Cultural Orphans: Indians ashamed of their own heritage
Major
General Mrinal Suman
For an Indian, a visit to Indonesia
can be an eye-opener. It is fervently proud of its heritage. Although it is the
largest Muslim country in the world, it has inscribed the picture of Lord
Ganesh on its 20,000 rupiah currency notes. Even the
most prestigious institute of technology has Lord Ganesh in its logo. Indonesia’s official airline is called Garuda (Lord
Vishnu’s mount) and the official bank is named after Kubera (the Hindu god of
wealth).
Indonesian government patronises and supports dance dramas and
puppet shows that depict stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata. It has also issued
many stamps on the two epics. Jakarta has a huge sculpture of Lord Krishna revealing Bhagavad
Gita to Arjuna. In Bali, statues of Hindu deities adorn most public places. Several
cross-roads have massive sculptures portraying scenes from Hindu scriptures,
like the sun-god riding his chariot, yoked by seven horses.
For an Indian, it is a puzzling experience:
a Muslim country honouring Hindu gods. Unable to control his curiosity, a
tourist quizzed our guide Mustafa. After looking at the perplexed faces of the
group, Mustafa responded, “Earlier all of us were Hindus and worshipped these
gods. Whatever be the reasons, we converted to Islam. I do not pray to these
gods but respect them because I know that my parents, grand-parents and ancestors
worshipped them? They are a part of my heritage and ancestry. Should change of
faith make me disown my heritage? That would amount to my disowning my own
lineage and ancestors.” The silence was deafening.
In a few sentences, Mustafa had taught us what we Indians have
not learnt for centuries. No educated Indian ever boasts of India’s rich
heritage. Our education system has ingrained in us an acute sense of
inferiority. We eulogise everything that is Western and run down our own glorious
past. Everything concerning ancient India’s intellectual prowess, cultural richness,
multiple philosophies and liberal thoughts is painted as narrow-mindedness.
India is perhaps the
only country in the world that is ashamed of its heritage. Yes, the word
ashamed is an apt description. Expressions like Vedas, Hindus, Hindutva,
Saffron and Bharat Mata have come to convey a sense of inadequacy. The whole
world applauds India for its Vedic knowledge, philosophical expositions,
ayurveda, yoga and a host of other gifts to humanity. However, our Westernised
stooges carry on deriding our heritage. Using Mustafa’s taxonomy, they take
pride in masquerading as ‘cultural orphans’. Let me cite two events of the
recent past to prove my assertion.
The World Yoga Day
On 27 September 2014, Prime
Minister Modi exhorted the UN General Assembly, “Yoga is an invaluable gift of
India’s ancient tradition. It embodies unity of mind and body; thought and
action; restraint and fulfilment; harmony between man and nature; a holistic
approach to health and well-being.” He suggested that 21 June be adopted as the
World Yoga Day. In less than 90 days, the UN
General Assembly passed the resolution unanimously, accepting the fact that
yoga originated in India around 5,000 years ago and is an immensely beneficial mental, physical
and spiritual practice.
It was recognition of India’s heritage and a matter of great
pride for India. While the intelligentsia ignored the feat, no channel ran
prime-time programme to highlight the achievement. For them, anything belonging
to ancient India cannot be acclaim-worthy.
At the first official observation of the World Yoga Day on 21
June 2015, a total of 35,985 participants from 84 nationalities performed asanas. Modi’s words, on the said
occasion, were truly sagacious, “India’s priceless legacy is today world’s
legacy.”
As is the wont of our India-deprecating critics, no one had a
good word to say about the event. They faulted Modi for not doing asanas in the proper manner. Some even
doubted his claims of doing yoga regularly. A significant segment appeared to
be more obsessed with the spreading of yoga mats rather than the import of the
occasion. Deviously, a campaign was started that the soldiers were demeaned as
they were forced to lay mats whereas the fact is that the mats were laid by
civilian workers and the army had provided a few Havildars to oversee layout
and alignment.
An occasion of national pride was deliberately portrayed as a
fundamentalist and anti-secular agenda of the ruling party. Baba Ramdev’s laudable
offer of training yoga teachers for the army has also been termed as a step
towards communalisation of the army. One wonders as to how Indians can revel in
degrading India.
The Art of Living’s World Cultural Festival
Last month, nearly four lakh people
from 155 countries attended anniversary celebrations of The Art of Living (AoL)
at Delhi. It was described as ‘an impeccable choreography of spiritual
exuberance’. Over 37,000 artists from around the world performed. The programme
was beamed live to millions across the globe. The whole world admired it but
not the self-proclaimed conscience-keepers of India.
They faulted the function for likely
adverse ecological effect on the flood plains of River Yamuna. It was a
laughable objection. Even a casual visitor can notice the appalling state of
the flood plains due to rampant encroachments, regular dumping of
garbage/debris and total neglect by the authorities. No environmentalist or
social activist ever raised hue and cry to force the government to act.
On learning of AoL function, they suddenly
rediscovered their long-forgotten concern for the flood plains and launched a sadistic
campaign against the organisers. As was to be expected, media found a
convenient issue to embarrass the government and dent India’s image. It was
unfortunate that our President was advised to skip the function.
Despite repeated assurances and
guarantees by the organisers that they would neither do any digging nor use any
concrete, every effort was made to scuttle the initiative. As was to be
expected, no channel has reported the fact that AoL has left the flood plains
in much better condition than they were earlier.
The second objection was regarding
the alleged use of military bridging equipment for a private function. It was
conveniently forgotten that law and order and traffic management always remain
a state responsibility, more so as a large number of foreign dignitaries were
attending the programme. Aid to the civil authority in preventing likely
stampede cannot be faulted. Every Kumbh Mela sees such bridges.
As regards the bridging equipment;
launching and de-launching of equipment bridges is regularly practised by the
Engineers. Hence, the opportunity was used to train as well. Interestingly, the
army had built a similar pontoon bridge at Agra for a musical concert by Yani in
2006. No questions were raised then. Apparently, army bridges are fine for
foreign performers but not for displaying Indian heritage.
Of Cultural Icons
While one may not agree with all the statements made by Baba
Ramdev, it cannot be denied that he and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar have done India
proud by showcasing richness of India’s ancient civilization on the world
stage. They are India’s cultural ambassadors and national icons, far greater
than many Bharat Ratnas of dubious distinction.
Baba Ramdev has taken yoga to the masses and made the
world aware of its mental, physical and intellectual benefits
for overall well-being. It is practised by the people of more than 170 countries now. Even the UN has been forced to accept that the
benefits of yoga are ‘amazing’ and ‘holistic’. It is a monumental achievement.
Sri Sri has made AoL a household initiative in most countries of
the world. More than 370 million people swear by it and practice regularly. One
cannot think of another Indian who has spread the message of ancient India’s vedic
knowledge as worldwide. Even the UN and the World
Health Organisation have recognised that AoL enriches life and promotes
wellness through spiritual growth and self-development.
However, as is the wont of many opponents of India’s ancient
heritage, they abhor anyone taking pride in it. To deride own culture has been
the hallmark of India’s intelligentsia. Modi was right in questioning the
opponents, “If we keep criticising ourselves, why would the world look at
us?”
And, the parting shot
Reverting to
Mustafa, while taking leave of us at the end of the visit, his parting shot
was, “India has such a rich heritage. Which country can boast of ancient
civilization, and 10,000 years of recorded history? Which country can claim to
be the birth place of so many major religions and philosophies?”
“Your heritage
consists of Vedic scriptures, Jainism’s Namokar
Mantra, Lord Buddha’s teachings and Guru Nanak’s divinity. It is common to all Indians.
No one can claim exclusive right over it and no one can disown it either. Can
ancestry be disputed or renounced? The people who disown their heritage become culturally bankrupt,” he added.
We were dumbstruck.
Mustafa had shamed us with his simple reasoning. By the time we regained our composure,
he had boarded a bus to head for his next engagement, perhaps to enlighten another
set of ignorant Indian tourists! *****
