It is a kind of day, when a long-suppressed civilization heaves a collective sigh of relief, after five hundred years. At 12:15:15 PM IST, August 5, 2020, let us pause, recall and bow to the spirit, patience, perseverance and valor of our venerable ancestors.
In the land where Rama pervades
moh, lobh, krodh and kaam,
we were asked to prove the existence of our beloved Sri Ram.
In the land where Rama has a
navmi and janma bhoomi,
we were asked to prove the existence of our beloved Sri Ram.
In the land where Rama is in
one’s name and in the ideal state,
we were asked to prove the existence of our beloved Sri Ram.
In the land where Rama stands for
the perfect nation and national integration,
we were asked to prove the existence of our beloved Sri Ram.
In the land where Rama permeates
thoughts, speech & action,
we were asked to prove the existence of our beloved Sri Ram.
In the land where Rama is invoked both in
trepidation and meditation,
we were asked to prove the existence of our beloved Sri Ram.
In the land where Rama is in
salutation and salvation,
we were asked to prove the existence of our beloved Sri Ram.
When a long-suppressed civilisation heaves a collective sigh of relief, after five hundred years, it is that kind of a day. At 12:15:15 PM, August 5, 2020, let us pause, recall and bow to the spirit, patience, perseverance and valor of our venerable ancestors.
In this period of pandemic pandemonium when the rest of the world battles anxiety, Bharat is resplendent with piety. In a world that repeatedly witnesses, and glosses over, the inherent dichotomy of othering, rampant in the supposedly egalitarian later day belief systems, the intrinsically pluralistic Hindus invested their conviction in the modern justice system to undo a historic wrong, and won. That is Dharma - eternal and attuned to the times. This should make us unabashedly own every aspect of our faith and heritage. This should also empower us to proactively highlight and correct misinterpretation of our past by the outsiders’ lens of the present.
It would not be an exaggeration to state that today is the biggest festival in Bharat, after aeons. Know it, own it and exult in the absolute awareness that the oldest civilisation has infused the world with devotion, resilience and perseverance, for preservation and perpetuation, at the same time as another civilisation surreptitiously infected the planet with a virus.
Comprehend, appreciate and underline the magnificence of who we are. Bask in this glory with pride.
आज पर्व है
हिंदू होने पर हमें गर्व है।
The King of the North and all directions, the protector of all realms, here and beyond, the breaker of all chains of maya and more, has chosen to lead us today into an era of self-discovery and reacquaint ourselves with who we were, who we are and who we can potentially be. Rejoice, for, when He is for us, who can be against us!
As a descendant of a community persecuted over seven centuries for choosing the Hindu faith, I am filled with unbridled joy at this epoch defining moment - an inhuman civilizational wrong being righted, albeit, after centuries of exertions. Our uninhibited celebration shall create a surge of positive, harmonious energy, marking the end of the dehumanisation of Hindus in their own land. Two bigoted, plundering waves of colonialism, that questioned and scorned our very existence, dwindled our population and reduced our geographic expanse. The illegal insertion of secularism in the Indian Constitution continued this dehumanization in independent India where demonization and vilification of Hindus, by outside faiths, found active support and institutionalization.
We have had to face the ignominy of Jai Sri Ram, glory be to Sri Ram, being maligned as a militant war cry; Bhakt, sanskar, sanskriti and other such concepts corrupted into crude abuse; Bhagwa vilified as the uniform of Hindu fundamentalists and the latter itself being turned into a dog whistle to pillory Hindus. Today is the day to proclaim that a fundamentalist Hindu is the only fundamentalist capable of ensuring a world of peace, knowledge, valour and spiritual elevation. We have a documented history that substantiates the same.
Today is the day to proudly declare ourselves as traditionalist Hindus, for, the ancestors who fought for this day, through blood, sweat and tears, were traditionalists. We must strive hard to keep the faith in our faith and the tradition of continuing with and passing on our traditions. Remember their struggle to comprehend why some forces are intent upon breaking our traditions and violating the continuity of our rituals
Be aware that the longest extant civilization will cease to be one, without continuity.
Beware and pledge to uphold our sacred traditions and faith.
Today is the time to transmute the self-sabotaging programming internalized by generations of Hindus that any celebration or reminder of our faith, culture and traditions, is an affront that needs to be compensated for. Financial jaziya has long been abrogated; stop paying the psychological one. Upholding and celebrating our faith is our basic human right. Our motherland still bears the wounds inflicted by those whose core is othering. Bharat was, is and will unquestionably remain the civilizational home of all Hindus. Time to rise and end all external flogging and put an end to internal self-flagellation. Let us be proud of and proclaim our inherently pluralistic, loving, respectful, peaceful faith, culture and civilization. We have every reason to!
The observance of our faith is no longer at the coloniser’s mercy. Do not allow the Indian state to act like one, imposing fines, allowing and disallowing our tenets and practices, based on their whims, fancies and flawed, ill-equipped understanding. Our ancestors got us to this momentous occasion. It is incumbent upon us to ensure that Hindus have equal rights, our temples are free, we are at liberty to impart religious and cultural education to the next generation and that our history is correctly documented.
We must revive the skills, talent, crafts and occupations that built Hindu civilization before the two rapacious waves of colonization alienated us from our outstanding identity, turning us into outsiders. Now is the time to awaken and collaborate to build an inclusive Hindu society that offers equal opportunities for growth to all; to work towards harmony and mutual respect within our society and root for collective success; to recognise and refuse divisive agendas and to proclaim हर हिन्दू अपना बंधु है.
Today is also the day to pause, reflect and evaluate if we are leading a life of Dharma at all. Are our thoughts, speech and deeds in accordance and alignment with Dharma? Being a Hindu is not only a matter of pride and honour but also a huge responsibility towards the perpetuation of a philosophy not confined to one book. We have an entire curriculum that we need not necessarily study at length, but definitely be aware of. Are we courageous enough to embark upon this voyage of awareness that can last an entire lifetime? Before we do so, let us be careful in seeking teachers who are insiders and actively avoid being taught about our own civilisation by outsiders.
Each one of us is equipped with inherent abilities, skills and talent. Let us use those to create a world of opportunities for all. Our civilisation, where Gurus guided bright unknown youngsters to create a Rashtra, now grapples with insecurity and self-serving mental slavery of those who, instead of igniting young minds, pander to preserve selfish gains. Of what use is mentally colonised scholarship that either willfully or inadvertently enables outsiders to mock, malign and maul our own? Let us put up a united front based on Hindu kinship, compassion, respect and empathy. Do remember that the world treats us exactly as we treat ourselves. Let us be proud Hindus and spread the scintillation of Sanatan.
Centuries from now, humankind will be astounded to know that a civilisation, the people, that waited patiently for five centuries, yes 500 years, for the right to pray to their Bhagwan in His janm sthan, that civilisation, those people were vilified globally as intolerant! As some parts of the world sleep, Bharat, the longest extant civilisation in the history of mankind, reawakens.
The clarion call of Jai Sri Ram heralds a spiritually resurgent Bharat. May it reverberate as powerfully in the present and future, as it has in the past. May no individual, no society, no nation, no culture, no civilisation, no faith, ever have to go through what the Hindus have. May the entire world learn from the heroism, determination and spirit of the Hindus.
Jai Sri Ram is no ordinary chant. It is a cure and a balm for our civilizational wounds. It is also a civilizational clarion call.
This is what the civilizational clarion calls.
May we embark upon a transformational milestone in the history of human civilisation.
May mutual respect, harmony and peace prevail.
May the Divine bless all sentient beings.
May we all know who we are and work towards the greater good of all.
And so, it is!
- Dimple Kaul
PS: All images are owned by the author.