A popular tale on Lord Krishna
Krishna is having dinner in heaven, served by his wife, Rukmani. On the Earth, thugs are moving menacingly toward his devotee, to rough him up. Krishna watches this and gets up to go to his aid. Rukmani is disappointed that her husband has to leave suddenly and tries to stop him, but Krishna is determined to leave. Suddenly, he sits down again and resumes dinner. Rukmani asks him, "What happened, My lord? Krishna replies, "My devotee has picked up a stone".
The strength to take on a bully is a spiritual trait.
The greatest thug so far in India, for centuries, has been the state. Since the Mughal era till now, the state has been our mai-baap (benefactor). It was so ruthless that we, its victims, had to sing its praise lest it should hit us harder. Our show of respect toward the state was a victim's eulogy for its oppressor. We were fearful and thus dishonest. But a new consciousness is rising.
The public — across sectors — is fed up with the state and is now learning to say ENOUGH. The corporate sector is powerful, so we hear its protests. The common man is also whimpering, but he is not as audible. But we did hear his whimper post-26/11. Rather than cry foul about Pakistan's sinister aggression — the populace made the Indian government the butt of its attacks. Why? It was just pent-up ire. In India, we "sir" the incompetent and dishonest politician and bureaucrat. It is like respecting a predator.
This hypocrisy is disappearing now. This nation is becoming bold. Italian politician and writer Machiavelli has said, "When you avoid wars, you have to fight them tomorrow at a greater disadvantage." We did not fight the Mughal invaders enough, so the British came in who squeezed us even more. We didn't fight the British enough, so now we have the Indian politician ruling us-a bigger predator.
Where is this strength coming from? One reason for this is that India has risen on the world map. The world has acknowledged the mettle of the Indian entrepreneur and the Indian professional. The British propaganda against Indians was very strong, but it is now wearing off as many other nationalities have been exposed to us and they admire us in many ways.
The changing urban landscape and the contrast that is visible, for example, the highways and flyovers still take years to build, but the commercial megalithic buildings come up in no time. The private sector works and the government drags. Also, there is pent up frustration and humiliation since centuries that we bore silently. This silence was shameful. And after a time, shame is too difficult to bear. So, the victims are now ready
to fight.
A no-longer-silent-revolution is brewing. Earlier, Indians were only taking off their shoes at the doorsteps of a temple, now they are taking their shoes off at every other aam sabha (general meeting). At great risk to themselves, they fire these footwear missiles at their oppressors. This is active spirituality with the power to transform the society.
The feudal Indian society needs a shake. This temple-going community is now shaking the town hall. In my view, we are now becoming really spiritual through this fight. It is baptism by fire. God Bless.
The writer is the managing director
of Vygon, a French
healthcare multinational
No comments:
Post a Comment