God is a big sinner... encourages great sins. I could never get myself to fully believe that He does exist. My percentage belief in Him never bettered 70 and never dropped below 10 [And after years of analysis I can safely say that this figure has got no correlation (+ve or -ve) with my marks in any examination. ]
Sometime back I saw a documentary film 'Ram ke naam'- and I felt the said percentage hitting an all time low. I have heard of Ram janmbhoomi, Babri masjid, Dec 1992 etc even in the days when I didn't know where the hell this Ayodhya is (read where the once-used-to-be-sacred Ayodhya is, if you are uncomfortable with that slang.). Now I got to see it filmed. [Let me make it clear in advance, that I don't have any attachment to any political party. ]
The film had been released by the order of high court in 1997 , when the dust had settled, to help people see what they had lost. Some parts of the film were shot before the 1992 masjid demolition and some afterwards. What I write here is largely not from the film. I have only taken some facts from it. You may say all this has got no relevance now, but the dust in this nation of ours has become light, perhaps forever.
"God loving folks of Bombay! Join us in large numbers to create history - A new temple of Ram. Ram jyoti will give you all the inspiration you need for the betterment of life"- says the great leader on Rath-"What is needed for betterment is only Ram!" sounds great! "If there is no Ram, there is no survival" Oh great leader! You tried to make Ram for us. Thank you. For centuries, there was no Ram (!!!). Now you have made One. I would now worship Him and forget the pictures of thousands that were killed in celebration of His birth.
The mosque was built in 1528. Fifty years later, Tulsidas wrote Ram Charit Maanas combining pieces of various stories about Ram from here and there. He had also got some measuring devices which helped him pinpoint the birthplace of his Lord in terms of latitudes and longitudes. So he cleary wrote that his Ram was born at X degrees north and Y degrees east. Despite his effort, the ignorant masses couldn't comprehend his writings well, and made at least 10 temples in Ayodhya, each one of which claimed to be Ram's birthplace [There was nothing wrong in it. It strengthens the belief that 'Ram to kan-kan mein baste hain']. There used to be pooja at the Ram chabutara in the masjid complex too. This place was a symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity. Mandir and Masjid coexisted there, peacefully for years, till 1949.
But with time people were learning more Avadhi! And some of them with good comprehension skills managed to read the exact value of latitudes given by Tulsidas! Great! And it coincided with a mosque! Great for our leader on Rath!
Soon everyone came to know about Ram's birthplace. When exactly was He born? Even their leaders were/are not able to tell. In Tulsi's time, the time measuring devices were so inaccurate that they showed an error of thousands of years. So he couldn't incorporate that detail in his work.
"Bachchaa bachchaa Ram ka.. Janmbhoomi ke kam ka"- Yes, the pictures of several five year old bodies in that blood-flood exactly tells us how every child of this nation served for the birthplace mission. And now while writing all this, my percentage belief in God fell below 10. Don't ask how much. I am still not a nastik though.
This nation is great. Here Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi got a Bharat Ratna in their own tenure as PM (!). Why didn't the leader on Rath award himself with one when he had got a chance? Oh, what a fool I am! He is not a great son of this land. He is at par with Mahatma Gandhi. Father of upcoming Hindu Nation (Haayy Ram.).
October 11, 2006
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9 comments:
Love your post vikram, absolutely love it...I have been fairly annoyed with an issue like that myself...one of the bad things about the modern India of today is that it's still hostage to imaginations like that.
Part of the reason why I do have faith, but of the kind hat doesn;t subscribe to any single ideology, religion, God, or person.
But my blood absoluely boils when i hear concepts like Hindu nation...I have a half written draft on similar lines, someday I think I'd publish it
http://apublicdiary.blogspot.com/2005/11/resident-evil.html
[Phoenix]
I know that cocept is the most irrational thing..obviously makes our blood boil.. that's why i chose it to be the last line..
read ur post.. felt my own thinking about religion and god being echoed there. U r right that over the time we have been tuned to feel that we should be ashamed when we don't perform a ritual properly... probably that's why i tried to defend myself by "i'm still not nastik though"
intresting post...
wish we would again be able to see the time of hindu-muslim unity...
[shruti]
thanx.
what i think is that the hindu-muslim unity is still very much in our hearts, it's the politicians who create misunderstandings..
but as far as ayodhya issue is concerned, it has got so screwed up at the hands of politicians that no solution seems possible in near future.
A delight to read this enlightened post and also the comments, specially by those who have the skill to write so well...
Somehow those with an aristic bent have often been strong ambassadors of such sanity...more is needed though.
God or no God- but surely all the inhuman things all groups do in God's name should stop. One couplet comes to mind:
"Masjid gira ke aap jo Mandir banaengey; Khud Ram bhi na aisi Ayodhya mein aaengey!"
All this in the name of someone who is supposed to have given up his own throne for 14 years to preserve the peace!!
You can hear it at:
http://mushaira.org/ppage.php?poet_name=Manzar+Bhopali
Well said..
But the irony is that it doesn't stop at religion. It goes deep till the casts..
Why we call ourself secular when all our politics is based on casticism
I am still wondering.. when SIMI is banned why an't RSS, Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena etc..
I think relationship with god is a very personal and private thing..Why they are making it public!!
For God sake please stop playing these bloody games
All said and done..We musn't forget..as the people so are the leaders!!
[Siyaah]
When someone with good writing or other artistic skills goes for the insanity, then it's the most troublesome... am talking about the people like Arun Shourie. I remember reading him in the newspapers when i was 10-15. He used to skew facts so cleverly that me the kid felt on his side at that time.
Yeah, heard that one from Manzar.. really nice.
"All this in the name of someone who is supposed to have given up his own throne for 14 years to preserve the peace!!"- i never thought of it this way before. How true! and how ironical.
[FF]
u r right.. whether it's the casteism or the so called religion- it's we the people who need to change.. it's we who make the politicians after all
as far as the ban is concerned, i think that it was enforced by BJP govt.. pure politics.
there r people in every sect who think they have got mass following behind them, while actually it's not, mostly it's the momentary public hysteria.. and that gives them some kinda license for future misdeeds.
Excellent post Vikram...Cant agree with you more..
Actually religion is probably the most powerful force in society. It can make people blind to reason and commonsense. And that is why it can often be so dangerous.
Really, it will be so much better if people stop using the crutch of religion. Believe in god if you want, that is a personal choice, but don't attach yourself to an one religion. Because that just divided people..
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