‘Meat eaters are bad people’

[In this article, the terms ‘meat-eaters’ and ‘non-vegetarians’ are used synonymously.  They are defined as the ones who eat mutton, chicken, fish, pork, beef, etc, at least once in a week or a month.] 

In India, there has always been long standing prejudice against meat-eaters.  The prejudice against meat-eaters emanates from India’s caste system, which is more deep rooted than any other identity, including, religion, language or region.   The dietary habits of Indians are strictly along the lines of a caste in each region.  Each caste in a region eats certain diet and it is common to everyone in that caste group in that region.  However, the same caste in a different region could have a different diet. 

For hundreds of years, people did not move out of the place they were born, and therefore the dietary habits were strictly honored along with caste system.  However, with the recent rapid urbanization of India, many people tend to live next door to complete strangers.  This trend has diluted this prejudice against meat-eaters to a great extent, but has not completely removed it.

Why it is easy to molest a woman in India?

In the last few months, we have seen hundreds of incidents where a woman in India was molested, teased, sexually harassed, and stripped in public, sometimes in the view of cameras and bystanders.  One woman was thrown out of a moving train, another was attacked by acid, and others were physically molested.  

One of the immediate reactions from the media is that it is a 'law and order' problem. What they mean is that we don’t give strong punishment to the offenders, that the law is vague on these offences, or that the police officers are not very keen on registering the cases or following up on the case.  

I, on the other hand, don’t think 'law and order' is the main problem.  While 'law and order' is  one of the problems, it is not the primary one.  There are few countries, like Saudi Arabia, where the law is extremely strict, so much so that a convicted thief’s hand may be cut, and yet there is rampant mistreatment and abuse of women in that country. 

Also, I tend to think that most of these offenders, in countries like India, take a high moral ground because many people tend to sympathize with the offenders.  In the recent past, many administrative officers, police officers, organization heads and elected political leaders have all blamed the woman when such harassments happened.  They blamed the woman for inviting the man to molest her by dressing provocatively. 

Give me ignorance, it’s my birth right

In India, we have three major types of discrimination- that of caste, that of sex and that of religion, in the order specified.  Humans are discriminatory by nature- it’s in their predisposition to align themselves with a group to treat people of other groups with contempt, derision and fear.  Waging war, committing genocide, being xenophobic can be found in nature, even with some higher order mammals.  And human society is quite capable of justifying such behavior, sometimes glamorizing war against people of other kind, teaching them to be contemptible of other religions and caste, all in the name of fighting for your own kind.  

Either it is Nazism, or slavery in United States or caste system in India, they are all based in promotion of one’s own kind at the cost of other kind.  While it is easy to find fault with human gene for group discrimination, I am not sure if our disposition towards ill treatment of women is also genetic in nature or whether it comes wholly from religion and traditions.  Whether the roots lie in our animal ancestry or in our religion and traditions, it is generally agreed that most of these discriminations get their legitimacy from the way society influences its individuals.

Why I believe India can improve

Today, I went out for tea with two young engineers from my company.  After tea, we took some chewing gum.  One engineer took the wrapper and was about to throw it on the ground.  I stopped him, and pointed out to the nearest garbage can.   He went to the can and dropped it, but since it was windy this morning in Bangalore, the wrapper flew and fell outside the can.  He smiled and said, ‘Well, at least I tried’. 

After that we were crossing the street.  I told him, ‘Let me tell you a story’.   I told him this story which happened many years ago when I was living in US: 

I was at a movie theater and I saw a father tell his son (must be two years old) to throw his trash into the trash can which was about 10 meters away.  The son started walking slowly towards the trash can, reached it and put his trash on the can.  He turned around and walked back towards his father.  But the minute he turned back, the trash fell out onto the ground.  The son didn’t know this.  When the son came back, the father pointed out to his trash on the ground and asked his son to go back and pick it up.  The two year old kid walked back picked up the trash and put it in the right place this time and walked back.  The father lifted his son and hugged him; and they left.

Why Anna Hazare will fail!

Two days ago, lakhs of urban middle class Indians have come onto the streets in a show of support for Anna Hazare’s victory against Government of India when the latter conceded Anna’s demand to form a committee with some civilians in it.  While this outpouring from these yuppie Indians looks good on TV and internet campaigns, I ask myself some basic questions.  Are we really on our way to root out corruption with this show of support and introduction of Lokpal Bill?  Are we about to change the system?  Unfortunately, the answer I get from myself is a big No. 

To give a perspective, imagine a rally or a fast taken up by a Gandhian to stem out casteism from our lives.  We may see a similar response from many Indians who are ‘fed up’ with casteism in this country.  We may naively believe that such rallies and fasts may be the first step towards extirpating casteism from our society.  But the reality is that casteism is so deeply entrenched into our system that a mere fast or rally will not make a dent in its solid structure.   At the most, such rallies and fasts combating such deep-rooted problems will have a symbolic value.  I don’t underestimate such symbols.  I believe they are quite important.  But it would be unrealistic to believe that a single legislation or law will somehow curb casteism from this country.   The same holds true for corruption. 

To all those yuppie Indians who actually believe that this event from Anna Hazare is going to actually bring any change, here is the bad news – nothing is going to change.  I write this not out of cynicism but with a sense of realism to exhort the anti-corruption activists to do much more than what they are currently doing if they are really serious about the cause.  

What’s the problem with Indians?

Look at this attitude:

#1. “This is how I live.  This is the right way of living.  You have to live like me”

Many problems in India come from the above attitude.  Many Indians believe they have an idea what a good and moral life is, and they believe they lead such a good and moral life that they take the next step of imposing it onto others.   Contrast the above attitude with the one below:

#2. “This is how I live. That is how you live.  You live your life. I will live mine”

We would solve many social problems with attitude #2.  However, most Indians go with attitude #1 because we tend to believe that we Indians lead a moral life which derives its strength from our Indianness or Hinduness, and we believe it is our prerogative to safeguard our lifestyle by imposing it onto others and correcting other’s lifestyles.

What is Great Indian Culture?

If I were to go by what one of the activists of Sri Ram Sene has to say, here are the TEN COMMANDMENTS of Indian Culture.

1. Children should listen to their elders.
2. Children should wear traditional clothes. They should not wear jeans and “Muslim dresses” like the salwar-kameez.
3. Women should wear Sari.
4. Parents should prohibit kids from following Western Culture and they should not allow kids to drink (alcohol).
5. Wives should respect their husbands.
6. Boys and girls should not freely mix before marriage.
7. Women should keep traditions such as watering the tulsi plant for the well-being of the family.
8. Children should not talk back to adults.
9. Women should not wear cut-piece clothes and they should not become commercial objects.
10. Last and the most important: Women should not drink (alcohol) and should not go to nightclubs.

Related Posts: Indian Moral Code, Agree in Principle - Disagree in Practice, Hindu Fundamentalism, Biggest Threat to India, Great Indian Culture

Indian Teachers and Judges

When I was growing up, I had a mortal fear of the school and the teachers who were lurking there. That could be the possible reason why I skipped most of my schooling. That’s also the reason why I learnt to study on my own to learn new topics. I spent most of my childhood staying home playing with my brother and in the process invented many games and contraptions, and read lots of books.

I had a series of bad experiences with various teachers at different ages and my father was brave enough to confront them each time. Thanks to my Dad, who was ahead of his time in many ways and believed that these teachers were up to no good if they had to resort to caning the student each time he failed to do his homework, I had a balanced childhood. I didn’t have to put up with idiotic teachers for long. Either they were booted out or I changed schools.

It was given that teachers would act like masters while students would grovel like slaves. Teachers berated the kids, humiliated them, mauled them up, beat them to pulp, insulted them in front of everyone, and sometimes stripped them to make a point. Fortunately for me, our family resorted to protest, beat up the teachers in return when necessary, and changed schools. I did not have to succumb to the pressures of the society which said ‘it was all OK to endure the humiliation’.

When I was in my B.Tech, we had some teachers who demeaned the students at every opportunity they got. They talked about your caste, they mocked your dress, and felt obliged to speak about your personal habits and traits. Some of these professors insulted girl students, and threatened them with dire consequences just because they talked to boys. One teacher resorted to throwing your lab report out of the classroom. As the guilty party you had to walk in front of everyone to retrieve it. Sometimes, if he is in a good mood, he would throw it once again, till you feel you are hopelessly humiliated. The whole college looked like a feudal setup, where students behaved like slaves or bonded laborers while the teachers behaved like the kingpins and the landlords. The teachers felt they got a divine right to berate a student on any topic- it doesn’t have to do anything remotely associated with academics. The whole exercise was to make you feel very inferior, as if you are ball of shit, a worthless pile of dust.

When I went to USA for my MS, my advisor asked me what I liked and what I wanted to do. It was something that I was not used to. When I blurted out an answer that was a cliché, he asked me once again, ‘what do you truly like, provided there were no constraints, no expectations? What is it that you want to do?’ I confessed that I needed time to think about it. I went back to him a week later and told him what I wanted to do. Later on, I got used to asking myself, ‘what do I really want to do?’

Indian TV has many reality shows nowadays. Sometimes I get to watch them. The judges are not different from the kind of teachers I had while growing up. My rules on Indian Idiocy can be applied here. In India, age is same as knowledge, and knowledge is same as wisdom. Hence, all the judges are automatically more qualified, more talented, more knowledgeable and wiser than any participant. They take the opportunity to berate, humiliate if necessary, and insult the participants.

Sometimes the kids go home crying. The exercise has not changed. The idea is to make you feel bad about yourself, so that you lose the little confidence you have. You are supposed to go home with the tail between your legs.

Indian teachers continue to demoralize, demotivate, and extirpate all confidence from young Indians. India needs brave, bold and confident new generation youth and that is not possible unless we solve the root cause – and that is to with our education system, not the syllabus, but the way teachers treat their students.

Indians and Darwin

If Indians are well-versed at one particular field of Science, it is Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. We believe in ‘the survival of fittest’ concept like no other culture.

‘How come you got a seat in a premier institute?’
‘It is the survival of the fittest since we got trained in a premier tutorial.’

‘But you got that contract because your uncle is the big man!’
‘It is the survival of the fittest since we belong to a superior clan.’

‘But you got that license because you paid your way in!’
‘It is the survival of the fittest since we are rich.’

‘But you got that seat because you jumped lines.’
‘It is the survival of the fittest since I am tough and brash.’

‘But you got that deal because you cheated!’
‘It is the survival of the fittest since I am smart enough to cheat others.’

Indians love Darwin’s theory. This is one Science they all know by heart.

Though they are same folks who run from one temple to another because Lord Ganesha’s idols drinks milk, or stay home because it is a solar eclipse, or rush to drink sweet water from the sea, when it comes to Darwin’s theory, they are completely abiders of its theory.

They are in awe of Charles Darwin as if he is an Indian, and include his theory of evolution into pantheon of other Indian sciences, such as Vedic Sciences, Astrology, Palmistry, Vaastu, and Numerology.

They see ‘merit’ as another by product of Darwin’s Theory and embrace it like no other culture. When asked how come there were only 3 women judges in 60 years of existence, Chief Justice of India said there is no provision for including women since the positions are based on ‘merit’. That’s our interpretation of ‘the survival of the fittest’, where the race is open for everyone to compete as individuals without making provisions for inclusion of different groups.

Even corporate India believes in ‘survival of the fittest’ theories as long as it conforms to their selfish needs. A well-known Indian software company on one hand talks of ‘survival of the fittest’ showing their aversion to employing lower castes, but at the same time, keeps going back to Indian government for sops, concessions and tax-breaks, citing the reason they are not able to compete with global players.

Indian Moral Code

Many self-appointed groups in India are now defending what is called Indian Moral Code. Well, we know about Legal Code and Penal Code, but what is this Moral Code?

India’s idea of democracy is interpreted as the rule of majority where majority can impose its ideas, notions, dress, language, and habits onto others. If these others do not acquiesce, then it is forced down their throats. They get things done by popular movements. They can send millions of SMS to get their favorite cricketer acquitted.

They also feel obligated to come up with a set of rules, traditions, and habits which are considered morally superior and they give it a name called Indian Moral Code. This Moral Code derives legitimacy from all sections of the society because it promises to protect Indian Culture, dignity, morality and sacred traditions. It gets legitimacy from patriotic and religious groups at the same time. The way a State imposes its Legal Code and Penal Code onto Indian citizens, these upholders of Indian Moral Code impose their morality onto everyone.

When Sexy Shriya donned a revealing dress for an evening outing, some Tamilian organizations believed it was against the sacred and honorable Tamilian traditions. When Khushboo and Sushmita Sen talked about women’s sexuality, marriage and virginity, the upholders of Indian Moral Code rose up to challenge them.

In small towns of India, this is even bigger problem. Most girls get their freedoms restricted by their own families, and where necessary the mohallah people, who are out there to defend Indian Moral Code from getting sullied. When I attended a well-known engineering institute in India in 90s, girls were restricted from mixing with boys. Some professors took up this task to punish the girls who were seen talking to boys by deliberately failing them or giving them low marks. All this they did with great concern and care for upholding Indian Moral Code which is more sacrosanct than the marks these girls received.

In many Indian towns, couples are targeted by youth, social outfits and sometimes the police force, for seen together. The fact that they held hands or were seen hugging is good enough for these people to act.

In a rare show of solidarity, which happens in India only when it comes to imposing idiotic notions, both Hindu and Christian organizations in South India cracked down on people who were seen as ‘violating the moral code’.

According to THE HINDU, there have been many such cases where some groups resorted to ‘punishing individuals’ who ‘violated the moral code’. Hindu outfit Bajrang Dal, and a Christian outfit, Social Action Committee, and some members from Karnataka Forum for Dignity (KFD) took it upon themselves to defend the unwritten Indian Moral Code. To do this, these groups targeted young men and women who were seen together, especially if they came from different religions. THE HINDU writes [emphasis mine]:

In one case, a young woman was attacked because she went to the house of a young woman from a different community. The Bajrang Dal has claimed responsibility for seven of these incidents.

The district head of the organisation, Sudarshan Moodabidri, claimed that the outfit had “solved” over 200 cases in the last two months where Hindus were “caught” committing the “immoral” act of interacting with members of other communities.

Mr. Moodabidri said, “Sometimes it becomes necessary to use force. Fear of such action should deter such misadventures. Girls reform themselves once they are thrashed and humiliated in public, but boys are tougher to control.”

These groups even carried out a ‘joint operation’ in one case proving idiocy is the most common binding factor for all these upholders of morality.

Moral Code in colleges

These days it’s fashionable for many colleges to proudly impose a dress code on its students. There are many colleges in India who don’t allow jeans and t-shirts for girls. The code prohibits them from wearing sleeveless and tight-fitting clothes as well. They strictly enforce wearing Indian salwar kameezes. The principal of such colleges proudly wear this ideology as a badge since he knows the kind of audience he is talking to. Parents gleefully admit their kids to such schools believing they are contributing to upholding of the Great Indian Moral Code.

"We are only trying to ensure that students dress decently and modestly, in a way that befits our culture. A dress code will also pre-empt harassment of women students," says Dr. Viswanathan, Vice-Chancellor of Anna University.

Indian Racism

Are we racists?

I have always maintained that Indians are one of the most racist people on this planet. It is just that many of us don’t know that we are racist, and those who do know never acknowledge it. We have been practicing racism for ages and have institutionalized it into our daily lingo and even the religion.

When the word ‘racism’ was introduced into Indian media, most Indians thought it was an ‘artificial Western construct’, that is applicable only to the White people of the West when treating the people of other color, but definitely not applicable to Indians. It is something people in the West do to people like us and not the other way around. Their ideas on lofty ideas on Sanatana Dharma have deluded them into believing that we are not racist and definitely not discriminatory.

Third world to developing world

For many years, we were an inferior nation, a third world country, of brown people, a non-aligned state, impoverished and underdeveloped nation, etc. Therefore, we did not know what it means to be in a position of dominance.

In the recent times, our country is rubbing shoulders with bigwigs of the world, and trying to take the role of dominance and leadership. This is reflected more so in sports (read Cricket).

When India won World Cup in 1983 (Cricket), we were still reeling from the colonial inferiority, and beating the whole world was a moment of pride, not just for sports, but for the morale of entire nation.

However, in the recent times, we are no longer a nation of poor people, not when it comes to Cricket. We are no longer seen as a third world and impoverished country. Our boys travel first class, have sports gear from best brands, and have lot of cash to throw around on fancy parties, expensive gifts and lavish houses. When they go abroad, they are no longer sportsmen from a poor nation. They are in fact richer than those firangis.

Earlier, we were seen as meek. No longer is it the case. We have our own share of bullies.

Harbhajan – Symonds spate

In one of the recent incidents, involving Harbhajan Singh (Bhajji) of India and Symonds of Australia, where the latter accused the former of invoking a racial slur, the whole country stood in unanimity to support Bhajji. Many team members came onto TV and media to tell us how it was uncharacteristic of Bhajji to say something like that, how he is a nice kid, and so on.

And our champion of ‘everything that India is worse at’, Navjot Singh Sidhu, who talks in a singsong banter, who failed at everything else in life other than laughing at every silly joke, comes onto TV and talks for 10 minutes non-stop, on why he thinks Bhajji is innocent. In that monologue, he does not present facts and he does not reason. In fact, there is no iota of intelligence. It was empty rhetoric to which only the Indian masses can fall for, just the way they fall prey to empty politicians promises every election.

The next day, I woke up to see the headlines in TOI read: Indian wins Sydney Test. Well, I don’t follow cricket, but you cannot escape cricket in India. I knew that we lost the game. So, I was curious. I began to read.

The TOI thought it was a funny idea to say that India won the Test Match just because Bhajji was given a clean chit. That’s how we celebrate our victories. Not on the playground, not in the real sports, but by muscle power, using our overpopulation as our strength to send SMS, use TV channels, and use constant bickering, shouting, wailing till the world changes its opinion – not because we are right, only because we are too many.

I didn’t know anything about that game. I didn’t know if Bhajji really said anything. I didn’t know if he is that kind of person. I didn’t watch that game and didn’t watch many games before that. I do not profess to be an expert and hence I stayed out of the whole discussion.

But I had a hunch. A hunch that something was not right! That the entire hullabaloo was just show of strength to acquit the accused, not because he is innocent, but only because is he OUR guy. And remember the axiom – Indians are not racist.

Bhajji slaps Sreesanth

Few months later, the same Bhajji was seen slapping a fellow Indian cricketer on national TV. That’s it! He was banned for few weeks. And many people came onto TV to say that, ‘Yes! That was very characteristic of Bhajji’. They said he was a violent player. And what he did was very disgraceful.

The same Bhajji, to whom it was uncharacteristic be violent and verbal, was exact opposite a few months later.

Indians are not racist

The golden rule is – We Indians are not racist. If we said something racial, it’s just the cultural and linguistic differences. However, when somebody does it to us, we feel really bad, get onto the TV and protest and cry till you apologize. [Refer to Shilpa Shetty’s case on Big Brother].

Cheerleaders at IPL

Now, in a new incident, few black cheerleaders were pulled out of a IPL cricket game at Mohali. The organizers pulled them out saying ‘the people here don’t want to see the dark people’. According to the cheerleaders, they used ‘n’ word and wanted see only ‘beautiful white girls’.

One of the cheerleaders said, "We were offended. This shouldn't be happening - especially after they made such a fuss over Big Brother."

To start with, the whole idea of hiring black cheerleaders for our IPL games is a gross mistake. It is too much of politically-correctness to handle for Indians. I mean, ‘Come on! Can we cut the crap, stop all this politically-correct bullshit and get back to enjoying the beautiful white girls? Why do we have to put up with these black girls?’

Look at our heroines in the South India. We all know we have many dark women here, but do we allow them to get onto the screen? NO! Why? Because we don’t want to pay money to see dark women on screen! The same holds for IPL cheerleaders. We just want to see fair women. And if that means we have to import them from the North India, so be it. We have been doing this in our Cinema for many years now. And if we have to import them from other countries, it’s even better. That way we can ogle at them without having to worry about blemishing our sacred Bharat Nari.

And look at us in the North India. Why do you think we treat these dark girls this way? Do you see us vying for them ever? There are some dark girls in the North and we are usually ashamed of it. And yes, gori pari from firang is any day welcome in our midst.

Too much of politically-correctness

I think this whole globalization is taking a toll on us. It is putting too many demands on being politically-correct. I don’t think we can keep straight face for too long.

Hiring these black cheerleaders and asking them to dance on national TV is like making the village Brahmin sit next a Dalit. It’s just too uncomfortable. The village Brahmin can tolerate it for few minutes, to be politically correct, but you can’t push it too far. Eventually, he will just burst out and use the language that he is really used to, kick that Dalit out and show him his place.

I don’t think we should try to break or change the natural order of things. Didn’t you know that our caste system and our preference for color schemes actually bring order to the nature? Do you want to upset the natural harmony our villages? Do you want us to go against all our teachings for all these centuries to see the distasteful black women dancing around on TV?

You must be kidding.

Thank you, but no thanks. Please take this political correctness to your West. It’s not for us Indians. We are like this only. And don’t try to change us!

Indian Feet and National Flag

Sacred Flag

For a long time Indians did NOT have access to their own national flag. There were so many DON’Ts that people didn’t feel free to even wave their own flag. Even after Jindal’s efforts, the flag still remains a sacred symbol. Looking at the number of ‘Insult to National Honor’ cases these days, I feel it’s better to lock it up in some museum and restrict it to hoisting on government buildings. Anything you do can be considered sacrilegious.

Sania Mirza and Indian Flag

Sania Mirza, India’s celebrated tennis player was accused of insulting the national flag, when in a recent photograph she was seen putting her feet up in the background with India’s National Flag in the foreground. It has become common these days to accuse every celebrity of insulting national symbols making the whole charade ridiculous.

First, we don’t even know if those feet were close or far away from that flag. Because it is quite probable that the photographer thought it was a nice shot and hence framed them in the same picture, though apart.

Second, many cultures and societies in the world would not consider propping one’s feet up next to their flag to be an insult. Indians are one of the rarest breeds who have funny notions on how to use their feet. They think that touching someone with feet, showing your feet to someone, or even waving them around is a gross insult.

My books and my feet

I love my books. I am an ardent reader. I read everyday and I buy lots of books. And I hold onto them as if it’s my treasure. I take good care of them. You will see my books in their original condition even after many years though they may have been read many times. I love them and respect them for what they are – source for information and entertainment.

At the same time, I move them around with my feet. If there is a book on the bed, I move it with my feet, nonchalantly, without feeling remorse or guilt.

However, it does not go very well with people around me. They always tell me that I am disrespecting my books. And I get this remark even from people who never read books. Their reading stopped when they graduated from college long ago. Yet, they make it a point to instruct me not to touch books with my feet.

It’s not that they care for the books or what is written in them. They never bother to know its contents or value the contents. Yet, they feel they can tell me what I can or cannot do with them. And my peeve is – ‘who are they to tell me how I should be taking care of my books?’

Books are sacred

For most Indians, books are sacred. What it means is these books will be prayed to, honored and put on the same pedestal where their gods stand. For many, books are incarnate of Goddess Saraswati. Some people believe this so strongly that it also means they are NOT going to question what is written in those books. They learn by rote the contents, to memorize them, to spew forth in one continuous incantation, verbatim. [You can also see why they remain idiots even after reading their books.]

Feet are impure

And also, for most Indians, feet are impure. If you touch something with your feet, you defile that thing. Many Indian habits come out of this belief. Touching one’s feet is showing your obeisance. To throw oneself at the others feet is to convey your subordination and sometimes extreme respect for the other. Many Indians get offended when you touch them with your feet or show your feet to them.

Many in India will do some weird action if they happen to accidentally touch you with their feet. They blurt out a sorry or use their hands to show a sign of praying to ask for forgiveness. I grew up in India, but I found this ritual rather amusing since I was a young boy. Unlike most others, I don’t feel guilty, ashamed, apologetic or embarrassed when I touch my near or dear things with my feet.

I like to use my feet

I find that using my feet gives me more than two limbs to move things around. I am completely comfortable using my feet for various purposes.

Many people find that objectionable, and some of them give me some silly ‘scientific’ explanations- that feet are unclean since you go around in the world, full of shit, waddling through the pile, with your feet. Hence, the impurity!

My feet are usually clean. I never go out of home without wearing shoes even when I go on a short errand. Many a times, I feel that my feet are cleaner than my hands. So, my response was, 'well, since I keep my feet clean, can I touch my books with my feet?' Even after this explanation these people would object to it. They cite more reasons why it should not be done- like, what kind of example I would set; like, certain things should always be sacred no matter what etc. No matter how you explain, the end result is – one should not touch books with feet. It’s a blind belief at the end of the day.

Feet are discussed in mythology too!

According to some Indian mythology, Brahmins came from head of Brahma, Kshatriyas from his torso, Vaishyas from thighs, Shudras from his feet, and untouchables from the soil below the feet. Even in this characterization it was clear why Shudras and Dalits were considered inferior- they have something to do with the feet!

Head is OK, hands are OK, torso is OK, even the penis is prayed to. The breasts of a goddess are prayed to. No mention of assholes, so I don’t know its status. But the feet are NOT OK. They are impure, disgusting, and filthy.

Therefore, Sania propping her feet next to Indian flag is akin to putting impure things next to a sacred thing. Therefore, it’s an insult. No arguments!

Why Indians think Religion and Science are the same?

In many discussions, it comes out clear that many educated Indians believe Religion and Science to be the same. According to them they are two sides of the same coin. They think that Science is not much different from Religion; Science and Religion are equally dogmatic; Adherents of Science and adherents of Religion both believe they are on the right path while continuing to believe the other party is on the wrong path. They believe that Science starts with the premise that it is right, not very different from basis of a Religion. These Indians find Science ‘dogmatic and unyielding’, resolute in promoting its belief systems, trying to convert people into its ‘faith’. Just like Religion.

And most Hindu Indians believe their religion is on par with Modern Science in explaining the workings of the Universe and sometimes is even better than Modern Science. While Modern Science fails to answer some of the metaphysical questions, Hinduism comes right in to dispel away all the doubts.

Many learned and senior Hindus talk about Hinduism as if it is a Science or as if it is a ‘meta-Science’. They say, ‘Well, not only does Hinduism include all the topics covered by your Modern Science, it also explains many things which your Modern Science does not’.

They talk about spirituality, they talk about cosmic energies, they talk about some chakras in our bodies, they talk about harmony with nature, balance between mind and body, and so on. And to aid them all, Hinduism provides tools like Astrology, Numerology, Vaastu Chastra, and Ayurveda. Many Indians continue to believe that these tools are actually tools of Modern Science. In case the West does not use it in its conventional practices, it’s only because they are dumb. Our ancestors were always wise. [Deepak Chopra, et al, is now educating the West of the superior Indian tools].

According to these well educated people, Science continues to fail in many respects. It is completely vague, not sure of itself, always shifting its stand on explaining various issues. For example, Science believed that Universe was static, and then it believed it was expanding, and then for a while it didn’t know whether it was contracting. Science didn’t know if the age of Universe was 8 billion years or 20 billion years and each new discovery keeps changing that date. Also, Scientists are never sure when Man came into existence – was it 200,000 years ago, or a 1.25 million years ago? According to them, the different dates that Science throws at them on creation of Universe, creation of life, creation of man, etc, are as ludicrous, ambiguous and inconsistent as the dates thrown at us by Religion. Why should one believe one over the other?

Also, Science does not explain so many miracles, which are integral part of this Universe. For example, a person got cured of Cancer when one Baba touched him with a stone. Can you explain that? A person fell from three storied building chanting name of Shree Ram and he was completely unhurt. Can you explain that? I read Hanuman Chalisa 80 times before I went to write my exam, and I got exactly 80 marks in that exam. Can you explain that? Sai baba brings objects into existence out of thin air, like an egg from his mouth, and fire in his hands, etc. Of course, magicians do all that, but that is magic. When Sai Baba does it, it is a miracle. How do I know that? Because, first, Sai Baba clearly says that it is not magic and that it is a miracle. And why would he lie? Second, everyone who saw the event clearly said it was not magic and that it was a miracle. Why would so many people lie?

The list goes on.

But there is a fundamental reason why most Indians think Religion and Science are the same and that there is not much difference between the two. And I think the answers lies in the way Science is taught in India.

Indians are taught their lessons not through discourse, not through investigation, not through empiricism, but as a dogma, where a set of beliefs are shoved down your throat, unquestioned, just like the way a religion is taught. Indians learn their subjects by rote, by heart, and then reproduce them verbatim in their exams - word to word. It is as important to reproduce their texts in Indian education as it is in Religion.

Just look at the way History is taught in India. It is always a collection of facts, dates, and names. Nobody knows why it is important to know that Battle of Panipat happened in 1526. There is no background, no premise, no context, and no analysis. Nobody discusses the events or writes about significance of those events.

Science is taught the same way. Nobody knows why F=ma. It is so, because Newton said so. Why do we have volcanoes? It is so because the textbook said so. Why do planets revolve around the sun? The teacher says, ‘Because I said so’. Not very different from how religions treat such curious questions, saying ‘Because Bible says so’. No discussion, no debate, no explanation, no reasoning, no construction of argument, Period.

Look at my Law of Indian Idiocy I (Knowledge depletes with each generation). The teachers berate the kids when they ask questions. They forbid the kids from asking questions. They shut their curiosities saying ‘I said so’.

A kid has to mug up Science and its formulae the way he mugs up Sanskrit Poems. He doesn’t understand either of them. Such mugging up activities are done to pass the exam, go to the next level, win the fist rank. A parent whose kid scores first rank is happy – he doesn’t care or bother to know if the kid really understands the subject. As far Indian education is concerned it is happy as long as the kid is a good Xerox copy machine with Terabytes of memory. They don’t need an intelligent and thinking machine.

Given such education for fifty years in this country, what you get is globetrotting, suit-wearing, English speaking, elite-educated Indians who have not imbibed the scientific or rational temperament but who can spew forth all the words and sentences useful to give one a successful job, career and lot of money.

Education in India is not to impart rational thinking or induce scientific temperament or to induce universal laws or inculcate a mature discussion capability. It is not to make law-abiding citizens or better humans. It is treated as a cumbersome but necessary exercise that one has to go through to earn more in life, get material goods, buy homes, get a good career, buy cars, travel world (nowadays), showoff and feel happy about.

No wonder Indians completely lack scientific temperament, even those who attend top colleges in the world, even those who do their PhD in Physics, even those who launch rockets into space, even those who do research in medicine. When they go back home, after finishing their ‘job’, which is done only to go the next level in social and economic hierarchy, they go back to their gods, their blind beliefs and their superstitions. They go back to the safe abode of secure irrationality where once again Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter become real. The Hanuman and the monkeys who build bridges become real. Where Shri Ram is not just real, but is hyper-real. Where Physics is not just enough, one needs meta-physics to explain things. That’s where Indians continue to find their Hinduism superior to Modern Science.

‘Benevolent Dictator’

Many Indians (not all) are fascinated with a person called ‘Benevolent Dictator’. In many evening discussions, which happen quite frequently in India, many educated and elite Indians (not all) opinionate how India suffers because of it’s ‘too much democracy’. And their antidote to that disease of ‘too much democracy’ is a Benevolent Dictator.

Most Indians eventually get frustrated with the ‘system’ of India. They usually do not realize that they are a part of the problem. They continue to believe that they are somewhat alien to creating that problem. According to them, the onus of creating that problem resides only with the ‘system’ and that includes the government, the institutions of India, such as judiciary, legislature, and a big body of individuals who run India, such as politicians, bureaucrats, etc.

These Indians get frustrated by the slowness of the system, the ineffectiveness of the system, the corruptness of the system. They believe that a democracy under these corrupt individuals fosters all ills of our society. They see how coalition parties bring in tardiness in running the system. They see how the debates and dilly-dallying parliament proceedings slow down the country. And they reason that the parliamentary democracy of India which allows so many regional parties to flourish and which allows for politicians to protest and stall proceedings is somehow the main culprit for the problems of India. Therefore they conclude- a Benevolent Dictator should come to aid of India.

Who is this Benevolent Dictator?

It all depends on who is proposing this definition. A Benevolent Dictator is always that strong and resolute person who seems to promote the ideology of those who define him. A rich Indian businessman would like to do away with the tax system of India- he is affected by the corrupt tax officials who bait him constantly. He has to keep feeding new officials and new politicians each time the government changes. If there was only one leader who he can bribe in one shot, most of his problems would be solved.

Many educated and elite Indians do not identify with the political leaders who pander to the lower classes and minority religions. If given an opportunity they would never like to deal with such people of low rank and such ulterior motives. The only reason these political leaders are in the decision making positions in India is because of stupid concept called democracy. If this concept was done away with, they can restore a bit of aristocracy or may be meritocracy, under a benevolent dictator, under whom, the people would be given a chance to govern and make decisions based on qualifications, one’s degrees in college, one’s stature of high birth.

This notion that even an educated and elite Indian having a PhD from a top institute is equal to an ordinary illiterate ignorant construction worker in a rural India is anathema to these Indians. And democracy somehow brings home this distasteful idea that both of them are equal stakeholders in the fate of India.

A Benevolent Dictator would quite unselfishly rule for the benefit of this country. He would be a nice man, not greedy, not power hungry, and yet be resolute and firm leading India with an iron hand. He will do away with press and media where necessary, he would ignore wishes and mandates of political and vote bank, because he doesn’t need them (he is already a dictator), he would, where necessary, suspend the legal norms, and do things which are considered good for the country. What is good for the country is of course subjective and is usually synonymous with ideologies of those who support such a dictator. He is of course a benevolent man therefore he knows exactly when to exercise his power and when not to. He would only act where necessary.

Different people have different desires from this Benevolent Dictator. Patriotic Indians want this benevolent dictator to completely suppress Kashmiri struggle for independence, kick out Pakistanis out of POK and completely restore the map of India. North Indians would like this benevolent dictator to impose Hindi as national language. The Hindu Chauvinists would like to take back all the sops given to minority religions. Upper caste Hindus would like to do away with reservations given out to backward castes. Most of them genuinely believe that corruption would somehow stop in under such benevolent dictator. That things would proceed fast, like in China.

All great things would be possible under a dictator. But since dictators are usually quite cruel, they coin a word called ‘benevolent’ dictator’ who would put country ahead of himself and lead it with a iron hand, making sure the interests of those who promote him are protected and promoted.

No wonder most Indians seem to have a high opinion of people like Stalin, Hitler, and some would even concede that people like Saddam Hussein are needed for India to become better. They celebrate when Narendra Modi rules with an iron hand, suppressing certain communities to the elation of certain majorities. His suspension of legal process is hailed as small compromises for the greater good.

This notion of Benevolent Dictator is nothing but mere extrapolation of Indian’s greediness. They look for glimpses of benevolence covering up their greediness – to serve their selfish purposes while suppressing other peoples' interests.