Skip to main content

For those special friends



Many people on Facebook have advised me to go to Pakistan though I have time and again stated clearly that what I dislike about present India is that it is becoming increasingly like Pakistan. The Sangh Parivar has more or less succeeded in creating what Dr Shashi Tharoor has tersely named ‘Hindu Pakistan’.

This morning broke with someone dispatching me to Israel. If the “Indian Hindu culture” was not as “tolerant” as it was, I “would have been born in Israel” – that’s what the Facebook pundit wrote sounding rather ominous. I don’t know why this person wishes to consign me to Israel. There is tremendous irony in the suggestion since Israel was created for a people who were victimised by Fascism which seems to sustain the ideology of the Sangh Parivar.

I’m writing this to make one thing clear to these Facebook champions of the “Indian Hindu culture” who assume that I am an enemy of that culture. I am NOT. I have great respect for the profundity of the Upanishads. I am convinced that there is no better religion than the advaita (non-dualism) of those inimitable works. I am unambiguously certain that if god does exist, that god is within ourselves. God is the divinity we discover or create within us. God is the love in your heart, the love that overflows from your heart towards the entire reality outside you. God is what unites you with the cosmos. God is the realisation that everything that exists is as sacred as you are. Tatvam Asi.

What then is the problem? Why do I irk so many people who claim to be the champions of “Indian Hindu culture”? The answer is simple: they are not championing anything of the sort. They are all, without any exception that I can recall, champions of a political claptrap that has been popularised by a small group of people with an acutely myopic worldview which seeks relentlessly to project itself as a contemporary messianic version of the Sanatana Dharma.

I have analysed the writings and profiles of quite a few of these recent champions of India’s ancient wisdom. My findings led me the following conclusions:

1.     None of these champions know anything deeply about India’s real greatness.
2.     None of them is interested in knowing about that greatness.
3.     Most of them believe that Hindus and Hinduism are under serious threat from other religions and/or secularism.
4.     Almost all of them love to blame the Congress party, particularly Jawaharlal Nehru and occasionally Mahatma Gandhi, for all the ills that have plagued the nation since Independence.
5.     Most of them seem to have blind if not jejune faith in Narendra Modi’s messianic prowess for redeeming Hindus, Hinduism and India.
6.     Most of them believe, or seem to believe, that anyone who questions the Sangh Parivar is anti-national.
7.     Most of them lack the etiquette required in public debates.
Let me assure them, anyway, that I don’t regard any person as my enemy. What I question are certain ideological views and positions which I know are dangerous for India’s pluralism which is also India’s identity.



Comments

  1. Rajeev MoothedathFebruary 12, 2019 at 9:40 AM

    "Why do I irk so many people who claim to be the champions of “Indian Hindu culture”? The answer is simple: they are not championing anything of the sort". - You said it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Amit PattnaikFebruary 12, 2019 at 3:59 PM

    Dissent is just not being tolerated. And in a way, rabid misuse of social media has only furthered their hate-mongering. What's really disturbing is that the party wants all people to confirm to their notion of nationalism (which has right now taken a fascist avatar). Whoever disagrees with their opinion is taken as an enemy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalFebruary 12, 2019 at 4:14 PM

      Precisely. I hope the situation will change after the next election though my optimism seems to be misplaced as there is no sign of a good leader emerging.

      Delete
  3. suhavijayFebruary 13, 2019 at 9:08 AM

    You have captured the real truth of today's politics. Its all came down only to mud slinging these days.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalFebruary 13, 2019 at 9:18 AM

      This has to change if we are to achieve real development.

      Delete
  4. KPFebruary 16, 2019 at 3:37 AM

    Well written Mr Matheikal. I read those comments in fb while scrolling. Am not justifying him, but it might due to the insecurity every sanatana dharma believers are feeling due to the recent things happened in kerala..


    Its absurd the way thT hindu talked to you an another Hindu..am sorry. And i dont agree with him..

    Se are the sons and daughters of bharathamba

    I disagree with you if you say JN was the nicest PM or human being. And nobody can be so..

    It seems to be you hate Namo in politics and your opponents may not lole JN.. Thats their freedom.

    I think its a wrong term if you use Indian Hindu culture..WhT you mean..

    Thanks for being a Fan of Sanatana Dharma..or who am I to thank you..Its intelligence that seeks

    Best regards
    Krishna

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalFebruary 16, 2019 at 4:02 PM

      I was quoting the fb comment when i used the phrase 'Indian Hindu culture'.

      Modi doesn't deserve the position. His language and culture (lack of it, rather), his hatred of non-Hindus, hindi chauvinism... are a threat to the very identity of India as a country of diversity.

      My admiration of Nehru is a different matter. He was a statesman, scholar, writer and, above all, a dreamer. All dreamers make mistakes, yet they remain a notch above the mediocre.

      Delete
    2. जितेन्द्र माथुरFebruary 18, 2019 at 10:47 AM

      Your views about NM and JLN are absolutely correct and to the point. Albeit let me correct you that NM does not hate any particular religion or group or language or the like wise. His sole aim is to expand and perpetuate his power to the longest possible range and for that he can do anything. He can even ditch Hindus, Hindu religion and Hindi language if that gives him the desired political advantage. His attitude is simple - My Way or Highway. He is a pure dictator and a unique person whose selfishness goes to the hilt. He believes in Joseph Goebbles'famous quote - If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it'.That's what's been happening in India for the past few years courtesy himself. Neither the RSS, nor the BJP, nor the Hindu community, nor the Hindu religion, nor India, nor Indian culture matters for him. He firmly and sincerely believes in only one thing - I'm here to rule'.

      Delete
  5. moulaliAugust 8, 2019 at 5:44 PM

    Learning French will surely make your portfolio more attractive. POLYGLOT conducts a french classes in hyderabad which will help you attain proficiency in this language.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Resort with a View

A view from the Hilltop Resort, Karimkunnam A cousin of mine invited me yesterday to the inauguration of his new venture, a resort. Hilltop Resort at a place called Karimkunnam on Thodupuzha-Pala Road. Karimkunnam is a place on whose hills my boyhood found abundant delights because my mother’s brothers were living in those hills. A few hills belonged to the family entirely. There were rubber trees all over the hills in those days. Rubber has lost its glory among Malayalis now for various reasons. First of all, there isn’t much money in it now. The labour charges are so high in Kerala that the landowner will be left with little more than the cool shade of the rubber trees after the rubber is sold in any form – latex, solid blocks or sheets. No wonder my cousin chopped down all the rubber trees and built a resort there on his hill. It is quite an exotic place whose rustic charm will seep into your heart along with the cool breeze in the evening. You have verdant mountains all aroun
6 comments
Read more

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
44 comments
Read more

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
15 comments
Read more

Remedios the Beauty and Innocence

  Remedios the Beauty is a character in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude . Like most members of her family, she too belongs to solitude. But unlike others, she is very innocent too. Physically she is the most beautiful woman ever seen in Macondo, the place where the story of her family unfolds. Is that beauty a reflection of her innocence? Well, Marquez doesn’t suggest that explicitly. But there is an implication to that effect. Innocence does make people look charming. What else is the charm of children? Remedios’s beauty is dangerous, however. She is warned by her great grandmother, who is losing her eyesight, not to appear before men. The girl’s beauty coupled with her innocence will have disastrous effects on men. But Remedios is unaware of “her irreparable fate as a disturbing woman.” She is too innocent to know such things though she is an adult physically. Every time she appears before outsiders she causes a panic of exasperation. To make mat
4 comments
Read more

Dealing with Depression

Book Review Title: Why do I feel so sad? Your pathway to healing depression Author: Dr Shefali Batra Publisher: Jaico, 2023 Pages: 303 Mental health is as important as physical health, if not more so. Depression is a very common psychological problem all over the world and it requires due attention. By 2030, depression will be the second leading problem worldwide in the health sector, according to various studies. The WHO states that 75% of people with psychological problems do not receive any treatment. For 1.3 billion people, India has only 8,000 psychiatrists, as the Foreword to this book points out. This book is an excellent companion and guide for anyone looking for help in dealing with depression. It gives you the theoretical frameworks related to each of the topics under consideration and then goes on to provide very practical solutions or suggestions. The book is divided into five parts whose titles are self-explanatory. 1.      Know the enemy if you want to
8 comments
Read more