too costly yet pathetically lacking in good living conditions. Yet while we yearn for the simple rural landscape at the same time do not have the desire to live there.

It’s time that we see ourselves as what we have made ourselves into. Let us stop blaming others. Let us accept our own mistakes and work together towards a better tomorrow. Greed and selfishness has brought us here today but broadmindedness and intelligent work can set us back on the road to the common development. The immediate future looks difficult but with perseverance we can most certainly overcome them.

CASA DE MARGAO

Only the three of us together in Goa for nine days was unexpectedly a rare event, it happened for the first time and let’s hope not for the last. Soma Biki and me, siblings, through the grace or call it sledge of some unseen puppeteer’s hands spent a ‘blink and you miss’ period (from the 17^th to 25^th Nov) in our respective lifetime in each other’s company at Biki’s place, doing nothing, just relaxing, sight-seeing, eating out, cooking, talking and not talking. Generally speaking touching each other’s souls. That such an occasion has never come to pass earlier did not dither any of us, but that such an event could never have been imagined earlier is also the sacred truth. It was meant to happen somehow; it happened through some quirk of fate and now is history, yet another memory.

During those nine days Biki had his weekly off on a Saturday when all of us went to a further down south Goa’s pristine beach. A few of our evenings were spent at some local gourmet restaurant. Biki spared his car for us and on a few occasions I took Soma around Old Goa and Margao. I spent many a mornings walking around Margao reliving childhood memories. Rest of the time was spent reading, eating and resting. Together we did not have any profound talk sessions, we did not utilize the opportunity to bond together, we did not tie our hands around each other’s shoulders to laugh and cry, and neither did we squabble and fight. There was no need to. We were just - comfortable. Biki and Soma can easily gel together while obviously I am the odd ball.

Margao Goa a significant town to this world is also a major milestone in our present life journey. Biki was born there while Soma and I have our fondest childhood memories still nesting there. I first cut my teeth as a kid at Aquem Alto Margao and therefore visiting the place is like a pilgrimage to me. From the moment we landed at the Dabolim Airport I was transfixed into my past. The very smell and color of Goa puts me into a subdued and reverent mood. Goa smells different from any other place. The fragrance of the sea, fish, feni, pav, sausages, curry masala, church, they add up into a feisty concoction. Goa is colorful in unique ways. The elderly folks preferably wear either white or black to church but the youngsters wear bright colours, the inside of the church is multi-coloured and all lighted up, the Goan houses are painted in every shade of the rainbow, and from the beach while on one side you see only blue the other side is all green and red. And I haven’t yet referred to the carnival.

We stayed in Margao from 1968 to 1976. Since then the place hasn’t changed much except in subtle ways. While the old roads have remained intact without any increase in width, a few new highways have propped up. While old houses continue to stand as permanent landmarks, vacant plots have been swallowed up by new flat schemes. In fact every open space and erstwhile forest land has vanished. The Municipal Park and Municipal Office building in the heart of Margao still continue as distinct and beautiful show-pieces. These are not tourist attractions but to me they mean significant structures from my past, some assurance of permanence, some comfort to be able to relate to my childhood again through real visuals. The lanes and buildings, the Kamat hotel and old market nearby the park, the Milan Kamat hotel some distance away, the old fish market, the Longuinhos and Woodlands hotels, these are all old sights which refresh and kindle old feelings. Walking west from the park is the Vishant cinema hall, and further is Aquem Alto, its old power house and their staff colony, St Joseph Convent where we studied, the old house where we stayed, Acharya’s Saw Mill, the places where the Patel family and of course Neela Didi and Manik teacher stayed. At times nostalgic waves have taken over my heart. Nothing else was comprehensible. The drama plays out in front of my eyes as I stood at these places, remembering the people who were there along with me in the past, distinctly my mother, father, Soma and friends, what did they say, what did they do, like a movie flashback the scenes rolled on. These nine days I must have walked around these points numerous times and everytime I have been overwhelmed with emotions beyond my control.

To recount a few of these visuals; in those days there were a sizable Gawda population in Margao who vended fruits and vegetables amongst other things. Their women folk wore a particular red and white printed sari in a distinct fashion they could be recognised by their clothing. The Gawda’s are not seen any more - Soma suffered from asthma right from her childhood and due to which she always got preferential treatment at home. I always detested that and have held it against her till date. For every mischief which we both executed, I got beaten and she was forgiven. Once I had accidentally dislodged the gear in fathers Jeep and it rolled into a ditch along with me and Soma. While I got spanked Soma got hugged. However inspite of my animosity, our bhai-phota ritual has survived till date - vendors honking their blow horns and selling bun, pav or fish in a huge basket tied on the back seat of their bicycle and covered with a blue plastic or rubber mat, they are still seen today - sometimes the Goan ladies of the fishermen community would walk from house to house with a basket of fish on their head, which is not seen anymore - once every week in the evening, mother used to take me and Soma to the Municipal Park to relax and play and then to the Kamat hotel for masala dosa. We went by bus and returned along with father in his jeep because his office was nearby. Sometimes we waited for him at the residence of his boss Mr. Chaterjee, whose wife was a great host – father took me on Sundays to the market to buy vegetables and fish/meat. Once I saw many live Tortoise of two feet diameter each being sold as meat - the Acharya family who owned a Saw Mill were family friends, once a group of men including my father went on a hunting expedition into the jungle and returned with deer meat they shot and skinned - Neela Didi was a great friend of mother and she took tuitions for me and Soma every evening. Whenever a new movie was released in Vishant cinema, Neela Didi, my mother, Soma and me used to walk in the sun to watch the afternoon show - Once father had taken us to Panjim to watch the movie Bobby where a stranger had mistakenly spit near me and father had taken offence - Purshottam Patel’s father was the Manager of the Damodar Saw Mill which was about a kilometer away to the south of our house and I used to go to his place sometimes - the space in front of our house was an empty ground where the neighborhood boys used to play football. Sada was one gifted player. I played with them whenever they took me - Anant and Anil Apte stayed a little distance away near the residence of Baba Naik where I went on many occasions to play cricket. Anant used to create box projector and show us some slides. They shifted to Panjim soon - There was a big function hall near our house (still exists). Every year a collage annual day celebration used to be conducted there with boys and girls dancing from morning till evening to western music. Sometimes educational movies were screened in the hall free of charge - there used to be a Kaju tree in front of our house shaped like a horse and we used to climb its branches and then jump down from a height. This routine got repeated - St. Joseph Convent a well-structured school with good teachers and all round curriculum. The Sisters of the convent were sweet and patient with the kids. I remember Manik teacher who also taught us dance. On one school annual day function we trained for African Zulu dance and also took it to a inter school competition. I was always amongst the top three in my class as I was a good student. Girija always used to come first in my class. The senior class had very handsome boys and very pretty girls who always played pranks on each other - Diwali and Christmas were the two most celebrated festivals, both associated with lightings. The whole neighborhood used to get lighted during these times, sweets and namkeen used to be prepared in every house and exchanged from house to house. Troupes of boys used to take the Narakasur and Krishna dance from house to house and stage innumerable performances in a single night - when the rains started in Goa, it rained continuously for days together. I was often down with fever during those times - our annual sojourn to Raniganj was during the summer holidays. We went when the sun was very hot and returned when the rains had already started - on occasions I had been into the nearby forest along with some friends, throwing stones at Kaju and mango trees. I never know the road back home and depended entirely on the others - there was a bakery nearby, and at three in the afternoon sharp they used to open up to sell freshly baked bread. I have walked there to buy bread many hundred times. Bread and butter used to be our favorite snack. The smell of fresh bread still lingers in my nose.

The Christian churches of Goa whether big or small are very beautiful both in terms of architecture and interior design. The ivory and golden hues at the altar accompanied with lighting are really an awesome sight. But that is beside the point. The Christian religion has made their community God loving instead of the common Hindu concept of god fearing. The colourful pictures and statues of the life and times of Jesus Christ as depicted in these churches create images of compassion and humility in the hearts of people.

The music of Goa with its mix of native rusticity and European melody is also a treat to the ears. Music is popular in the Church and the restaurants. It does not matter whether the lyrics are in Goan language or in English, it does not matter whether you understand the meaning or not, but you will most certainly tap your feet and move your hips if you are in a restaurant and sway to serenity if you are in the church.

Lastly the thought crossed my mind that had we stayed back at Margao then what would I have become today. I think I would have still been my low confident self. I can’t say with certainty that I would have been doing a regular job. Maybe I would have joined the church or been a teacher in some school or maybe I would have been associated with the tourism industry as a foot soldier. Over the years infact the tourism industry has exerted some influence over the lives of Goan people. Most have taken to rental income from hotels and guest houses which have mushroomed. But sadly tourism industry have also made the men folk lazy and drunk. No business is transacted in Margao between 1 pm and 4 pm and most of the shops and office down shutters.

THE CULTURAL IMPACT OF SACRIFICE ON CORRUPTION IN INDIA

The length and breadth of India is over shadowed by the disease of corruption. Geography will pale in comparison when one weighs without any exaggeration that the depth of life in this country and its basic fiber is grossly impacted by the tentacles of corruption. Before rushing ahead in this tom-toming of who else is also corrupt, let us spare a thought on what exactly constitutes corruption.

Transparency International states that; “Corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. It hurts everyone who depends on the integrity of people in a position of authority.” While the Oxford Dictionary defines corruption to mean; “(i) dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery, (ii) the action or effect of making someone or something morally depraved”. I believe that the moment has arrived for a broader reading of the import of this definition. To my mind, it would be most narrow-minded, very immature and blatantly foolish to consider and recognise only those people in positions of organised authority like government and the bureaucracy as the conspicuous targets. To my mind every individual has an extent of power over his or her own self and this aspect of position of authority is being conveniently overlooked. When one conspires with the Gods, when one tries to manipulate the natural course of events by invoking the supernatural powers of the universe through the various ritual of sacrifice, to beg and bargain for unwarranted gains, it certainly amounts to bribery which is a brazen example of corruption as well, at a very personal level. That should bring us to the next question about what is this stuff called rituals of sacrifice.

When one digs into the facets of life during the Vedic times in this region which arguably lasted till about 400 BC, one encounters the oft repeated mention of Yajna. The basic ritual according to Vedic tradition is Yajna. To borrow directly from various materials available on the internet on the stated subject “the Sanskrit word Yajna is derived from the root ‘Yaj’ which means to worship, to sacrifice, to bestow, and to offer. The word Yaga also has the same meaning, worship in the form of offering oblations or a sacrifice for the gods. It is also defined as the Tyaga – giving up or offering – for any specific deity or some deities at the same time. It is a link between the gods and the human beings. The essence of the sacrifice was a proof of one’s devotion to the deity. The human-divine link played by the role of Yajna was to obtain gods favors either in the external worlds or in the internal (psychological) world of the practitioners, for obtaining health, wealth, long life, offspring, cattle, victory, good harvest, freedom from evil forces, total salvation. The sacrifices in the form of offerings were made to the fire god Agni and are the first original and basic dharma according to Rig Veda”.

The Vedic practice of Yajna or sacrifice has continued into the Hindu religion and right into the present times.  Today Yajna is conducted during occasions as well as non-occasions, both at public temples as well as at private homes. The practice has worked its way into the blood of the inhabitants of this region. It has become a sort of basic trait that defines the Hindu people. The influence of Yajna on the behavior and psyche of the Hindu people which has now adapted into certain natural characteristics namely; (a) never to be satisfied with whatever is there (b) to desire more but never to work or strive hard (c) to find some short cut means (d) the end always justifies every kind of means. Somehow the concept of sacrifice always works. When you give up certain privileges bestowed to you by nature, it is always replenished with better set of privileges. The Hindu’s have known this secret since thousands of years and have practiced it till it has become a second nature to them. Temples in India have always been known to possess unheard of riches and even today we see such practices continue. The Hindu people sacrifice their wealth to the temples in the search or rather craving for more wealth, instead of (and sadly so) working hard for it. It has been the same story for every other kind of benefit.

Bribing the Gods for various favors is an unashamed form of corruption. It is an abuse of natural law. It is morally depraving and a dishonest act against oneself, against one’s karma. Let us see and accept the truth about ourselves, that we are a very corrupt people, we have corruption in our genes. There is no point in blaming the bureaucrat, the politician, or the businessmen when the nation itself is corrupt.