The large scale debate last year on intolerance
seems like breathing its last. Of course, there could be someone wanting some
limelight for a potential political career who may bring up the issue of
intolerance again with a speech covered live by most media channels! Till then,
let the debate rest in pieces.
The commonest ground for intolerance has been
religion. The feeling of “my religion is better than yours” has led to
dialogues, discussions, debates, heated arguments, fist fights, social
upheavals and battles. The recent Dhaka attacks saw people getting butchered
because they were unaware of the religious texts of a particular religion. There
has never been any consensus on which religion is the best. The question is,
what is religion?
God has existed. Faith has existed. Religion is
man-made. Invented and fuelled for man’s personal gains and his insatiable need
of power and authority. These men have reduced religion to being a means of
survival for the meek. They have made it a point to ensure that those in need
of strength and support, flock to them for a dialogue with God. And these are
the people who have created the huge divide that exists among religions.
A few people I know are of the opinion that one
should not believe in God because that will help in reducing religious
intolerance. I would term those people as ignorant individuals. They believe
that following God is the reason why people get into religious intolerance. It
is not God that says we should be intolerant. No avatar of God has ever asked us
to be intolerant. It is the self-appointed but very narrow minded agents of God
who have taught us to be intolerant. If those (that believe that religion is
about making people irrational and therefore one must not follow God) were to
get the real picture and spread the word that God is not religion and religion
is not God, they would do much better service than try and convince people not
to follow God at all. That in my mind, is also fanaticism that leads nowhere.
I have been lucky to be born into and raised in a
family where belief and faith in God has a lot of importance. I have imbibed
values that define ‘Indianness’. I am by definition a ‘Hindu’ because I pray to
a certain set of Gods and follow certain festivals and rituals. But Hinduism is
not my religion. I don’t need a categorisation by which Gods I follow. I have
utmost faith and belief in the almighty. And I really don’t see how being or
not being a ‘Hindu’ will change that. I am certain, if I was raised in any
other family, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, or any other, I would still have the
same outlook if I had the same upbringing.
I am not a God fearing person. I am a God loving
person. I love God as I love my mother and my father. I don’t fear God because
he is not a policeman or a judge. He is a parent and I am his child. I will not
do wrong because I know if I do that, I will hurt Him. Exactly like I did not
do anything that my mother asked me not to do; only because I knew I would hurt
her.
The question is, if my religion is not Hinduism or
any other that is generally found in the drop down list of religions, what is
my religion? My religion is Humanity. I think that is the only religion
required. Rest are all beliefs and faiths. And all lead to one destination,
God. The names might be different but the end is the same. Thanks to a few
mindless and selfish individuals, the world today stands divided by religions.
I help people when I can. I ensure I keep people
happy around me. My heart feels pain when I see someone in pain. Ever since I
have become a father, sorrow fills my heart when I see little street dwellers.
I try to empathise with people. I buy a balloon from the vendor who chose not
to beg but earn his living, and have bought them packets of flour to feed their
families. I buy pens from the blind salesperson because he chose not to give up
in life. I try and help as many as I can. I can’t help them all; I would if I
could but I can’t. So I help as many as I can.
My guru, Aniruddha Bapu, asks us to live by 3
principles – Truth, Love and Joy. While I won’t say that I live the first one
to my best, the other two, I live by to the best extent possible. My life has
changed. I see a better world. I don’t fret in traffic jams. I don’t stare at
the person who cuts into my lane. I don’t seek revenge for every wrong done to
me. I respect others and their points of view. I do to people what I expect
them to do to me. I don’t think and work according to only my convenience; I
keep other people’s convenience in mind as well.
A Hindu world, a Muslim world, a Christian world –
these are all misleading. The only world we need to create is human’s world.
Care for each other. Love each other. Laugh with each other and cry for each
other. That is the world that we need to gift our children. Let us not make
them grow up to be rigid, hateful, and vengeful. Let us make them love
humanity. Let us raise them to love peace. Let us train them to make this world
a better place.
