by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
By Arul Louis,
New York : Hinduism is a “wonderful” religion suited for the modern era of uncertainty and questioning because it values incertitude, according to Congress MP and author Shashi Tharoor, who also excoriated the politicisation of the faith.
“Hinduism rests on the fact that there is a heck of a lot we don’t know about,” Tharoor said on Thursday during an interactive session at JLF@NewYork, the edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival.
What makes it fit for today’s world, he said “the first is the wonderful fact that in an era of uncertainty, incertitude, you have uniquely a religion that privileges incertitude”.
About creation, the Rig Veda actually says “where the universe comes from, who made all of this heaven and earth, may be He in the heaven knows, may be even He does not know”, he noted.
“A religion that is prepared to question the omniscience of the Creator is to my mind a wonderful faith for a modern or post-modern sensibility.
“On top of that, you have got extraordinary eclecticism” and since no one knows what God looks like one is free to imagine God as one likes in Hinduism, he said.
The Congress Party MP, who is the author of “Why I am a Hindu”, took issue with those who condemn the religion as built on misogyny and discrimination.
About the Laws of Manu, he said, “there is very little evidence as to whether they were observed” and there were many texts that existed.
Of these texts, “I don’t think every Hindu took the advice of the Kama Sutra, either”, he joked.
“For every misogynistic or casteist pronouncements (in Hindu texts) I can give you other equally sanctified texts that preach against casteism,” he said.
He explained that Hinduism “is not a religion of one holy book, but of multiple sacred texts. There’s an awful lot to pick from. What you pick is up to you. If you choose to pick the misogynist or casteist or offensive bits of the religion and say my religion allows me to discriminate against people or to oppress people, it is your fault not the religion’s.”
He made a distinction between religion and social practices that are not based on faith.
Tharoor’s expansive and deep explanation flies in the face of campaigns in the US against Hinduism with claims about caste discrimination and misogyny, including attempts to disrupt the World Hindu Congress earlier this month in Chicago.
Tharoor held out hope for the spirit of tolerance and acceptance to triumph in India.
The spasms of bigotry were a passing phase in India because tolerance and acceptance of the other was “built into the bones” of the Indian people, he said.
“That kind of bigotry that we have seen whipped up in the recent years is essentially a political exercise and to my mind not in any way reflective of the spirit of most of the Indian people,” he said.
“You can’t really change their fundamental nature,” he added.
The “resurgent Hindu nationalism is actually based on a dismaying inferiority complex” of those who feel their “religion has been conquered, subjugated; they feel a humiliation, an ancestral humiliation”, he said.
“Whereas the Hinduism that I have seen, read, grown up with, practiced and being taught is a much more self-confident Hinduism,” he said, conceding that the approaches may be a sign of a north-south divide.
(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Books, News, Politics
New Delhi : Politician and author Shashi Tharoor’s book “Why I Am A Hindu” will be made into a web series with National Award-winning producer Sheetal Talwar as showrunner. The Congress MP will also narrate it.
Taking head-on the current misinterpretation and misappropriation of Hinduism, Tharoor’s book is about the history of Hinduism and its core tenets, as well as socio-cultural developments in India that relate to Hinduism and his own religious convictions.
The book is a repudiation of Hindu nationalism, and its rise in Indian society, which relied upon an interpretation of the religion which was markedly different from the one with which he has grown up, practiced and had studied.
On its adaptation, Tharoor said in a statement to IANS: “In any time and era, an adaptation of this book into film would be relevant, but in the current political, social and cultural environment it is imperative that the message of true Hinduism – the Hinduism of acceptance reach the widest audience possible.”
“I am glad that Sheetal and I – who share a similar belief system – are collaborating on this effort,” he added.
Talwar, who will be seen producing in India after nearly 7 years, says when she gave “Why Am I A Hindu” a read, it shook him.
“I was ashamed that as someone whose profession is to voice, I had not raised my voice and done nothing while the inherent integrity of our pluralism was being threatened.
“After ‘Dharm’ and ‘Rann’, it is after years that I have been so excited about a subject. I am glad that I could convince Shashi to not only make this into a web series, but also offer his time as a narrator to the series.”
The series will headline numerous known filmmakers film an episode each. It is set to be made in various Indian languages and will be released in the first quarter of 2019, the statement read.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Books
By Saket Suman,
Book: Why I Am A Hindu; Author: Shashi Tharoor; Publisher: Aleph Book Company; Pages: 302; Price: Rs 699
Shashi Tharoor’s new book on Hinduism — the religion followed by a majority of Indians — comes at a crucial juncture when there is an upsurge in fringe elements that practise and propagate the ideology of Hindutva. The book, therefore, was being thought of as Tharoor’s response to Hindutva. However, limiting “Why I Am A Hindu” to the debate between Hinduism and Hindutva will be a grave injustice to this riveting offering as the book is much more than the sum total of this debate.
At the onset, it is a layman’s account of his journey of discovering the “extraordinary wisdom and virtues of the faith” that he has practised for over six decades. Tharoor himself makes it clear in the Author’s Note that he is neither a Sanskritist nor a scholar of Hinduism and, thus, did not set out to write a “scholarly exposition of the religion”. The book comes across as the author’s attempt to understand the religion that he follows, calling it a self-discovery of sorts will be accurate. Tharoor’s exposition travels between personal accounts and his understanding of the religious scriptures as well as the values propagated by the likes of Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna Pramahamsa and others in the league whom he refers to as the “Great Souls of Hinduism”.
It is thus imperative for the reader to have a clear state of consciousness before setting on to read the book because more than anything else, it is about Hinduism, a religion, and religions are, after all the reasons behind most conflicts.
The book is divided into three sections, the first of which is titled “My Hinduism”. This answers the question raised by the title of the book: Why I Am A Hindu? Admitting as sincerely as is expected of a liberal intellectual as Tharoor, he sets the record straight and confides that he is Hindu “because I was born one”, and goes on to elaborate that religion is selected for most people at birth, “by the accident of geography and their parents’ cultural moorings”. But this analogy is not to suggest that he is not a proud Hindu. “I was never anything else: I was born a Hindu, grew up as one, and have considered myself one all my life.” The section talks at length about Tharoor’s early days, highlighting how his personal understanding of the religion developed with time. “My Hinduism was a lived faith; it was a Hinduism of experience and upbringing, a Hinduism of observation and conversation, not one anchored in deep religious study,” he points out. The section also explains at length what he calls “My Truth,” where he describes the reasons why he is “happy to describe” himself as a “believing Hindu”, before going on to present a fair perspective on the values propagated by the “Great Souls of Hinduism.”
The second section is titled “Political Hinduism” and this is where Hindutva comes into play. It is interesting to note that the author takes 140 pages (about half of the book) to reach to the burning debate of our times and in doing so, he succeeds in providing a background on his belief of the religion, supplemented by the values propagated by the likes of Swami Vivekananda before explaining Hindutva. He begins this section by providing a clear distinction between Hinduism and Hindutva. For Hinduism, he presents an imagery of a banyan tree, in whose shade, “a great variety of flora and fauna, thought and action, flourishes”. From here, he moves to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and its ideologues — Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and M.S. Golwalkar, explaining their perspectives on Hindutva. Using original quotes, he mentions Savarkar’s assertion: “Hinduism is only a derivative, a fraction, a part of Hindutva.” The book then moves, at an incredible pace, to the advent of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya and the Bhartiya Jana Sangh and then to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Tharoor then devotes 40 pages decoding the philosophies of Hindutva — not as he perceives it but exactly how its ideologues propagated it. Contrary to all expectations, he does not criticise them or counter their views, at least at this stage. It is from page 183 of the 302-page book, that he unleashes a storm of arguments on “the politics of division” that has led to “a travesty of Hinduism”. Next, the author eloquently elaborates on the uses and abuses of Hindu culture and history in the contemporary scenario, resulting from “the politics of division” that he early mentions.
The 28-page-long last section of the book is all that he spends on addressing what most would have expected from the entire book: “Taking Back Hinduism”. Beginning with a reference to former US President Barack Obama’s speech where he mentioned that “India will succeed so long as it is not split along the lines of religious faiths,” he elaborates on the “travesty of Hinduism” in the contemporary times.
Tharoor is brutal in his criticism of the saffron brigade but equally accommodating when it comes to presenting their views.
“Why I Am A Hindu” is a well-researched exposition and is yet a charming personal account — and it floats seamlessly in rich prose and diction synonymous with one of the most widely-read and revered authors of our times.
(Saket Suman can be contacted at saket.s@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Books
By Saket Suman,
New Delhi : After a significant year for publishing in India, the upcoming month of January in 2018 will set the literary mood for a new beginning. The Jaipur Literature Festival will see the release of several significant books, apart from hosting over 200 sessions that will witness participation from writers and thinkers from across the world. With a lot taking place simultaneously and options as diverse as ever, bookworms have quite a choice to make.
The IANS recommendations for January pares a long list to present the five most promising titles that bookworms must take note of.
Here are the five books that we cannot wait to read this January:
1. “Why I Am A Hindu”, by Shashi Tharoor (Aleph)
In “Why I Am a Hindu”, Tharoor gives us a profound book about one of the world’s oldest and greatest religions. Starting with a close examination of his own belief in Hinduism, he ranges far and wide in his study of the faith. He looks at the myriad manifestations of political Hinduism in the modern era, including violence committed in the name of the faith by right-wing organisations and their adherents. He is unsparing in his criticism of extremist “bhakts”, and unequivocal in his belief that everything that makes India a great and distinctive culture and country will be imperiled if religious fundamentalists are allowed to take the upper hand.
2. “Pakistan’s Nuclear Bomb”, by Hassan Abbas (Penguin)
In “Pakistan’s Nuclear Bomb”, Abbas profiles the politicians and scientists involved in the development of the country’s atomic bomb and the role of China and Saudi Arabia in supporting its nuclear infrastructure. Drawing on extensive interviews, the book also unravels the motivation behind the Pakistani nuclear physicist Dr A.Q. Khan’s involvement in nuclear proliferation in Iran, Libya and North Korea, and argues that the origins and evolution of the Khan network were tied to the domestic and international political motivations underlying Pakistan’s nuclear weapons project and its organisation, oversight and management.
3. “Small Acts of Freedom”, by Gurmehar Kaur (Penguin)
In February 2017, Gurmehar Kaur, a 19-year-old student, joined a peaceful campaign after violent clashes at a Delhi University college. As part of the campaign, Kaur’s post made her the target of an onslaught of social media vitriol. Kaur, the daughter of a Kargil war martyr, suddenly became the focal point of a nationalism debate. Facing a trial by social media, Kaur almost retreated into herself. But she was never brought up to be silenced. “Real bullets killed my father. Your hate bullets are deepening my resolve,” she wrote at the time. Today, Kaur is doubly determined not to be silent. “Small Acts of Freedom” is her story.
4. “Keepers of the Kalachakra”, by Ashwin Sanghi (Westland)
A seemingly random selection of heads of state is struck down like flies by unnamed killers who work with the clinical efficiency of butchers. Except that they leave no trace of their methods. Sanghi returns with another quietly fearsome tale — this time of men who guard the “Kalachakra” — The Wheel of Time. Sanghi describes a world of people at war with one another — a boomeranging conflict of faiths that results in acts of such slow and planned human cruelty that they defy imagination. Zigzagging from Rama’s crossing to Lanka to the birth of Buddhism; from the charnel-grounds of naked tantric practitioners to the bespoke suits of the Oval Office; and from the rites of Minerva, shrouded in frankincense, to the smoke-darkened ruins of Nalanda, the mystery novel is a journey that will have you gasping for breath.
5. “Diwali in Muzaffarnagar”, by Tanuj Solanki (HarperCollins)
Friendship between two teenage boys dissolves in the aftermath of an act of violence typical of the place they live in — the north Indian town of Muzaffarnagar. A young man comes to the same town to celebrate Diwali with his family and learns that, given his roots, his cosmopolitanism might not be an option any more. A young woman, hitherto unburdened by family duties, grapples with the absence of grief upon her father’s death. Elsewhere, a recently married couple is pulled apart by a crisis rooted in the woman’s traumatic childhood. In Solanki’s book of short stories, young men and women travel between the past and the present, the metropolis and the small town, and the always-at-odds needs of life: Solitude and family.
(Saket Suman can be contacted at saket.s@ians.in )
—IANS
