Skip to main content

Convert me too, please


Ghar Vapsi in Keral: Courtesy The Hindu
Converting to Hinduism is the latest fad in India, it seems.  It is amusing to watch people asking the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) or other organisations like the RSS to convert them.  I can now understand why many people converted from Hinduism to Islam in the heyday of the Mughal Empire.  There are some material benefits by joining the people in power.  In other words, for the first time in the history of independent India we have a party in power which resembles the Mughal Empire.  

30 Christians from 8 families in Kerala are the latest black sheep that have returned to their true family.  The Hindu reports that these families are “not traceable.  Local VHP organisers said they had been moved to another location.”  That’s interesting.  Is the VHP afraid that the converts will sell their religion yet again to a higher bidder?

The VHP and the RSS seem to be converting Hinduism into a commodity for sale.  I’m ready to buy it too.  Will they sell it to me?  I don’t need money. Convictions can never be bought or sold.  I don’t believe in gods and religions.  I trust my reason and imagination.  I have faith in my intuition.  Can the VHP buy my trust and faith?  Can it convince me why I should accept Hinduism?  If it can, I’m ready to be converted. 

In fact, I want to be converted.  I’d love some illusions provided somebody can convince me of their necessity.  I think illusions make life much easier.


Comments

  1. I think illusions make life much easier.

    Don't they? Forget what's right or wrong. Just following what's convenient makes life easier. But, wish conscience can be convinced by it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think poverty and lack of education - are two reasons that VHP can carry on with their 'conversion deals' so easily. It's unfortunate and should be stopped at the earliest.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When any Empire begins to expand it gets more support from people

      Delete
  3. Your article reminds of the latest flick PK that i watched recently. True, religion has become a commodity to be sold and the promotional managers or sales people are doing their job pretty well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I must watch the movie since many people tell me it's of my kind

      Delete
  4. Well said Sir. PK n U have similar thoughts! It's extremely degrading for Indian society that such a conversion wave is sweeping across & the poor r mostly targets. Economic progress & proper education r much needed for all, to prevent sch irrational wave from spreading further.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Indeed Amrita it shows how shallow everything from politics to religion is.

      Delete
  5. Illusions do make life easier. I sometimes wonder if illusions are all there is. The material benefits of joining people in power you've mentioned are also undeniable. I guess it's always easier to belong to a crowd, just which crowd is "better," I'm not sure...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The group with the strongest power is the best to join, Priya. People are doing just that.

      Delete
  6. Such funny observations: In the first paragraph, you compare Modi's gov with Mughal empire by comparing conversions. According to you Muslims and now an alleged Hindu Gov are people in power. You conveniently forgot the fact that the British too ruled india and during their times in the guise of civilizing the natives they gave a free hand to Chiristian Missionaries for conversion. Have you not heard about "Sepoy Mutiny" and the immediate triggers for it. You heap all your blames on Muslims and Hindus and conveniently forgot what Christians did while in power!! Fantastic!! The fact is this: When in power, people will thrust their ideologies on you...Its the same everywhere and happens even if you are a christian\ islamic\hindu ruler....

    ReplyDelete
  7. You call the families which converted to hinduism as "Black Sheeps". Thats too derogatory a word Mr. You or I cannot judge them as black sheeps since these people have exercised their fundamental rights to go back to their religions. (Article 25 to 28 please check them out). And you should also try to go through the judgement by S.C. on Kodikkunnil Suresh Election Seat (M.P)Conversion case pls..It will open your eyes atleast.

    ReplyDelete
  8. If conversion is your problem then why is the opposition silent when bjp talks about anti conversion bill ? They seem to loose the plot when they talk about anti conversion bill....there are legitimate and illegitimate conversions . the former is forced... Try to learn whether the people you addressed derogatorily as BLACK SHEEPS resorted to conversion voluntarily or were forced.... Dont jump the gun Mr.

    ReplyDelete
  9. You have also cited a report by a leading newspaper in your post. But have you not went through this report by the same newspaper: Umman Chandy's response when asked about ghar wapsis in kerala:
    http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thiruvananthapuram/no-forced-conversions-in-kerala-chandy/article6722679.ece
    Please dont jump headlong and write a half baked post. Kala Pettennu Kelkumbole kayar edukkaruthu!! Its kerala and not north. People here are far more aware of things. The guys themselves approached the hindu organisations. They exercised their choice...... It was not coerced.. I come from alapuzha and have frequented harippad. I know people there: eventhough people fall into low income brackets they know their rights and no one can take them for a ride. this is the case in almost all parts of kerala barring few exceptions..... It is a response from a Chief Minister who is a Christian himself. So donot denigrate them by calling BLACK SHEEPS. It shows that you are really bothered about people who leave christianity and join other religion.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Coming to the commodity for sale part of your post: The christian missionaries here in chennai and everywhere are thrusting their materials upon house after house. I stay in chennai... ive found well dressed guys approaching me in front of connemara library, commissioner office, hospitals asking me funny questions like have two timed your partner, do you lie to your partner and are you truthful etc and come and attend some suvisheshams etc... Even if i say emphatic no s they still cling on and thrust pamphlets in my hands.Forcing me i mean ! Yes Constitution gives you the right to profess, practise and propogate ones religion. but prohibits assault on "freedom of conscience". I told them this but they kept repeating their part. I had to call police. This happened even during sunday mornings in our flats... We got so fed up that the association had to tell the ones who knock the doors of our houses to stay away or face arrest telling them firmly that if anyone is interested in christianity they will approach you and no need to thrust it upon us....

    ReplyDelete
  11. The fact is this: Religion is extremely personal... and problems begin when it is picked up by others in the public domain.... Every religon promotes their ideologies including christianity........... Now hindutva is visible since they are in power.... but work by christian missionaries too are going on pace and scale being different......

    Conversions happening in north in Agras ved nagar colony: by Dharm Jagran samiti are forced.... if you had written about them then i would have said it was forced conversions. but the ones which happened in kerala are not forced. People down south are smart, have great awareness and know how to exercise their choices within their limits.... but north is a mess....

    ReplyDelete
  12. So please donot heap blame on Hindus and Muslims alone..... Try to write balanced posts... and wait till you get a rounded picture about the thing which you are writing...... And I recommend you to read the writings of John Dayal he is a christian and has great views too...... He is more balanced....
    Try to be more balanced when you write ..

    John dayal would hate to live in an illusion like you. he is bold brave sensible and reasoned....... and will face the truth and fight against injustice and wont paint everything with same colour like you have done. its a blasphemy that i compared JD with you but its only for sake of difference.....

    Try to read this too : http://www.thehindu.com/sunday-anchor/sunday-anchor-conversion-confusion/article6711663.ece

    ReplyDelete
  13. Conversion shouldn't be a problem as long as it is voluntary.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Adventures of Toto as a comic strip

  'The Adventures of Toto' is an amusing story by Ruskin Bond. It is prescribed as a lesson in CBSE's English course for class 9. Maggie asked her students to do a project on some of the lessons and Femi George's work is what I would like to present here. Femi converted the story into a beautiful comic strip. Her work will speak for itself and let me present it below.  Femi George Student of Carmel Public School, Vazhakulam, Kerala Similar post: The Little Girl

The Little Girl

The Little Girl is a short story by Katherine Mansfield given in the class 9 English course of NCERT. Maggie gave an assignment to her students based on the story and one of her students, Athena Baby Sabu, presented a brilliant job. She converted the story into a delightful comic strip. Mansfield tells the story of Kezia who is the eponymous little girl. Kezia is scared of her father who wields a lot of control on the entire family. She is punished severely for an unwitting mistake which makes her even more scared of her father. Her grandmother is fond of her and is her emotional succour. The grandmother is away from home one day with Kezia's mother who is hospitalised. Kezia gets her usual nightmare and is terrified. There is no one at home to console her except her father from whom she does not expect any consolation. But the father rises to the occasion and lets the little girl sleep beside him that night. She rests her head on her father's chest and can feel his heart...

War and Meaning of Victory

In the summer of 1999, while the rest of India was soaked in monsoon and Cricket World Cup, the country’s soldiers were clawing up frozen cliffs daring the bullets that came shooting from above. India’s incorrigible neighbour had sent its soldiers and militants to capture the snow-covered peaks of Kargil. It was an act of deception, a capture of India’s land stealthily. The terrain was harsh and hostile, testing the limits of human courage with every jagged step. The Kargil War was not just against a human enemy, but against peaks of stones and snow where the air itself was an adversary. Three months of bitter conflict and subhuman killing ended in India’s victory over the invading Pakistan. Victory! July 26 is celebrated ever after as Kargil Vijay Diwas by India. What is victory, however? Philosophically, I mean. We are supposed to be rational (philosophical) creatures, after all. “ W ar does not determine who is right,” Bertrand Russell said famously, “but who is left.” Every...

Dine in Eden

If you want to have a typical nonvegetarian Malayali lunch or dinner in a serene village in Kerala, here is the Garden of Eden all set for you at Ramapuram [literally ‘Abode of Rama’] in central Kerala. The place has a temple each for Rama and his three brothers: Lakshmana, Bharata, and Shatrughna. It is believed that Rama meditated in this place during his exile and also that his brothers joined him for a while. Right in the heart of the small town is a Catholic church which is an imposing structure that makes an eloquent assertion of religious identity. Quite close to all these religious places is the Garden of Eden, Eden Thoppu in Malayalam, a toddy shop with a difference. Toddy is palm wine, a mild alcoholic drink collected from palm trees. In my childhood, toddy was really natural; i.e., collected from palm trees including coconut trees which are ubiquitous in Kerala. My next-door neighbours, two brothers who lived in the same house, were toddy-tappers. Toddy was a health...

Unromantic Men

Romance is a tenderness of the heart. That is disappearing even from the movies. Tenderness of heart is not a virtue anymore; it is a weakness. Who is an ideal man in today’s world? Shakespeare’s Romeo and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s Devdas would be considered as fools in today’s world in which the wealthiest individuals appear on elite lists, ‘strong’ leaders are hailed as nationalist heroes, and success is equated with anything other than traditional virtues. The protagonist of Colleen McCullough’s 1977 novel, The Thorn Birds [which sold more than 33 million copies], is torn between his idealism and his natural weaknesses as a human being. Ralph de Bricassart is a young Catholic priest who is sent on a kind of punishment-appointment to a remote rural area of Australia where the Cleary family arrives from New Zealand in 1921 to take care of the enormous estate of Mary Carson who is Paddy Cleary’s own sister. Meggy Cleary is the only daughter of Paddy and Fiona who have eight so...