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Yakshi in Pinterest |
In his book The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins
argues that nationalism, religious bigotry, and other forms of zealotry are
often the result of insecurity, a lack of self-confidence, or a deep-seated fear
of insignificance. Quite many of today’s world leaders, who are all extremely
and unwarrantedly belligerent, reminded me of Dawkins though I’m no fan of the man’s
scientific extremism.
Dawkins is only one among many
thinkers who expressed similar ideas, however. Eric Hoffer says in The True
Believer that mass movements, including religious and nationalist ones,
attract individuals who seek to escape their own personal failures or anxieties
by identifying with a larger cause.
There are too many people suffering
from personal insecurities in today’s world, it appears. There’s so much
nationalism and even more unhealthy religious fervour. In India, both
nationalism and religion have got mixed into a lethal concoction.
Many Indian newspapers of today have
given prominent coverage to the “self-deportation” of Ranjani Srinivasan, an
Indian student at Columbia University. She had shown her support to Palestine
in a demonstration. Hence the Trump administration told her that it was a “privilege
to be granted a visa to live and study in the USA. When you advocate for
violence and terrorism, that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be
in this country.”
Another Columbia University student,
Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian from West Bank, was arrested by US immigration
officials for his role in leading campus protests against Israel.
Why do people like Trump fear
protestors so much? Why do they feel so insecure?
Let me digress a little from the topic
of psychological insecurities to ask a question: Why should anyone defend
Israel anymore? Israel, founded by a people who were victimised by Nazism, has
now become an inhuman victimiser. It has been perpetrating genocide in
Palestine for quite some time now. Why is the liberal “gentile” West of Trump &
Co defending a heartless settler-colonialist supremacist regime?
I’m reminded of an old Malayalam
novel by Malayattoor Ramakrishnan [1927-1997]. Yakshi, the novel,
was published in 1967 and was made into a movie by the same title the next year,
and another movie in 2011 (Akam). In Kerala’s tradition, Yakshi is a
female vampire who is driven by vindictiveness against men. What a Yakshi does
usually is to seduce men in the middle of the night and then kill them
brutally. Some Yakshis have passionate sex with the men before sucking their
blood altogether.
In Malayattoor’s novel, however, the
protagonist is transmuting an innocent, beautiful, young woman into a Yakshi
because of his own insecurities. Srinivasan, the protagonist, is scarred badly
on his face by an accident in the chemistry lab of the college where he is a
lecturer. The scar gifts him too many insecurities. When his fiancée leaves him
because of the scar, his psychological problems become more complex. Then,
unexpectedly, a beautiful, young Ragini enters his life. She loves him. The
scar is immaterial to her.
Srinivasan now realises that he has
been rendered sexually impotent by his feelings of insecurity. In order to
conceal his own acute insecurities, he projects Ragini as a Yakshi. Ragini has
been cursed to live on earth by the Queen of Yakshidom, according to Srinivasan’s
new narrative. She can acquire release from the curse only by draining
Srinivasan’s blood. But she falls so deeply in love with Srinivasan that she is
incapable of killing him. That is the narrative constructed by Srinivasan. In
the end, Ragini becomes a tragic victim of Srinivasan’s falsehood and delusions.
Is the world today becoming a victim
of the falsehood and delusions of a few individuals who claim to be world’s
leaders but are actually men with fragile male egos? Aren’t many of the leaders
driven by personal vulnerabilities rather than by any leadership qualities? Don’t
their responses and reactions reveal basic internal fear, self-doubt, and paranoia?
Would a genuine leader resort to
authoritarianism instead of standing up to genuine criticism? Why would a
genuine leader resort to exaggerated displays of strength or hyper-nationalism?
No good leader would ever require the constant support of sycophants.
Manipulation of narratives, engaging in aggressive policies, and cracking down
on dissent, all reveal too many chinks in the armour.
We, the ordinary people, deserve much better leaders than the ones we have, ones who transmute innocent and loving Raginis into their Yakshis.
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Yakshi as imagined by ChatGPT |
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Insecurity breeds violence!
ReplyDeleteYes, and both seem to be experiencing a snowball effect.
DeleteHari Om
ReplyDeleteThe irony of Dawkins is that his 'scientific mind' is as fundamentalist as any he rails against! As a slight aside, one of the most interesting disussions I have ever listened to was between RD and Satish Kumar">... YAM xx
I'm with you totally on this scientific fundamentalism of Dawkins. I'd have been a fan of his had he given enough room in his vision for the unscientific eccentricity of people like me.
DeleteThanks for the link. I wasn't aware of SK...
Thank you, Yamini, for sharing this link.
DeleteA thought-provoking post. The Yakshi analogy is quite striking. We see insecurity all around, not just in politics. It's closely allied to fear. And both together can create havoc. When our leaders are insecure, the extent of the damage is quite widespread.
ReplyDeleteThe most insecure people ascend the highest thrones!
DeleteI can answer the question of why they're supporting Israel. In their branch of evangelical Christianity, Israel has to exist for the end of times to happen. For the 2nd coming. For rapture. Which is not a good reason, frankly, but they'll hold on to their beliefs (and their belief that we're in the end times), and they'll continue to support Israel.
ReplyDeleteAh, religion again! Dawkins' scientific fundamentalism is preferable.
DeleteAgree. Foor for thought.
ReplyDelete