Random Musings

Are Hindus violent people?  As someone who grew up in India in the 80s and 90s, this question seems so laughable. For most of us used to be frustrated and angry with the average "docile" Hindu.  Are there any facts to support this belief? Ok, depending on how credible you find Wikipedia, here goes: "Historical records of religious violence are extensive for medieval India, in the form of corpus written by numerous Muslim historians.  Will Durant  states that Hindus were historically persecuted during  Islamic  rule of the  Indian subcontinent . [19]  The total number of deaths of this period, are usually attributed to the figure by Prof.  K.S. Lal , who estimated that between the years 1000 AD and 1500 AD the population of Hindus decreased by 80 million. [20] [21] [22] Religious violence in medieval India began in centuries before the start of Delhi Sultanate, with the raids by Turko-Mongol, Persian and Afghan armies....

Lately there have been a number of debates about why if Germany can be a Christian state, India cannot be a Hindu state. Such conversations have especially become more relevant ever since BJP - the so called "Hindu Nationalist Party" - came to power with a stunning majority last year. Recent events like the unpardonable killing of a Muslim in the state of UP by a mob of Hindus suspecting that he had killed a cow calf has added to the confusion and division I am seeing especially in the educated upper middle class of India. And the basic ideologies that are clashing are very simple. Supporters of Hindutva believe that it is high time to liberate India from the clutches of the pseudo-secularists (i.e. Congress) while many educated Indians believe in the concept of 'Hindu-Muslim-Sikh-Issai - hum sab hain bhai bhai' (i.e. the brother-hood of all religions).  And this debate is played across news channels, news papers and social media every day! While I myself have ...

The case of Jasleen Kaur which I presume you must be sick of by now brings home a disturbing trend. So while after the revelation of the truth, most people are bad-mouthing her and feeling bad for the man, a more pertinent point I feel we are all missing is OUR OWN involvement in this whole episode.  Social media is a great medium for "mobo-cracy". But the concept itself is nothing new is it? If we just think a bit, as long back as in 399 BC, the great Greek philosopher Socrates became a victim of mobo-cracy. The history of Christianity over the last 2000 years in Europe throws up numerous instances of rationalists and scientists who were hounded into hiding or killed. In Japan, the 13th century Buddhist monk who revived Buddhism - Nichiren Daishonin - was repeatedly attacked by mobs who felt threatened by his philosophy of "humanism" in a feudal, decayed Japanese society.  In all these cases, what is the common thread? Is it that of the powerful silencing an in...

While sitting in a workshop, a big realization dawned on me. All of us in our lives have to face every day realities. A number of these realities are a result of who we are as a person at a particular point of time. A colleague who is disliked in office for his aggressive nature might be the most loving of friends in everyday life. And even though this person might not want to be so aggressive in the workplace, his habits formed as as result of sub conscious impulses might hold him hostage leaving him helpless and frustrated. So how accountable are we really for our own behavior? Wise men say that discipline and mind control are the characteristics required to win over these challenges. Even then is it not purely a percentages game? Even the mightiest crumble in the face of some odds or the other. So ultimately should we not be more tolerant of ours as well as the negativities of others and instead of disliking them for these, try as far as possible to embrace them and work in the sp...

Love - the one magic word that everyone seems to be manically seeking in their life. If you have grown up in India listening to Hindi film music, ghazals et. al. you would know that maximum songs crooned by our favorite singers are about romance and love. The love between a man and a woman which is exalted to a status which is almost divine like. Even if you are a fan of English music - the same trend is visible there. Even the greatest of rock-stars who usually like to delve into the deeper aspects of everyday life and its frustrations, have usually composed some intense love ballads which become extremely popular. Why has "romantic" love become such an all consuming aspect of life? And why is the traditional Indian society now facing serious challenges to its old ways of looking at things in this new global era? To get a perspective, one only has to look at the number of divorces our society is suddenly witnessing. Even tragic divorces in the lives of couples who braved a...

2012 was not a happy year for many across the world. Numerous worries clouded the horizon and it seemed tough to predict where things would end up. Add to that a Mayan prophecy that the world was going to end and the general disposition was negative to say the least.  As someone working in financial services, the overall "mood" of the people in the world can make a lot of difference to my life. When people feel "happy" they spend more, companies earn more, stock market rises more, the mood in my office improves and my pay-check becomes healthier. On the flip side, when people are feeling apprehensive of the future, a reverse cycle starts. People in financial services start getting fired, there is pressure on everyone and its tough for everyone. You get the drift...... So 2012 over-all was not a year I would look back on very fondly. Except that I took a leap of faith and went from working from a small family owned outfit to a large MNC bank.  So for all those ...

A dark scary night Not a soul in sight I am lost in dusty bye-lanes Fear grips my heart Suddenly I see ahead A busy highway with gleaming lamps Hope emerges from my heart again Merciless sun is beating upon the land Dry arid land looks thirsty and bland Trees slowly wither Life hides wherever it can The wind suddenly turns into a gale Thunder and lightning herald the coming of rain Hope leaps up from my heart again Disrespect, negativity, ego Make me go insane Mistrust, misunderstandings, insecurities Fill my heart with pain An evolved life emerges Embraces me without the desire of any gain Hope dances forth from my heart again Life is such a struggle Some days it feels like a dark night On other days like a parched land Some days the heart cries unable to tolerate pain Leaving my self behind I retreat into another world I fight, I shout And berate my life for making me so frail Once the tempest is over I sit calmly and I seek To hear what life...