Gods, Science and India

Hindutva India is very proud of its ancient heritage of Vedic wisdom.  At the same time, it is painfully aware of the futility of that wisdom in a world which is led forward at rocket-speed by Western science.  On the one hand, India sees itself as the Jagatguru.  On the other hand, it has a Prime Minister who goes to every country he can and tries to cash in on Western science as well as Western economics.  Modi’s India sees no contradiction in asserting the superiority of India while begging the other countries for all sorts of investments. 

India knows that Western science and economic policies are what really matter in today’s world.  But it cannot digest that fact simply because it believes more in its gods, godmen and the scriptures with all their obsolete systems and worldview.  So Hindutva India will keep asserting that our Vedas and other scriptures contained all the science and mathematics much before the ‘cultureless’ Westerners civilised themselves. 

We had genetic science, eugenics, rocket technology, plastic surgery and what not.  Even our Prime Minister asserts that if and when he is in India.  We now have a godman who has cures for everything including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and infertility.  This godman can give us medicine for begetting sons rather than daughters the latter of which is apparently an evil.  This same godman can sell us everything from wheat flour reportedly produced from some exotic wheat to milk products produced from pure Bharatiya gaumatas.  From divya dant manjan to fairness creams.  Just a casual look at the products list and the claims that accompany them will reveal too many paradoxes.

That paradox is the fundamental Indian spirit.  We can tolerate all contradictions.  Our gods were never too holy, never too good, never perfect.  Our godmen are far from being austere.  They can be multi-billionaire businessmen, land grabbers or even Casanovas in disguise.

Our claims about the scientific treasures lying buried in gods’ own language in our scriptures are also part of that inherent self-contradictions. 

All these contradictions and paradoxes make up the Incredible India.  They make India mysteriously charming too.  The meaning of tolerance in India also lies in them.

But nowadays there’s an increasing tendency to curtail certain views and opinions.  That tendency certainly does not match with India’s quintessential spirit. 

Perhaps, HIndutva should do some serious chintan baithak.  Then it may understand that contradictions and paradoxes are not its private prerogative.  That other people too have their rights to follies.  Right to dissent too.