Strokes on Sabarimala

The Sabarimala temple controversy has hogged much attention and debate of late.
It is another manifestation of the Religion v/s Rights dilemma that the modern world finds itself in.
I have read many a passionate advocacies of the ban on the young women in the Sabarimala temple.
But what I feel is that no matter what faiths, passions and beliefs you breathe in, the stratosphere has to be of Laws and Rights. Religion is personal but Justice is not. And Justice just cant walk if it is made to drag the burden of everybody's faith and beliefs along. Such an attempt is foolish and naive. While the democracies the world over easily give the masses the right to choose their government, the Constitution of each country has been designed by a group of learned and wise men. It would be ridiculous to give the people the right to make their own rules. Can you even imagine the chaos that would prevail if that were to happen? That country would become ungovernable!
Countries and societies can be governed only with discipline. Of course, the system should respect the voice of each citizen, and it should be heard, and heeded. But, the foundation has to be of Discipline.
Pampering a section of the citizens by bending over backwards to cater to their "sensitivities" or "opinions" opens a Pandora's Box......who should you listen to? And who should you not? And to what extent? And by pandering to someone's beliefs, you are probably earning the disapproval of someone else.....so the government thats blessed by one section of the citizenry, is labelled as 'partisan' by another. And that disapproval, when tempted to its extremes, can become anger against the "unjust" government. The "pampered" citizens cant understand the "anger" of the other sections.....the whole thing just divides the society into different camps, each hostile to the other.
"Belief" is one thing that is deeply personal. There can be absolutely no generalisations about it. No one can say with confidence that "So and So group of people believes in such and such things."
And so, it is impossible to frame social policies and laws on the basis of belief.
What then should be the basis?
Basic principles of human justice, of course.
When the Britishers banned Sati and legalised widow remarriage, would there have been no protests then? Wouldn't religious sentiments been hurt then? Surely, they would have been. But since the iron rod was strict, the people obeyed.
Its a similar case here. The ban is illegal (i feel this, despite the Kerala High Court having upheld the ban in 1990, in favour of the religious sentiments). So, the women should be allowed into the temple.

Religion: A Renunciation of Reason?

We are living in an increasingly intolerant world. Actions beget instant and inimical reactions. We cry "hurt" too easily and then eagerly seek to excoriate our apparent enemies. Humanity and Principles be damned! And much of it is in the name of religion!

Haven't we been giving just too much importance to religion? Why have we allowed the religious identity of a person (a circumstance that he had no control over in the first place) decide whether and which opportunities are available to him in life....or at a more basic level....his right to life itself?

Every religion is a Philosophy. A way of understanding and explaining Life and its mystiques. The founder of each religion was indeed a man of exceptional genius and great insight...and a great philosopher and writer too! Someone who could lucidly explain his theories to the masses, in a way that they would understand. And since they did, they venerated that man. These great men deserve all our earnest eulogies. For they could make philosophies that have withstood the test of centuries! It is an ENORMOUS accomplishment indeed to impress the infinite number of people who have read their books since they were written and were convinced enough by their theories and beliefs to adopt them!

Each new religion arose when its founder, being the intelligent man that he was, found cracks within the theories that the religion that he was born into expounded. His dissatisfaction with the existing explanations led him to his own theories and that was how a new line of thought streamed out of the established religion.

Thus each religion has its foundations in Critical Reasoning.
And yet ironically, we know Religion to inspire Blind Faith....a renunciation of all reason, among the multitudes.

The problem starts when we stop analyzing and start believing mechanically in all the priests and the prophets say. Such a meek submission is extolled as Faith and is made into a virtue. And any attempt at reason or questioning is snubbed, not only by the clergy but the society at large, as heretical and iconoclastic.

And this is where Religion starts becoming "an opium of the masses."
The word 'masses' itself is a derogatory reference to a cattle-like herd of people who can be shepherded in any direction, because they won't exercise their own mind and intelligence.

Intellect is the origin of each religion. And so, by corollary, intellect is Above each religion.

Each individual should be taught to respect and exercise his intellect, for indeed, we all have it. And, if one finds certain deficiencies in the philosophy he reads in his religious books, he should be free to reinterpret them and reform them in a way that seems logical to him. He should be given the freedom to question, analyze and theorize upon his religion, or indeed any religion. Equally important is his right to discuss and debate his interpretations with the society at large.

So, Religion should be open to frank and incisive Group Discussions.

People plead "hurt religious sensitivities" as a result of such discussions and debates. They stage processions, protests or worse even carnage to register their "anger". But can we allow such orchestrated conduct to intimidate the freedom of speech and discussion? Indeed this freedom is the very breath of the civilization.

Such a freedom is vital to the spirit of religion as well. Religion enlightens so long as it remains a stream of fluid ideas, indeed so long as it remains personal....YOUR religion should mean the way YOU interpret the thoughts and the theories of the basic religion. You may agree with some, disagree with others, or even propound some platitudes and philosophies of your own!

When this freedom is curbed, when all Reason and Debate is denounced, what we get is the Founder's religion....Nanak's Sikhism, The Prophet's Islam, the Vedas' Hinduism. We are told to take ALL of the philosophy without being given any alternative (not that many would seek it though). Thus religion becomes an impersonal, imposing monolith. It becomes a shackle, rather than a stream. And we become the slaves of our religious identity....our minds led by our religion, when it should have been the other way round!

And, whenever any actual or perceived attack is made on the Founder's philosophy, we are fervently told that the religion is under threat! And amazingly, people do go to all extents to 'protect' their religion.

All of us are aware of far too many instances of this phenomenon. And the more we tolerate such misplaced zealotry, the more we fan it, and the more we confound the problem.

Indeed, Religion is best left alone.....to each one, his own.

Rooted Out!!!

Today, while attending a seminar on the economy of India, I was suddenly struck with the realization oft how alienated I had become from my roots!

I've spent my entire childhood in a small township of rural Punjab. I've always felt an immense sense of loyalty and love for the Punjabi culture and language. I've taken pride in my roots. I still do.

And yet, somehow, the soil has slowly been loosening.

Its been ages since I last read a Punjabi novel. Whenever I get some liquid time, I prefer reading some English books, because, very honestly, I can relate to them better. The Punjabi literature being produced these days is of a poor quality. Why, even I could publish a book of my Punjabi poems tomorrow (all at my expense of course) if I so wanted! The books by the famous novelists are of course good, but they are mainly related with the problems and dilemmas of the punjabi Kirsaani, not things that I can relate to much. So, I really dont find much stimulating and interesting stuff in Punjabi. Its the same with Punjabi newspapers. I've been a regular reader of Punjabi Tribune since childhood. It comes to our home now too. But, as my mind matured and the foolish loyalty started losing its steam, it lost the battle to Hindustan Times and Indian Express. The level of news coverage and the edit page is just too different!

But I am not playing the blame-game. My complacency is responsible too! I used to love collecting the quotes and poems of famous Punjabi poets. In fact, during sudden fits of enthusiasm, I would visit the local library solely for this purpose! And now, all these stories are of the past!

Really, I've been getting quite out of touch with my language. Being at a college of heterogenous character has further compounded the alienation. We have people here from all over North India, and not everybody understands Punjabi. Even those who do, pretend not to. So, Hindi and English are the languages in currency. I make it a point not to forget Punjabi, but I am not too obsessed either. I automatically switch over to the other languages during converations with the non-Punjabis.

People often complement me about my theth Punjabi, and such remarks leave me wondering about the future of Punjabi. I KNOW just how casual and poor my Punjabi is! I dont have the confidence today of being able to speak for 1 minute in Punjabi without alloying Hindi or English words into my speech. I dont have the confidence of being able to write appealingly in Punjabi (and thats the reason why I dint dare, despite getting motivated after reading the poems and short stories I had written in my high school). I am not proud of the Punjabi I speak. What I speak is not the beautiful and the RICH language that it is!

But then, not many people would know the real Punjabi today. Because not many speakers are left in the "urban" and "modern" cities. I know just too many people, among my friends, in our neighbourhood, everywhere, who will speak Punjabi at home, but outside, with a stranger, they'll switch over to Hindi. Or even worse, parents who talk to each other in Punjabi, converse with their kids only in Hindi.
But dont such people betray their extremely low self-esteem? What else would you think about someone who is eager to snub their basic identity, in an effort to 'fit-in', and appear 'in-sync' and 'modern'!

Years ago, I had made a pledge. I had told myself that as an individual, I'll do as much as I can for my language. I am an ambassador of Punjabi. Like every Punjabi is. And I had decided to do my bit in making Punjabi look appealing and beautiful to an outsider.

After a long time, this promise has echoed today.

Its time I thought of my roots again!