Why we are OK with being #Rajnified but are not OK with being #Krishnafied

Saturday last week started with Vaani and I watching the “Petta” trailer. To us, there was nothing remarkable about it – except that he is most likely playing his age; it had all the trappings of the film ‘Rajnifying’ the audience though!

And Saturday ended for us with a spectacular, out-of-this-world, T M Krishna concert; his only live performance this Margazhi!

As #BlissCatcher Sriram Ayer (Season 1, Oct 2015), of NalandaWay, introduced the concert, he talked about how much venom had been spewed on social media over Krishna, over NalandaWay, and over the two partnering for this concert’s cause, to raise funds for the Chennai Children’s Choir. I had read some of those comments as they appeared on my timeline. They were not just distasteful, they were pathetic; they showcased how much our society – the educated lot, mind you – has got stuck with the insipid discourse on religion, caste and hatred, all of this in the name of ‘protecting and preserving culture and tradition’.

As I sipped my coffee on Sunday morning, I asked myself why do we, as a people, think it is OK being #Rajnified while it is not OK being #Krishnafied?

I guess the answer lies somewhere between what we can’t do – being like Rajnikanth – and what we don’t want to do – being like Krishna.

Rajni is an actor, a Superstar – everyone clearly cannot be that! His screen persona feeds our wannabe sentiment somewhere. We can’t be that, so we drool over him; we celebrate even his most mediocre efforts in the name of keeping his Superstardom alive – for our own aspirational needs! We can’t be that, so we need him, even if he is inaccessible and very, very distant! (PS: Having said all this, I must confess I respect Rajni for the person that he is – humble and sincere; I only wish he was not trapped in his on-screen image and truly explores his fullest potential as an actor!)

Krishna, on the other hand, is like you and me – he is ordinary, accessible, and has the guy-next-door persona. Yet, he has done what many out there don’t dare to do – not that they can’t, but they don’t want to – which is, he has followed his bliss, music; he asks questions on why irrelevant tradition must not be dumped, he works with change-makers to democratize the art form, he pauses and asks important, must-be-asked, questions to the government and, most significantly, he chooses to be himself. He has chosen not to be trapped in society’s image of who a musician must be or what a musician must do. Now, all of what Krishna is doing can be done by anyone. But people don’t want to do it. So, they spew venom; they find it easier to hate someone, who is like them, who has broken ‘tradition’!

But the beauty is, as Sriram pointed out, 1200 people made the pilgrimage to the Mutha Venkatsubbarao auditorium on Saturday evening, to show that love and unity can thrive in an environment where hatred appears to be extending its vice-like grip. And, I believe, whoever was there that evening, loved Krishna’s concert.

I surely did.

As I see it, Krishna’s is not even a music performance; he is not performing because he has an audience; or that he has to perform ‘for’ the audience. He is not in music for the living; he is living for – and because of – his music. So, whenever he sings, he is exploring the spiritual depths of ‘his’ art. How else could he have combined two (as it appeared to me) different compositions where he sang about 1. weeping inconsolably and 2. the Lord’s lack of compassion? How else could he have taken all ‘his’ time to delve into the magic and beauty of ‘Srirangapura Vihara…’? How else could he have so seamlessly blended with – the surprise of last evening – the Chennai Children’s Choir to deliver such inspiring, elevated, renditions, including the closing piece, Tagore’s ‘Momo Chitte…’ in beautiful Bangla?

In Krishna’s daring to be who he is, he is not saying that only he can do it. He invites us as a society, as people, to debunk hollow beliefs and traditions; he is suggesting, if he can, you too can: you too can partner in creating an inclusive society, where religion, caste and art are not held hostage by a few as if it were their fiefdom; you too can look at the Emperor, like that metaphorical child in the fable, and say “No clothes!”; you too can be who you want to be – and not be stuck in society’s definition of who they want you to be!

I am reminded of Rumi’s immortal line: “When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy!” Vaani and I live – despite our circumstances – doing things from our soul, so we know what it is to feel that river move in us; I am sure, Krishna feels that river moving in him too…

And so, I believe, you can feel it too…you don’t have to even be #Krishnafied, just be #Youfied…love yourself, celebrate yourself, be yourself, be happy…and let us together stop feeding and/or spreading hate…

My Standard Disclaimer applies: I have no knowledge of classical music (so, I have no learned/rasika point of view to offer a comment on anyone’s performance)…all I share here is what I have felt of what was sung or said.  

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I have shed my Hindu affiliation to reclaim my right to being just human

Isn’t humanity’s altar higher than religion’s?

The Supreme Court’s recent order banning the sale of firecrackers in New Delhi during Diwali this year is most welcome. But, as it appears, it’s not quiet welcome in a family WhatsApp Group that we are part of!

Joining the mindless cacophony (on social media) of right-wingers, some members of our extended family ‘see’ the Supreme Court order as an attempt to ‘muzzle’ Hindus and promote other religions. Since the sale of firecrackers in New Delhi is banned only until November 1, and because the ban is not effective during Christmas and New Year, these self-proclaimed custodians of “culture and religion” allude that this order will, in effect, promote Christianity. One venerable member of our family remarked that “slowly children will be weaned away from Hindu culture and be converted to Christianity”. Even as Vaani and I were discussing how preposterous seemingly “well-heeled, well-educated” people in our own circle sound, a young lady, who has married into our family recently, spoke up. She said she could not “tolerate this blatant, non-secular, intolerant, Hindutva stance” in a family group and so she quit the group. Vaani and I completely support and endorse her call for sanity, for fellowship and for us all to “first be human”.

In times such as this, I wonder where are we headed as a people? Does being Hindu also now mean being anti-other-religion, anti-secular? Is being secular now the new meaning of being anti-national? If pro-Hindu jingoism has pervaded an apparently familial setting, then clearly it is the nadir for India as a secular idea. I don’t seriously understand why we don’t get it. Is being a staunch Hindu a license to run roughshod over anyone who has a different faith or viewpoint? Isn’t humanity’s altar higher than religion’s?

It is imperative sane voices speak up and be heard. I am glad someone added the young lady back in our family group. I know it becomes suffocating to hear a biased, non-secular viewpoint, especially when a majority in a group are leaning in favor of that view. But this is when we must speak up. We don’t need to necessarily raise our voice to be heard. We must raise our discourse. And so, many more like that young lady must speak up.

Simply, when we all come from the same source, and will end up with the same source, why allow ourselves to be divided by a petty idea called religion?

Here’s how I see it and I will say this again and again and again – no matter what! I was born human. I was raised as a Hindu. But I am glad I have shed my Hindu (and all religious) affiliation to reclaim my right to being just human!

Modi, Trump, whoever, whatever, your inner peace comes only from acceptance

Whatever it is, it is what it is!

Our world has changed considerably in the last 24 hours. For us Indians, Prime Minister Modi’s announcement of demonetizing Rs.500/- and Rs.1000/- currency notes, in a bit to snuff out the black money menace, means some days and weeks of being unsettled before we get used to a new way of buying, selling, earning and paying. And out there Donald Trump has gone on to win a bitterly fought election to emerge as the next President of the United States. Now, I am no Modi fan. Plus I anticipate huge issues with the execution of the roll-over to a new series of high-denomination currencies in the coming weeks in India. I am not even sure last evening’s move will strangulate black money, corruption, terror-financing and counterfeiting. So, I didn’t quite like what I heard when Modi unveiled his grand, ambitious plan to ‘wipe out’ the parallel economy. And I have been seriously hoping that Hillary Clinton would win. So having Trump as US President for me, like for several million others, is a shocker.

But with close to half a century of being around and at least a decade of understanding Life better, I have understood that it is always what it is. The sooner we accept any new reality and move on, the more peaceful we will be with ourselves and our world.

So, in this time of upheaval, I will lean on these epochal developments around me for spiritual perspective and growth. Intelligent living, as I have known and understood it, has only two tenets. 1. Just be. 2. While just being, be at it.

‘Just be’ really means being in the moment. And whatever is in the moment is what it is. Always. Arriving at this state of awareness does not take time or practice, it only takes a moment of awakening. Looking at just these two developments since last evening (IST), there’s a great opportunity to awaken to be accepting of what is. Consider this carefully. No matter what you think or do, Life has an independent mind and operates on its own. When you realize this and when you let Life take you on its own course, you just are. Then, you don’t resist, you don’t fight, you don’t agonize and so you are peaceful. But letting Life flow at its own terms does not mean stopping to do what you must do. This is the action that the Bhagavad Gita talks about, this is the duty.

So, in the current context in India, as I see it for myself, one way of doing this duty is to partner with the man Modi and his team and give the new process my time and support. And if I oppose him tooth and nail, then I must take on the process that an elected government has engineered and begun rolling out. Just sitting there and complaining will serve no one’s purpose – neither mine nor for the cause that I am complaining for. As for Trump, at least for people in India, there is no choice. He is the choice of a majority of the American people. Period. So, we must all simply go along.

Life’s constantly reminding us through all our experiences that the key to sanity, inner peace and happiness is acceptance. I don’t appreciate Modi’s communal agenda or his Hindutva ideology; I can’t forget what his leadership did to, and about Godhra, in 2002. But as I observed in a blogpost here on the day after he and his party won that mammoth mandate in May 2014, if this is our Life, so it is. If he is going to pull off a massive ‘cleansing’ of India’s black money stables, then, wow, he needs everyone’s support. Including mine. If he can’t then the world can crucify him. For now, I don’t see a role for myself as either commentator or complainer. I see myself as a contributor, who for the larger good of India, is willing to set aside personal preferences and play ball – sincerely, to give a well-intentioned effort a chance.

I glean an important learning from Life here. After all, Modi, Trump, whoever, whatever, your inner peace comes only from acceptance. And so, for your own inner peace, in any new situation, participate if you can, collaborate if you can, work on changing the reality if you can, but begin first with acceptance!

PS: If you liked this blogpost, please share it to help spread the learning it carries!

Don’t blame any religion or community for the way your one ‘friend’ is behaving

Your friends’ attitudes are what you need to review when associating with them, not their economic backgrounds or their religious affiliations.

A former colleague, who is also connected with me on Facebook, posted on his wall that he was deleting a bunch of his Muslim friends. Reason: he felt they were anti-Hindutva. Facebook seems to have promptly deactivated his account. And I don’t blame Facebook. I think it is high time we dumped parochial perspectives and embraced a purely human outlook to people and Life.

First, let us understand who we can call a friend. Just because you grew up knowing somebody, it is not necessary that they must share your opinions or outlook. It does not also mean that they don’t have a right to change over time. What is important is to know that just as you are entitled to your opinion, others are too. And just as you have changed, others have changed, and will change, too.

I learnt this lesson the hard way. A school buddy and I went drinking three years ago. When, after the drinking bout, which involved downing several pegs of whiskey and vodka between us, he insisted on riding his motorbike to go back home, I stopped him. He got angry with me, asked me to mind my own business and slapped me. I still stood my ground and, much to his chagrin, asked a cop – who had joined us by then – to seize my friend’s vehicle. The cop seized the motorbike, issued a charge to my friend, asked him to pay a fine and collect the vehicle the next day. Although I did not have money with me, I still arranged for the fine amount to be reached to my classmate the next day. He had his vehicle released, using the money I sent him, of course, but he launched a tirade against me in the online school group we were both part of; he unfriended me on Facebook and sent me a mail saying that I must, in future, mind my own business. I was distraught. I acted to save a friend from committing hara-kiri and in the process I seem to have lost his friendship. That’s when another classmate from school, who knew both of us, called up and told me this: “Don’t worry about losing his friendship. You must know that some people are probably not worth being friends with, because they are no longer the same people we once knew.”

Over time, I came to understand and value this perspective immensely – people will change and your friends will change too. If their attitude to Life – which is, their value systems, social outlook, personal integrity – is not in sync with yours anymore, you need to learn to quietly move on.

So, in such contexts, where – and why – does religion come in? Just because one Muslim friend, or a few, have a non-secular outlook, it doesn’t mean all Muslims are that way. Or for that matter how can we ever say that all Hindus are secular either? I believe any argument that bases itself on religion must be expunged. We already have geographies and nationalities dividing us. We also have racism to deal with. So, why do we need religion in the way now?

Let’s not color our personal relationship choices basis divisive factors and forces. Friendship is where there is dignity and space provided to each other. Friendship is when you can speak your mind and not be judged. It is when you can agree to disagree. Friendship is when empathy thrives. And true friendship does not get colored by race, economic background or religious affiliations. If these do get in the way, evaluate the so-called friendship. Review if the person you are connected with is truly a friend. Please don’t blame any religion or community for the way your one ‘friend’ is behaving. That’s one fresh, divisive issue our world can do without!