Our earthly existence is threatened by unbridled economic competition, materialism, destruction of natural resources and ritualistic religions resulting in a spiritual vacuum. All religions have been commercialised from the sublime to the ridiculous. A cartoon aptly shows an entrance to a concrete building where God is enclosed worshipped inside with chappals and brains left together outside! Into the vacuum have stepped Charlatans and all sorts of cults. India today is a mess of teeming emotions, raging tempers, intolerance, arrogant patriotism, unrealistic demands, mobocracy, increasing permissiveness, wrong priorities, corruption, loss of values and lopsided development creating sharp income inequalities!
We are trying to be an open society with biased minds. Eminent artists/writers works are not tolerated soliciting violent reactions from some sections of society. Isn’t our legacy Kamasutra and Kajuraho? Why do we love Bollywood movies with its sexy songs and dances? We ape western mores, relish international cuisine, drink colas, send our children for better prospects there and denounce the same at home! No wonder the best in India have been fleeing away from the mindless constraints and roadblocks to creativity, making their mark abroad. We generally have structures set up to inflict the power of the mediocre/biased over the brilliant / creative. Values of integrity, honesty and noble sacrifice have vanished. The pursuit of excellence is dubbed as elitism whilst we have glorification of myths which lead to disasters like Ayodhya.
In the light of Godman Ram Rahim’s empire and vast followers (nurtured by VIPs and politicians), devotion and mindless actions and violence to protect him from justice, we can see the power of blind beliefs which must have no place if we are seeking the truth! Did God create man in his likeness or man created God in his likeness? Jiddu Krishnamurthi is clear that if you look around and see how people worship God, it is obvious that man has fashioned the entity of God for his needs. Heaven and Hell are on earth, also man’s own creation! Sadhguru Vasudev says when he was telling a joke in one of his overseas discourses, he referred to God as “He”.
Immediately there was an objection from two women. He explained it was only a joke and in India, we have foreseen this problem. So we have many Gods – male, female, monkey, elephant, trees and a thousand other Gods. Since God is everywhere, in every nook and corner and in the universe, our idea of God is all encompassing. Why does God permit evil? God has given you a perfect hardware in body and mind. The software you put in is entirely yours!
The solutions to our problems are not easy. People’s beliefs which have evolved into blind faith, customs and rituals are firmly embedded and have to be upgraded in the light of present times and knowledge. For too many years, the upper castes exploited the downtrodden and kept them there. More than 70 years after independence, we have farmers committing suicide, citizens hounded for their culture and our secular democratic country being religiously polarised. We worship cows and goddesses, but generally dishonor girls and women. The head of the RSS which is the mentor of the ruling dispensation has clearly stated that we need to change our Constitution to impose Hindutva philosophy which is their right way of life!
India is too big, almost a continent. The population is vast with different customs, traditions, superstitious beliefs, religions and languages spoken. We just cannot afford to be narrow minded, bigoted, violent and communal or India loses its vital unity in diversity. The CBDT has given the Supreme Court the names of 70 MPs and 98 MLAs across the country for assets inexplicably hiked between two elections! We need a trustworthy government. Parliament needs to pass laws for speedy disposal of such cases against lawmakers. We have traded our freedom for bondage of commercialization, polarising our nation; Left versus right, Hindu versus secular, liberal versus anti-liberal, national versus anti-national. What is worse is unprincipled vote bank politics! Growing intolerance of contrary opinion is building up into dangerous proportions, all means including assassinations trying to silence it. Killing of rationalists and recently journalist activist Gauri Lankesh in cold blood, mere opinions and allegations met with dangerous trolls and defamation suits creating an atmosphere of fear are having a chilling effect on democracy.
No matter how times change, we will need to uphold those values secured in our Constitution on which the collective happiness of society rests. We have to take what is good from all sources and boldly reject what is bad for our moral and spiritual growth. The earth is a living organism. Rapid global warming, floods, freak weather, unheard of floods and devastation are warnings to jolt mankind. The message for all of us is get involved together to make this world a better place by changing our rigid perceptions, ending harmful or polluting religious rituals and customs, and working towards humanity, joy and peace. Silence is complicity! Ex-RBI governors and expert economists have opined demonetisation and faulty GST implementation have slowed our economic growth considerably. Forcible imposition of Hindutva philosophy and high prices are taxing the common man no end. The state of our nation today has forced many eminent Indians, like A.R. Rahman recently, to publicly and sadly state “This is not my India.”
(The author is a retired naval officer and freelance writer).
