Hindustan Times
God’s nightgown! What next?
Please tell me it’s not true! How much more hypocrisy must we swallow as a nation? Who cares a hoot what becomes of Mahatma Gandhi’s glasses? What about his ideals? Why did the old man let himself be repeatedly beaten and jailed? So we could keep his physical relics and throw his spirit into the dustbin of history?
It’s the same with God and the prophets, saints and gurus, isn’t it? Make a big deal of a relic: a hair, a fingernail paring, a shroud, a footprint in stone, a whole corpse embalmed. And meanwhile we’ll pull a pop star’s, sports star’s or film star’s clothes to shreds because we want a relic. What does this say about Formless God and the insistence that it is ‘blasphemous’ to picturize, make an idol of or give ‘form’ to the concept of ‘God’?
I say that it goes against human nature. As long as we exist in human form we jolly well need to mediate ‘God’ through SOME form.
Which brings us to the Word. Sound is form, too; words are form. How can we even approach God otherwise? It becomes a matter of degree: “I use words, why do you make idols?” Hello, they’re both F-O-R-M.That’s why I loved Oscar winner Resul Pookutty’s words: “I come from a country and civilisation that gave the world the word that precedes silence and is followed by more silence. That word is ‘Om’. So I dedicate this award to my country.”
Resul (such a significant name, meaning “Prophet”, no less) is on the button.
It was such a quiet thing to say but what a fabulous statement of identity, politics, multi-culturalism, multi-faith pluralism: the entire enchilada. And yet he’s bang on with Islamic theology because Om is God-as-Sound! Regarding which, I feel those poor Pakistanis cut off their nose to spite their face when they ditched their multi-layered Indian-ness. Look where it’s landed them. Poor cousins of Islam, nothing much to call their own and mentally colonized.
As for Kashmiri Muslims, it’s mind-boggling that many of them reportedly want to be like Pakistanis and stuff themselves tightly into a little box of dates stamped ‘Made in Mecca: 7th century-fresh’.
Their situation really struck me when I was in Iran, it was so like Kashmir. The Kashmiri majority religion is from Arabia, the culture is from Iran and their big buzz, Sufism, which some now reject as ‘unIslamic’ (they won’t even step into their own dargahs, they’re so ‘kattar’) is also from Iran. Only their Hindu past was of local origin and they had to reject that as their price of belonging to the ‘ummah’. It must be spooky to feel pressured like that about people, like: “Is it okay to love these guys, they’re, omigod, IDOL-worshippers!” (Hindus are not really, but how many people in the ‘ummah’ understand Hinduism and can explain it in co-existential terms?).
Well, our coasts, especially South India, have had Islam long before Kashmir. And they have the cultural confidence to be themselves along with their Hindu past and Hindu-bandwidth present.The biggest reason for their cultural confidence, I think, is that they have a better opinion of God than extreme types everywhere have, not just some Kashmiris. South Indian Muslims, I’ve often found, truly think of God Almighty as ‘Ahad’ and ‘Samad’, One and Eternal. A great many refuse to diminish God to an evil-tempered old man in a Biblical nightgown, throwing thunderbolts down at us for wearing pink, knocking back a drink or holding hands with someone who’s NOT a husband or brother, or sings, dances and paints. Nor do they see God as some sort of petty bourgeois mother-in-law doing low-level chik-chik.
Read Farahad Zama’s beautiful book, ‘The Marriage Bureau for Rich People’ (Hachette, 2008).
That’s why Resul could say what he said, so matter-of-factly. But I hear it’s changed in South India too, with Kashmir types going amidst them since several years and egging easygoing South Indians to be “better Muslims”, meaning follow 7th century Arab culture tightly, distance themselves from ‘non-Muslim’ practices, hiss-hiss-hiss. They may not succeed.
Read Farahad Zama’s beautiful book, ‘The Marriage Bureau for Rich People’ (Hachette, 2008). Farahad is an Andhra Muslim and it’s set in Vizag. It’s just lovely. The range of characters he’s created, of Mr and Mrs Ali and their social activist son, and their Hindu friends, is one of the most endearing portraits of modern India I’ve read, the way we can be, the unsung way we often are already. Vision. It’s all about vision.
Old Bapu, who took the beatings for us all, and that bullet for the Muslims of India from a Hindu fanatic, would have wanted that we should have a grand and glorious view of existence, comfortably including everyone. t’s just so ironic that we chuck away his vision but want to buy his glasses.
(6 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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I just remembered something when you started with ‘hypocrisy’…maybe it’s not related to the post…but I still want to tell it. My school (which I shall not name), celebrates Nelson Mandela’s birthday for a whole week under the name of Africa Week!! But there is not even a prayer or a single minute silence for Gandhiji’s birthday on 2nd October! Go figure….
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renuka Reply:
March 7th, 2009 at 9:45 am
Weird. The old man’s not hip any more or what, having served his purpose?
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Can’t agree more with this insightful analysis.
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renuka Reply:
March 8th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Thanks. I remember you sent in a nice piece way back on a social reformer from Andhra Pradesh to Inner Voice!
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I must say it’s a brilliant piece of article. I am in no way a follower of Gandhi, but the thought that people (read: Mr. Mallya) have paid $1.8 million for a pair of ancient glasses and worn out slippers, was enough to make me balk. It’s now taken for granted that Gandhigiri will get you nowhere in today’s world, and a certain degree of aggressiveness. In order to keep his memory (spirit, whatever) alive, it seems like the Indian Government has come up with another way, than just printing his face on paper (which by the way, people can never get enough of). Naming dozens of roads after him in every city is seemingly not enough. It’s time to recognize that Mahatma Gandhi is good for naming roads, and erecting statues, and printing paper (money!), but his ideals are definitely old hat. So spending exorbitant sums of money on somethin which has absolutely no relevance seems like a very extravagant gesture. Maybe Mr. Mallya would like to pay me for my old pair of glasses and my worn out shoes.
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renuka Reply:
March 7th, 2009 at 10:01 am
i don’t agree with lots of Bapu stuff either but he got some big things right.
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Alok Reply:
March 7th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Somehow I think he managed to get it right simply because of the sheer numbers of the people supporting him at that time. There’s no reason to give a God-like status to one individual. Because of the popularity he has garnered he often manages to draw attention away from our other freedom fighters, whom I believe, were far more instrumental in our war for Independence.
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Dear Renuka,
You are able to write so freely, and have your say has been made possible by that frail strong willed soul Mahatma Gandhi who got us freedom. You are right that he would have liked us to have ” Grand and Glorious View of Existence”as of today. Who will deny it? But when it comes to remembrance and respect let us give him his place in the History as he happens to be our Father of the Nation. It is also true that we have forgotten his legacy and what he stood for, but when it comes to respecting him some one has considered it as his privilege to preserve Gandhiji’s memory through his personal belongings. Where is the problem.
Resul Kooty’s fantastic meaning to the revered word “OM” is what Islam stands for. I might shock you that 7th Century Islam was the most simple, tolerant, understanding and Focussed Islam. “Ahad” and “Samad” gave true meaning to Almight’s names which you may like to call. Islam’s outreach was not for Muslims alone but to every soul on Earth. Look where we have landed up? “Kattar” as you have rightly referred. There is no priest between you and the Almighty God in Islam and you will be held accountable for your Karma, actions. Islam has been the same all over the World be it Kashmir, Saudi Arabia or South India. In South India it is still the same. I have returned to my grass roots recently settling down in Chennai and no body to the best of my knowledge is goading any one to Hate or do things detrimental to interest of Humanness. Renuka if you do get a chance to hear Dr Zakir Naik, a doctor of Medicine, he quotes from Vedas, Puranas and Upanishads, besides Bible, Torah and Quran. It is a treat to hear him comparing the Faiths.
Please keep doing the good work through your Noble Pen and let us celebrate the Unity where Bhakti and Sufi philosophies thrived to unite us for Centuries. Regards.
HMS.
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renuka Reply:
March 7th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Thank you, Hamid.
I have heard Dr Naik a few times. Impressive performance. I think we have different agendas, though. I may be wrong, but the impression I have is that he takes the multi-faith comparison route to essentially prove that Islam is the best.
Though I am a Hindu, I question everybody, even Hinduism. I am not anxious to defend every line of scripture or justify it. Look at the cruelties that leads to, especially against women.
I think there are some eternal values common to us all which are worth keeping as humane lifecodes and then there are some cultural/lifestyle customs which we should be free to edit or adapt according to our present time. Our faiths should give us that space.
For instance, I once heard him say ‘Salaam” was the best greeting and he put down “Hi” and “Good Morning” as not so logical. That suggests defensive cultural anxiety. Salaam is absolutely a beautiful greeting. But why put down the others? Everyone’s culture is dear to them and they have to own it and operate it freely without looking over their shoulder for permission to wear a tie or a touch of lipstick. Also, a whole bandwidth of perfectly decent and friendly human relationships goes for a toss in today’s world if you are proscribed from mixing freely and unselfconsciously with people. Many people are deeply attached to their respective faiths but don’t want to be micromanaged suffocatingly by old rules from a different time and place. That’s the impression I have gathered over the years from many people of all religions who are gentle in their acceptance of others.
As a South Indian yourself, you know I am not from purdah culture. Indeed it is considered inauspicious for Hindu women to cover their heads. I would resist being judged as “immodest” by anyone else because my culture likes me to wear flowers in my hair. It’s not fair.
Within my culture, you know it is very strong on wearing bindis. I usually don’t. But nobody scolds me for it as a breach of culture and I do wear it sometimes if I feel like it. Small things, but my worldview is “live and let live.” Lakum deenukum waliya deen/ Ekam Sat, viprah bahudavadanti, as I feel you too think.
Best regards,
Renuka
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Vikram Reply:
March 9th, 2009 at 10:30 am
I dont know why we should be so apologetic of being Hindus and following Hindu traditions. We, at least the liberal educated thinkers, go out of our way to mention some of the deficiencies of Hinduism to balance any criticism of Islam or Christanity. Dr. Naik, as you rightly mentioned, is a smart speaker who might have read other scriptures but he uses selective aspects of them to mostly deride the other religions and to ‘prove’ the supremacy of Islam. Has he ever found anything at all in Islam which might be worth ‘improving’. I dont think so. He is put forth as a acceptable alternative since others are mostly uneducated rabid haters.
Man made religion. God did not. And hence like any of Mans creations they are imperfect. They all need constant improvments to match the context of the current times and the creep in deficient practices. period.
By the way, another thing which keeps bugging me is how would one expect tolerance, understanding or brotherhood from a religion which keeps on parotting “there is no God but Allah and Mohammad is his prophet”. I hope there is a logical explanation to this and I am probably influenced by the midless parotting of this line in the movies. But if it is true is it calling me, a believing Hindu, as a Godless person !!!!!!!!!!!! Would appreciate a nice explanation from my Muslim brothers in this forum so that my probably unnecessary grudge will be removed once and for all.
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Sam Reply:
May 19th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Zakir Naik supports
“death upon leaving islam”
“unequal treatment of men and women”
“unequal or superior status to moslems”
“jiziya tax.”
I can go on and on…
His thoughts do not belong to a democratic society
If today’s there is slavery he will probably even support that, as Islam’s founder Mohd had slaves.
Islam permits a person to hold, buy and sell slaves..
Renuka, always a pleasure to read all that you write. I learn a lot and am always entertained.
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renuka Reply:
March 7th, 2009 at 10:03 am
Thank you, Samar!
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Dear Renuka,
Such beautiful thoughts. I am really touched. I hope it is published in one of the main editorials. This piece demands a much much wider audience and should be appreciated by all right thinking people.
As you rightly said we have bid for his glasses but have forgone his vision. it is all a big farce isnt it. and now the dogs have started claiming victory for their own parties for bringing bapus glasses back.
As i always believe all people fit into only two religions- one of the good guy and other of the bad one. everything else is mere details
It has also evoked sensible responses in comments, yet, instead of deginerating into another bout of tu tu main main.
Regards
Vikram
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Vikram Reply:
March 6th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
btw I think the King of Good Times still needs some monetory support for his gesture (or is the Indian sarkar refunding him with my tax money booooo) and hence I will be downing a few cold KFs in the evening. cheers
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renuka Reply:
March 7th, 2009 at 10:07 am
whoa! ‘Take it easy policy….’ as the old phillum song went
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for all those who believe in him, oops buy visionless glasses ..
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Nice take on the need for vision ! G ji was also an extremist whose weapon was non-violence. “SOUL FORCE”, which is unedited entries from his diaries show in chilling detail how much he was unwilling to compromise in his belief when WW2 was raging, bigger bombs were being made and dropped and all the sides thought that destroying your opponent ‘properly’ would buy eternal peace.
I am sure they thought he was a non-violent fanatic who was so because he couldnt buy guns, not because he was an extreme believer.
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renuka Reply:
March 8th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
Good you said this.
There are several Bapu bios, too, but the one that really did it for me, (guess it’s what works when you’re receptive), is Stanley Wolpert’s book on him. It just freaked me out suddenly to realise how much physical violence Bapu was willing to bear and he was no Rambo, just one skinny thepla-type, or thayir saadam (curd rice) type as we’d say in Madras. Just will power and belief. Two other people I can’t get enough of for courage of conviction are Guru Tegh Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh.
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Hi Renuka,
I’d loved your line ‘Who cares a flying phalsa what becomes of Mahatma Gandhi’s glasses?’ (it came with your blog byline in yesterday’s paper). You really do bring in a lot of colour and fun into Indian english. Sad to see that it’s changed here.
Really do enjoy all your articles (offline and online), and am in complete awe at your depth of knowledge.
Thanks for the lovely learning ride…I’m enjoying every minute of it!
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renuka Reply:
March 8th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
Heyyy! Tnks, tnkser, tnksest. I love bouncing the language ball and I’m thrilled you like it. Wonder why I tossed out the phalsa from this post? While we’re talking (in whispers so Bapu won’t hear), gin, crushed ice and phalsa juice used to be a crazy summer drink, with mint leaves and a twist of lime. The phalsa juice came out this really pretty pink so it was a pleasure to hold and look at, better maybe than to drink! Haven’t had it in years and years, though.
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Very good piece, another of Renuka types.
Bidding and winning back the Gandhiji’s remaining were fine, as long as govt didn’t claim and patted itself on its back. After All, GOI maintains a lot of museums and each item costs something. So it is not fine to say for such items that the acquisition cost is evil where as maintenance cost and opportunity cost are good and tolerable. But the problem came because the govt first took vows to do everything to bring back the items, forgetting that there are so many serious threats harming our economy and law and order. Then it tried to take credit for what Vijay did on his own. “We have been able to procure them through the services of Mallya who was in touch with us,” Culture Minister Ambika Soni told media persons in New Delhi. However, Mallya told television channels that no one from the government was in touch with him!
Your views about words too being ‘forms’ is so correct. We all loved what Resul said there. Though he didn’t explain why it was so great for the world to receive ‘the word’ Om.
Your comment about Muslims in Kashmir is right on target. And I loved your sentence “But I hear it’s changed in South India too, with Kashmir types going amidst them since several years and egging easygoing South Indians to be “better Muslims”, meaning follow 7th century Arab culture tightly, distance themselves from ‘non-Muslim’ practices..”
Thanks a lot for this wonderful article….
PS: Thanks a lot to HT and you for this blog. I don’t know why but every time I mailed you on @hindustantimes email Id that comes with your articles, it bounced back. I think it has been happening for more than a year, the mails never get through. So I wanted to get such a channel to reach you. And I could see your picture too in the blog. Earlier I used to wonder how would Priyanka look? I am a great fan of yours…
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K. Rahul Reply:
March 8th, 2009 at 12:21 am
Sorry, I called you Priyanka
There is another lady who writes for Mint, Priyanka P. Narain… She is also amazing, and I am her fan too
I hope you don’t mind…
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renuka Reply:
March 8th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Wow, thanks Rahul. And It’s great you like Priyanka’s writing. I do, too! The more, the merrier, I’ve always thought
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Wow, thanks Rahul. And It’s great about Priyanka! The more, the merrier for all of us, I’ve always thought. Sorry about the mailing hassles. Pls try renuka.narayanan@hindustantimes.com. Bestest.
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K. Rahul Reply:
March 11th, 2009 at 1:04 am
Thanks a lot Renuka…
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K. Rahul Reply:
March 11th, 2009 at 1:11 am
I forwarded you my old letters. The (.) was missing between the parts of your name, and hence the emails were not reaching you. I am sure HT publishes your wrong email ID, I will check in your forthcoming article and will tell you if it is so…
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My dear Renuka,
It was a mere coincidence that I read your views on the blog for the first time while I was in the US. This response too is coming form the US as I am spending time here with the children. Therefore I whole heartedly support your liberal approach seeking meaning in what ever you do. The most fascinating thing that I love here is the ability of most individuals to listen to others views however different they may be. That is one reason we find that most debates are healthy and meaningful. My experience at home is different. I am particularly pleased to find you very polite and firm in your belief. The South has been the home for all religions that exists in India and I take pride into it.
About Dr Naik, I had drawn your attention for his ability to communicate with the audience as well quote from the scriptures.. Nothing beyond. I am happy that you have heard him.
From the Services we learn to avoid two things, Religion and Politics. With you I am happy that you draw inspiration quoting from Scriptures. I have thus indulged somewhat.
Thank you for responding and I respect your views greatly.
HMS.
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Sam Reply:
May 19th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Zakir Naiks thoughts are closer to Nazisim, as he supports
“apostasy”
jiziya
dhimmi status for hindus (any one other than muslims)
he is a staunch supporter of religious apartheid in saudi arabia and does not want to give permission to let any other religion than islam there.
How about Jewish people’s right to visit mecca/medinah ? they were there before Mohd came on scene with some verses (or as Salman Rushdie says Satanic verses)
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Thank you so much, Hamid. I greatly appreciate hearing from you so positively and am very glad that you share your views. We truly need to talk, all of us, so I am honoured that you speak your mind here. Please don’t hold back ever from saying something and wish you a wonderful vacation with your children.
You may be amused to hear that I was born into a readymade ‘Bharat Bhavan’ of an extended family. One uncle married the freedom fighter Saifuddin Kitchlew’s daughter, my ‘Zaidi Ammi’, Mrs Zahida Srinivasan, who was very loving to me - we stayed with them as kids in Madras when dragged from Bombay for ‘mundan’ (mottai!) toTirupati and Tiruttani - and two other uncles married Christians, one, an Anglo-Indian and the other, a Syrian Christian, all lovely ladies.
With every good wish,
Renuka
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renuka Reply:
March 9th, 2009 at 12:15 am
Another piece of family history I cherish is that my great-grandafther (Daadi’s father) dropped his caste suffix at the end of the 19th century and built his house in Chittoor, south Andhra Pradesh, quite near the mosque. I believe when the children of the house fell ill, the Maulvi Sahib would come home and pray over their sickbeds (”avarthaan vandhu mantram sholluvaar”: it was he who’d come and say prayers for their recovery, said a great-aunt).
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What a gutsy article, just short of blasphemy on either side. Will some one enlighten me with ‘Ameen’. Does it have the same significance as ‘Om’ ? As far as Gandhiji is concerned I do care about him. I always carry some printed paper carrying his impression on them in my pocket. Its only significance today is in greasing the palms. Give him the special place in history and move ahead.
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Dear Renukaji,
Let us not get so worked up about these our little foibles. They are laughable, but harmless. I mean, isn’t it better to spout hot air about “national honour” and “Gandhiji’s legacy” and write interminable Letters to the Editor about what the Government should or shouldn’t be doing about it than pick up a gun and shoot that Otis guy? We should love that hot air, that is what is keeping the pressure cooker from exploding. What say?
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why do we need religion ? cant we think of god without having to go thru “moderators” of religion? and we dont even choose it, but it happens by accident of being born. don’t get me wrong, i dont mind religious people. its only when 2 religious zealots start bickering, gets on my nerves.
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Dear
It has always been a pleasure to read your column in HT-Saturday. Two quick observations on the above piece.
Without intending to do so, you seem to have painted each Kashmiri Muslim or a Pakistani with the same Olive Green Brush. To contrast the voices and gunshots of intolerance emanating from Pakistan / Kashmir, one has to read two columnists of the Dawn Ayaz Amir - sadly he no longer writes for the the paper - and Ardeshir Cowasjee. Some of the opinion they express would give our columnists a run for their money. Like individuals, societies and nations exist at different levels of consciousness and India and Pakistan are no exception. Ultimately, it is the Lowest Common Multiple, “One” which remains the defining unit of larger entities too!
Yet another interesting piece on the same event was that of Barkha Dutt in HT-Sunday. She had pleaded for reinvention and reinterpretation of Gandhi to make him relevent for our times. We all know what is good and what is bad, both for ourselves and for the society at large. Duryodhan confesses in Mahabharat, “I know what I do is immoral, but I cannot avoid it. I know what is moral, but it does not attract me!”. Perhaps, the trick is to make morality very attractive to a lot of people like us!
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Dear Renukaji,
I read your article and I kept nodding through it thinking “yes that’s right, yes that’s right.” I believe that along with Hinduism you have critiqued Islam, or rather the exclusivist agendas of some people with within it, only because Islam and all other religons are as dear to your heart as the Sanatan Dharm is ( or its more enlghtened aspects are). I also feel, given the political and social forces unleashed by partition, and the way the politics of identity and faith have panned out in modern India, it’s a long haul before we can let go of the demons within and just live with peace, acceptance and tolerance like our baap-zaadas did for centuries. Yet I feel in our hearts we all, whatever our faiths, long for exactly that kind of India.
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Dear Renukaji,
I read your article and I kept nodding through it thinking “yes that’s right, yes that’s right.” I believe that along with Hinduism you have critiqued Islam, or rather the exclusivist agendas of some people within it, only because Islam and all other religons are as dear to your heart as the Sanatan Dharm is ( or its more enlghtened aspects are). I also feel, given the political and social forces unleashed by partition, and the way the politics of identity and faith have panned out in modern India, it’s a long haul before we can let go of the demons within and just live with peace, acceptance and tolerance like our baap-zaadas did for centuries. Yet I feel in our hearts we all, whatever our faiths, long for exactly that kind of India.
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Gutsy girl you are Renuka to talk about the family so openly in difficult times as these. Talking about life I too married a Brahmin from North and it was hard on my father in law to bear it, a Senior Armed Forces Officer and later years he was my best Chum. We had both the worlds, during Diwali a cart load of gifts and during Eid similar stuff. But then when it comes to operating in ones own space, I too was disheartened when my daughter married a Christian boy, and he is a favorite of the family now. We go through these moments at times lonely. Talking about your Dadi Ma’s father, even today for morning and evening prayers in the mosques in the South, even in Chennai one finds Hindus besides Muslims coming for blessings with their little kids. Ours is a fantastic country and in our heart of hearts we respect all faiths. The malice and hate is of recent origin from the hang over of Politics..
Regards, HMS.
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Sam Reply:
May 19th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Why dont muslims speak out against Jiziya on Sikhs/Hindus in Pakistan right now ?
Is it the fear of denying Koran or they are just coward to oppose more violent elements or they believe non-muslims deserve that, or they are not capable of debating/critiqueing islamic scholars ?
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Hi Renuka,
I totally agree with your point. The time , money and effort, which has been spent in discussing and procuring bapu’s stuff should have been spent on the causes dear to his heart rather then few articles of his. If we had spent the moeny and time on women upliftment and girl child education, i am sure, bapu would have approved with his big smile but now he must be shaking his head in dispair on seeing our attitudes and the priorities.
Buying is stuff is a disservice to bapu. That money should have been spent better.
Regards,
Jaya
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Hello Renuka,
You are indeed gifted by God to have the wonderful alacrity to put your thoughts and perspectives into beautiful expressive articles. Your observation on formless God and the need of us mere humans to give some Form to relate to is absolutely correct.
You have rightly pointed out that it is indeed amusing to note that while we are all different children of God, all bestowed with His divine consciousness, we have chosen different values and chosen to forget the Principle of common consciousness which exists across all.
Gandhiji recognised this and lived with it. You will agree that it was this reason that he had the courage to take the beatings, undertake fasts and stand for what his stands based on Truth and Compassion.
You may choose to clarify that it our association with ego, pseudo-intellect and arrogance, even if it is by God’s decree, which allows us to have these and get carried away with it. Some persons attribute it to our exposure to Lord Macauly’s approach to education and his approach to stop teaching Indian scriptures and Sanskrit so that the students could be moulded in division groups, one against other on the basis of caste and religion.
You will agree that Gandhiji could look beyond his British education and so found strength in Universal Consciousness and Principles based on Truth , Nonviolence and Compassion, all who have stood the test of time. Our myopic vision needs thought proviking articles from yourself and discipline for introspection if we are really keen to appreciate life beyond what our form associated thoughts would permit.
You have touched upon South Indian communities having the wisdom to look at the complete picture and assess the Universal Consciousneess in all. Perhaps observations from your end will validate that this can be attributed to non-exposure of divisive education system and access to opportunity of getting inputs from ‘learned” family members , teachers or advisors.
May you have the grace from God to continue to write to us on varied topics and clarify the positions of pseudo-intellectuallism, hypocrisy and bigotry so that society can be aware of people in positions of power and leaders who use religion to promote hatred for their own trivial selfish gains and means to stick to power.
Regards,Nitin
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Thanks Nitin. I’m trying to learn as I go along and the more I think I pick up, the more ignorant I feel. Our Macaulayan education gave us a larger world for which I’m grateful. But you’re right, it has much to answer for. Luckily India never really lets go of us and desipann has lots of good stuff going.
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real facts of life get twisted and turned by those in power and hence the need for every human to reach a position of power to change things his/her way.. that’s life and that’s what makes things happen as they do..
Bapu did things which only he as a mobiliser could do.. a mobiliser that he was, what Obama happens to be, in a different league though, he was able to connect with the real issues because he lived the real life, a man who insisted on doing things that a night soil carrier was forced to do..
not everyone would agree with all his ideologies but then he had perspectives too.. he would have probably been able to convince you and me of the appropriateness of his thoughts and actions (and maybe convinced a lot of us too) had he been living a retired life today.. but that was not to be…
what I see is that we as a nation don’t have a value system any more.. not sure if we really had one some upon a time but yes, we did have a lot of knowledge that we call today spiritual, practical that made life easier to live by understanding it..
what we are doing today is getting carried away, like the seeds blow away in the wind.. only to fall to the ground and hope of all hopes that the place is suitable for germination.. else they perish..
and the need for having ownership of the tangible comes forth because simply it’s a material world, the material matters more than the immaterial or the non-material. we have lost the ability to hold our concentration for more than a few seconds, with attention deficit disorders kicking into the generations, who would remember an idea .. all they want is something to hold on to physically in the hand and prove that some idea related to it ‘might’ have existed sometime back…
such is the fate of life and thought :>
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renuka Reply:
May 7th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Yielding to the power of passive entertainment is the mind-killer, in my view
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Hi Renuka: I have been an ardent reader of your column in the HT for the last two years. I find your blogs and articles very perceptive, well researched and wonderfully scripted. You have managed to pen down so many of my feelings, thoughts, ideas in the Indian context so eloquently. Your article on Mahatma Gandhi drives home the national hypocrisy we indulge in with respect to his vision and teachings. If only the people of world had followed his vision the world would have avoided the bloodshed in Palestine, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Bosnia, Ireland and elsewhere. Our government & Politicians have betrayed us. Gandhi was way ahead of the Green Movement now being pouted by Government & Corporates in teaching the Villages and rural area’s to practice conservation and recycling. His simple teachings and best practices were appealing to the masses. Basically I conclude that Gandhi’s vision is very much relevant to all citizens of the world.
Lastly I would appreciate your view point on Corporate Ethics which I find reprehensible in this nation!
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renuka Reply:
May 7th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Thanks, Nagesh. Your comment reminds me of a fabulous Airtel ad I saw screened on October 2, 2006 in the US in Memphis, at an event by the American Civil Rights Museum and the Indian associations, after a Gandhi Peace Walk. The ad was about communication and said something like “What if they could have heard him..?” And showed Russians, Arabs, Germans, Africans, Chinese, crowds from all over the world, listening rapt, cut with shots of Bapu speaking in public. It was so moving, I actually had tears in my eyes, and when the lights came on so the seminar could start, quite a few people around me were wiping their eyes.
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I have always admired your erudition about various religions and your very objective and thought provoking comments on them. I know you must be reading a lot books,cultural, religious, tradition etc. It is simply amazing. I always look forward to your column in HT every Saturday it is so informative. Have you published a compendium of your essays, if so let me know where I can get them. Thanks
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Thank you so much! There is a collection of my burblings called ‘Faith: Filling the God-sized Hole’ published by Penguin in 2003.
Tks n best regards.
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