Cross cultural divide...
India...A country of many religions, numerous beliefs and such a diversity that many a people outside this land tried hard and in vain to understand, to know , what lies beneath this apparent paradox, how it is possible for all of us to stay there, as a single nation, and in such a harmony which is beyond comprehension for most of the neutral observers. The answer lies in the land, in our land. You have to be there , you have to live there, celebrate the festivals, mourn the tragidies , in collectively to start understanding how do we managed to live together for centuries, when culturally every state, parts within every state are as different as chalk and cheese.
I used to wonder, at a very early stage of my life, about those things. As a kid i was, well, a bit different. I used to wonder about lots of things, about religion and why there are so so many of them here, about GOD and life after death. I lived in delhi university for most part of my life and i think in retrospect that it was a blessing in disguise. It was a tough environment to live in, but those early lessons had stood me in good stead later in life.The university campus does many good things to me, one of them was introduction to people from different parts of the country, from different class of society, people with different ambitions , different goals and with different talents. Hindu college, one of the best in India, in fact a college which is regularly there in top-5 colleges across the country. It attracts the best talent which is available there in the country from different parts , far flung places.
From my school time itself, i had interaction with boys from college. The college hostel, a perfect example to understand, how we in India, are living together from thousands of years. Hostel is like "mini -India" itself. People from same region usually stays together in groups, but if one of them is in trouble , then entire hostel stand behind him, putting on a united front irrespective of numerous internal differences.
This is the same principle, which if applied on macro level, gives us a explanation of how we , as a nation, have survived an prospered over thousands of years.
Sometimes it even makes me to stop and think. Muslims vs. hindus, Hindus vs. sikhs, Sikhs vs muslims, christians vs. hindus, naxalites vs prosperous class, struggles are so numerous and so widespread that it seems like a miracle that we are one country. People in south don't like people from north as they seems rude and aggressive to them. People from north don't like people from south because they seems too soft to them. People from far east of country always get differential treatment because they resemble mongolians more than they resemble the aryans. Fights, murders, riots , loss of human life is common for petty issues , and it is more of a rule then exception. People are differentiated on the bases of caste and creed. Ours is the only country possibly on earth where people fight to be called backward.
So, on the surface, one can see all the reasons , which are enough to make one wonder how on earth we exist together, live peacefully and prospering like no other nation is prospering. he answer lies, as vivekananda explained to the west a century ago, in our belief in goodness and religion. Compare this holy land of ours with any other nation and you will find the answer to what drives our nation, what travels underneath the belly of our country. For most of other nations, the things that binds people is politics (most progressive countries), economics or fear (pakistan, China). Now not belittling other nations, but I think on a average in our country the dominant themes of bonding is religion. We are mostly non interested in talks of politics, majority of people in villages and towns are not moderately interested in talking about economics and baring few sections like naxalities who are bounded together by fear and hate, we all are god fearing citizen. Someone cheats you and we say "bhagwan sab dekh raha hai". Someone is cruel to you and you say "bhagwan se darr". We suffere financially, ruined, down in dumps and we say "bhagwan ke ghar main dair hai andhair nahin". And in saying so we put ourselves in GOD's hand and get on with our lives, as simple as that. We have this bonding together, we all trust in GOD, much more than we trust people, much more that we trust government and officials. We may not be talking for months with our neighbors but if ganpati we forget and greets each other as it is GOD's day. We may hate somebody, but if its deepawali, we greet each other. We are inherently people who are in love with our religion and our GOD's , in one or another way. That is the bond with keeps us going forward, collectively as a nation.
So let their me incompetent government, corrupt officials, people who dupes you at each and every step, numerous problems, natural tragedies, we have a ready made remedy with us. Sab bhagwan ke upar cod do aur apna kaam karo. As Krishan said in Geeta, karmanye vadi karashte, ma falusu kadachanna. Keep doing your bit and let GOD take care of the rest. Jai Shri Ram, allakah Niranjan, allah ho akbar, amen to that.
I used to wonder, at a very early stage of my life, about those things. As a kid i was, well, a bit different. I used to wonder about lots of things, about religion and why there are so so many of them here, about GOD and life after death. I lived in delhi university for most part of my life and i think in retrospect that it was a blessing in disguise. It was a tough environment to live in, but those early lessons had stood me in good stead later in life.The university campus does many good things to me, one of them was introduction to people from different parts of the country, from different class of society, people with different ambitions , different goals and with different talents. Hindu college, one of the best in India, in fact a college which is regularly there in top-5 colleges across the country. It attracts the best talent which is available there in the country from different parts , far flung places.
From my school time itself, i had interaction with boys from college. The college hostel, a perfect example to understand, how we in India, are living together from thousands of years. Hostel is like "mini -India" itself. People from same region usually stays together in groups, but if one of them is in trouble , then entire hostel stand behind him, putting on a united front irrespective of numerous internal differences.
This is the same principle, which if applied on macro level, gives us a explanation of how we , as a nation, have survived an prospered over thousands of years.
Sometimes it even makes me to stop and think. Muslims vs. hindus, Hindus vs. sikhs, Sikhs vs muslims, christians vs. hindus, naxalites vs prosperous class, struggles are so numerous and so widespread that it seems like a miracle that we are one country. People in south don't like people from north as they seems rude and aggressive to them. People from north don't like people from south because they seems too soft to them. People from far east of country always get differential treatment because they resemble mongolians more than they resemble the aryans. Fights, murders, riots , loss of human life is common for petty issues , and it is more of a rule then exception. People are differentiated on the bases of caste and creed. Ours is the only country possibly on earth where people fight to be called backward.
So, on the surface, one can see all the reasons , which are enough to make one wonder how on earth we exist together, live peacefully and prospering like no other nation is prospering. he answer lies, as vivekananda explained to the west a century ago, in our belief in goodness and religion. Compare this holy land of ours with any other nation and you will find the answer to what drives our nation, what travels underneath the belly of our country. For most of other nations, the things that binds people is politics (most progressive countries), economics or fear (pakistan, China). Now not belittling other nations, but I think on a average in our country the dominant themes of bonding is religion. We are mostly non interested in talks of politics, majority of people in villages and towns are not moderately interested in talking about economics and baring few sections like naxalities who are bounded together by fear and hate, we all are god fearing citizen. Someone cheats you and we say "bhagwan sab dekh raha hai". Someone is cruel to you and you say "bhagwan se darr". We suffere financially, ruined, down in dumps and we say "bhagwan ke ghar main dair hai andhair nahin". And in saying so we put ourselves in GOD's hand and get on with our lives, as simple as that. We have this bonding together, we all trust in GOD, much more than we trust people, much more that we trust government and officials. We may not be talking for months with our neighbors but if ganpati we forget and greets each other as it is GOD's day. We may hate somebody, but if its deepawali, we greet each other. We are inherently people who are in love with our religion and our GOD's , in one or another way. That is the bond with keeps us going forward, collectively as a nation.
So let their me incompetent government, corrupt officials, people who dupes you at each and every step, numerous problems, natural tragedies, we have a ready made remedy with us. Sab bhagwan ke upar cod do aur apna kaam karo. As Krishan said in Geeta, karmanye vadi karashte, ma falusu kadachanna. Keep doing your bit and let GOD take care of the rest. Jai Shri Ram, allakah Niranjan, allah ho akbar, amen to that.
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