On the 15th of August India celebrated its 67th year as an independent nation. Every year on Independence Day my mind becomes a battle ground. The parallel world inside my head loses its peaceful co-existence and tries to find answers about things that are related to being Indian . Like previous years, my mind decided to go into “auto” reflection mode about one specific aspect of India, i.e.. The way in which non- Indians perceive India. I do not mean how the rest of the “western” world sings praises about how happy and content we Indians are despite the wide-spread poverty or the lack of access to basic resources. It is rather the simplistic image of India that the other part of the world has that agitates and perturbs me.
Having friends from across the world has given me a deep insight into the perception that people have about Mother India. I often get questions like “So what’s the best time to travel to India?” Well, the seasons have a mind of their own in this country you see, January might be perfectly nice weather to go to the Southern states but you’ll freeze away in that season, if you decide to go to Kashmir or Kullu or even Delhi . When I do point this out I’m met with a response which says “ Oh but we thought, that India is a very hot country”. Now you know, not all parts are hot.
Another perception that I have often come across is India being a ” land of spirituality “. I am not denying that India has produced many great spiritual leaders who have contributed a lot towards spiritual development throughout the world. But to expect that every citizen of India would be spiritually inclined and would be an authority on spiritual matters is rather naive.
This naivety is brought to the forefront in the much acclaimed book called “ Eat , Pray Love”. A book that by sheer word of mouth publicity had raised my hopes so high that there was no way but down!!. I cannot comment much on, the other countries that are mentioned in the book, i.e. Italy & Indonesia, since I have not been to these countries but I do have a thing or two to say about my own country--- India. When will the world realize that India is much more than the mystical land of temples and gurus. It has real people living in it doing real & regular activities & are happy without "seeking" happiness". Happiness is not to be "sought" in bogus ashrams where the access is limited to those who can spare the dollars. What about "dollar- less- people" who want to "seek" balance & happiness! Where should they go!.
Of all the aspects about India that are reduced to a simplistic statement, the best I have come across is “ Indian culture”. India is the birthplace of four of the world's major religions; namely Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. Apart from these four, Christianity, Zoroastrianism , Islam and Judaism are also there in varied degrees. With so many religions existing , it is highly unfair and parochial to term Hindu culture as” Indian” culture. “Namaste” is an Indian greeting but so is “ Sat-shree-aakal “ and “ Saalm- walekum”. Don’t be surprised the next time you hear me say “Salam-wale-kum” to someone. And please,, please, please, Hindi is NOT our National language. We have 18 Constitutional languages and Hindi happens to be one of them. Just like a Northern Indian may not know the other 17 languages, the person from any of the southern States may not know Hindi. There is nothing shocking about it.
Each religion in India brings a unique aspect of the country. Where there is Hinduism that believes in the concept of” karma”, there are religions like Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism that are based on a premise of equality. Zoroastrianism believes in leading a good and prosperous life. No wonder the most successful companies and the top notch lawyers are all Zoroastrians. Islam teaches submission to the All mighty (Muslim" is an Arabic word meaning "one who submits to God) and Christian faith believes that God sent his son to die for the sins of humans. Each of these religions and their teachings has shaped India to and its people. When such diversity is the core the core of a nation, a reductionist approach does more harm than good. India is as heterogeneous as it can get. To view this complex web from a lens of homogeneity is nothing but a very myopic view of a culture and a nation.
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