Modern Hindu Conservatism

IN a country following a religion that preaches love, respect, tolerance, and submission to truth and one’s inner self, it is appalling to witness such intolerance of one person wishes and freedom of love for another. In the wake of the recent wave of honor killings that the North India seems to be witnessing in the name of self-respect, religious and social beliefs, one fails to understand on which adaptation of the Hindu religion have these murderous people willingly and self consciously slaughtered their very own brothers, sisters, children and grand children. In the name of sacrifice to earn the respect of the society and the wishes of ancient Hindu rituals not to allow inter-caste marriage, has the modern hindu beliefs undergone a paradigm shift from the ancient and the extremely admired form of Hindu religion. The temples of Khajurao, the teachings of Kama Sutra both an intricate aspect of ancient hindusim are bold enough to raise the brows of the today’s Westerners. Even closer home, the daily worship of the very spiritual and religiously supreme form of Hindu god, the phalanx of the Great Shiva, is considered one of the most auspicious and most commonly followed form of worship of the god. So much so that it is considered imperative for all unmarried Indian women to pour milk and seek blessing from the Shiva phalanx every day in order to find a suitable husband. Priests covered only in loincloth worship in many such temples all over the country blessing men and women from all walks of life. Why then should we show such narrow mindedness and ignorance when faced with true love blossoming between two young beings?! Why can we not disregard their caste status and instead except them for who they are and what they share amongst each other. Why should an invisible tag of belonging to a small sect of society created several hundred years ago, to group people by their occupation become an obstacle in the current modern  society when they hold no relation to that section or to the occupation of that community save for the tag that is reflected in their family name. Sociologists claim that this is done to ensure the continuity of their family name and community. But how fair is it to kill their own kin also a member of the society they claim to protect?

Hinduism has always preached love, and not just love for thy neighbour, but also love for one’s life partner. Waging epic wars to protect the love and respect between husbands and wives. Their stories have been passed on day after day to promote the existence and to emphasise the need for true love. Krisna, one of the greatest gods of Hindu mythology, was always known to be, to put it simply, a Casanova, running after gopiyas of all ages and of all castes, this despite being in love with the one woman  of his desire, whom he never actually married, but is still always associated with. And despite having such a colourful history, hindu’s today are still intolerant of most of the intimacies that take place between the two sexual beings that existed and was accepted earlier (example. Prostitution, once a much respected profession now outlawed). It is as if the hindu thought process having reached its zenith in ancient times has since then became more conservative and backward than ever before.

Partition 1947

The morning of 14^th August 1947 was no ordinary morning for young Mrs. Lily Soni. Her worst fears had come true, and the most dreaded announcement had been made. Her free and independent India had now become a divided nation.

(The left image represents the Hindu Majority Regions while the image on the right represents Muslim dominated areas. Darker Shades represent greater majority)

Roaming about the valleys of Kashmir, and enjoying the romantic moments of her newly married life, she was caught off guard when Lord Mountbatten declared India as a divided nation and East Punjab, her ancestral home, a part of another country. So while she was safely tucked away with her newly married husband in Bombay, her parents residing in the epicentre of riots – Punjab, lived the most excruciating moments of their life. Being a believer of Hindu religion, none of her family had to go through the precarious journey to Pakistan. However some of her relatives, namely her aunt late Mrs. Akshari Uppal had to take the treacherous path back to her home, India and as could be expected, the going was not easy.

With the declaration of the Partition, nearly 14.5 million people crossed the border to reach their new homeland based on their religion. According to a 1951 Census, nearly 7,226,000 Muslims went to Pakistan from India while 7,249,000 Hindus and Sikhs moved to India from Pakistan immediately after partition. It is said to be one of the largest population movements ever in recorded history. It also became the first and possibly the largest massacre in the history of the two independent nations.

With so many people hurrying to cross the border in search of a safer home, people left behind not just a land full of memories but also all their belongings, properties and hard earned wealth, hoping for a new start in a new land. At least this was the case with the cousin of a distinguished Indian Prince, who left behind her all her riches and entered India in rags, devoid of all her jewellery save those which she had successfully stolen into the nation, hidden from the prying eyes of the many robbers and looters on the way. So tough was it to carry one’s own belongings with them that many preferred to throw them deep inside their well in the hope that they shall soon return to collect it. But precious metals weren’t the only thing that the raiders were after; the sight of a pretty woman was more desirable than any gold. Because of which women too had to be hidden at the bottom of their caravan, covered by quilt, beneath one’s foot to escape the lustful eyes of the strangers. Despite this many young Hindu women were forcefully dragged away to a life of slavery at the hands of Muslim men. Rape and sexual assault had become common practice. Death too didn’t come easy for many, the ruthless nature of a mob ensured that there religious enemies died a torturous death by pulling their body of in opposite the directions until the body split into two. The sight of train full of human carcass rolling into the station was not that infrequent. Slavery, forced marriages, riots, manslaughter; they all became a regular event. Official figures peg the loss of life in the ensuing days of partition at above 1 million. The Hindus claim it was the Muslims who started the killing, while the Muslims maintain that it was the Hindu Sikhs who took to the sword first. Violence truly reached its peak in the inaugural days of independence. Ironic for a nation, that achieved its independence through non-violence.

But on the upside, the native Hindu & Muslim on either side showed a lot of compassion and benevolence towards the newly migrated refugees. Refugee camps were set up all over the country to assist those who have just entered the nation as well as for those who wish to deport to the other side. Free food and living space was provided to the residents of these refugee camps, it also served as an important place to trade properties of that they had left behind with a living quarter in their new country. Special colonies were built to accommodate the refugees. A number of schemes such as the provision of education, employment opportunities and easy loans were provided at national level to help start businesses at all-India levels. Yet many who had sprawling businesses in their pre-partition times had to make a fresh beginning from the scratch. “Mr. S C Kohli, a reputed film distributor of Pakistan, was one of the many people who maintained that partition would never take place and thus had not made any arrangements for when it eventually did happen. He was thereby forced to leave his prosperous business of film distribution in Lahore and embark on a new life in India by starting from the scratch” said Mrs. Soni.

It was only after Nathuram Godse assassinated Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi that riots and infighting truly came to an end. It took the death of the most peace loving person ever to teach the nation the lesson and importance of non-violence.

Why Journalism?

India is a country with a population of more than a hundred Crore, so to bring about any positive change on the national level, the main requisite is communication. Thus my interest in Journalism & Mass Communication

A person of great intelligence with even greater ideas may not be able to do any good unless he is able to communicate well. And herein lays the role of Mass Communication. A journalist while acting as a middlemen between the masses still ends up playing as crucial a role as the masses itself for how can a person travel between two cities unless there is a road connecting them.

I believe media holds the power to make or break societies. What it chooses to talk about, becomes talked about, what it perceives as interesting, becomes interesting. Even a small mention of some work in jeopardy can pave its way to glory.

Thus the role of media today is as important as that of the doer. As they say, It takes two men to make great things, one who is great and does great and two, even rarer, who is great enough to see greatness and appreciate it.

Is Physical Outburst the only Option?

I often wonder why is it that two men fight (physically)? What is it that prompts them to do so? Is it there ego, their pride, which I feel is the reason to most of the problems of this world. Or do these fights really hold some reason and purpose? If so then what is it? Today, it is so common to witness a fight that when one hears of it, it fails to leave any imprint on the person. It has become such a common place activity. And this is true for females too. Infact it has become so common to hear girls talk and ask about fights that it made me wonder, "Has it become the norm now?"

Personally I am still not able to get used to the notion of girls participating and rejoicing in physical outcries. I still somehow envision the girls in a more dignified and emotionally stable manner.
I in spite of being a male would hardly be seen fighting anyone physically. Now don't start saying that that's because you don't hold the ability to fight, it might be so but the reason I hold in mind is that I don't see any reason to do so. I don't see any worthwhile cause to fight. I feel that real fights are those which are fought with yourself. I always give them preference. For I see a reason in them. Now by this I don't mean hitting myself or anything physical here. I mean the fights we hold inside ourselves to choose between the right and the wrong. The fights which decide which way should we go, should we follow our principles or should we take the easy way? These are the fights of substance. They have a purpose and a worthy cause behind them. And thus I feel that these fights are worth fighting. Also I believe that these fights are more difficult than the physical ones. Much more difficult. You need to have real courage, true courage to fight these fights let alone win them. For here your muscles would be of no help to you. Here you'll need real willpower, which unlike muscles cannot be built in a couple of days in the GYM. It takes years of hard work to build a strong willpower, and which is also something most of us lack.