Religion

-

 I am a Christian because my parents were Christian. If my parents were Hindu, I would have been Hindu. If my parents were Muslim, I would have been a Muslim.

My great grandparents were Hindus but later they were converted to Christianity. That’s the difference, otherwise, I would have been a Hindu and the story would be completely different.

My mother is a liberal believer but her parents are radical. They go to church every day and get involved in various church activities. From childhood itself, they fill my head with bible stories and how great Jesus Christ was. If they were Hindus they were busy giving lectures on Lord Ram, Lord Shiva, and other 33 crore Gods.

My father is always an inspiration for me. He goes to church, temples, mosques. He has taken me to Sabarimala, Guruvayoor, Mookambika. He always encourages me to know all the religions and to have my own opinion. He used to say don’t believe in any religion deeply. Have an understanding of it. Every religion has its greatness and flaws. Take the good part, reject the other.

When I was born there was a great confusion to name me. My mother’s side wants to name me a Christian name. But my father wants to name me a Hindu name. He named me Aswin in midst of all arguments. The meaning of my name is ‘Friend of God’. If you ask me which God, I will tell you I am a friend of all Gods.

I wrote this experience because we were born to a particular religion. But we never choose that. If we were born to some other religion, the story will be different. Then why are you wasting your energy fighting and criticizing other religions? All religions teach us to love each other. Just sit and think.

If anyone asks me why India is still underdeveloped, my answer would be religion. Because the leaders give extreme importance to religion rather than development. I feel very angry when the government spends crores of money for constructing Mandir or statues. Well, these guys know the weakness of the people. The majority of people in India are blind to religion. Our crooked leaders use religion as a political tool to get the vote from the people to fill their vote banks.

According to the French philosopher Montesquieu, Religion should be separated away from politics. If they come together it is dangerous.

India is in that stage now. Leaders inject religious poison into the minds of people. They say that India is a Hindu nation. So we need to dominate over other religions. They make people think that Hinduism is superior and others are inferior.

If India wins against Pakistan in cricket, almost all Indians celebrate. Moreover, religion dominates the rivalry between India and Pakistan. In the last T20 World cup, when India lost against Pakistan, a lot of religious extremists from India accused Mohammad Shami since he is a Muslim. When Virat Kohli supported Shami, a lot of bastards raised rape threats against his 7 months old daughter. How shameful. When I saw that news I felt embarrassed to call myself Indian.  

Hinduism is a very beautiful religion. It teaches the ideology of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, which means “the world is one family.” That is, the world is one and everyone is equal.

But Hindutva is extremism. It is an ideology where they see other religions as inferior and Hindus as superior. They are ready to kill anyone for their religion. This is what happens in India. Political leaders use the ideology of Hindutva as a political tool to get the vote and to oppress other religions. ‘Jai Shree Ram’, is not a religious slogan anymore, it has now become a political slogan.

Recently some ministers said, we need to replace the tricolor flag and install a saffron flag. Another minister said we need to make Cow as our national animal. This is not patriotism, this is religious fanatism. These people don’t love India. They give more importance to a particular religion above our motherland. 

I think most of them don’t know what is written in the Holy books like Bhagavat Geetha, Bible, or Quran. Without understanding the proper meaning they fight each other.

Constitution is the holy book of India. But our leaders never try to understand the proper meaning. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, Freedom of Speech, everything is only on paper.

 In our pledge, there is a sentence, ‘All Indians are my brothers and sister.’ But in reality, it’s the opposite.

I am not at all interested in Indian politics. There is no idol leader for me. Everyone is selfish. Discussing religion and politics is a waste of time. Today people killed the real meaning of these words. If I start to talk or write about this topic, it’s not going to end. It’s a wild one. The recent Hijab issues (pure nonsense) made me write this. I feel relief when I write this as if I am talking to you. Religion is good if we handle it properly. Otherwise, it kills your common sense. Try to be rational. I thank my Father who always supported me.

“For great men, religion is a way of making friends. Small people make religion a fighting tool.”

-       APJ Abdul Kalam


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lilykutty Teacher

-
My mother asked me to visit my grandparent's house because one of their old colleagues was coming to meet them after 45 years. They were all teachers in the same school during the 1970s. “Lilykutty Teacher used to work with your grandparents back in their teaching days,” my mother told me. Since my mother had some work at school and couldn’t be there, she asked me to go instead. I casually said okay and went there, expecting an ordinary afternoon with tea, banana chips, and old people discussing blood pressure and pension issues. But the moment Lilykutty teacher walked in, I realized she was different. She was 73 years old, but honestly, her energy could defeat most people in their twenties. She was cheerful, talkative, sharp, and effortlessly funny. The kind of person who enters a room and immediately changes its atmosphere. Within minutes, she had already adopted me into the conversation and insisted I stay for lunch. Then the nostalgia began. My grandparents and Lilykutty teache...
Read more

Later Never Came

-
Image
  My grandmother turned 79, and I remember quietly telling myself that we would celebrate her 80th birthday in a grand way. Eighty felt special—eight decades of life, memories, struggles, and love. That milestone deserved something big, I thought. But my father didn’t wait. He brought a cake, and our family gathered around her that day. There was nothing extravagant—just familiar faces, soft laughter, and a woman who looked deeply happy in that moment. When she smiled, it felt like time had slowed down. It was one of those ordinary moments that you don’t realize is extraordinary until much later. Two months later, she was gone. That was when it hit me: that celebration had been her last birthday. Not the grand 80th I had imagined, but a simple 79th—made meaningful only because we chose not to postpone it. Even today, when I think about it, I feel relieved that we celebrated. If we hadn’t, the memory might have been replaced by regret—the kind that stays with you forever. Life ...
Read more

Cold Chemistry

-
If my college life were a chemical equation, it would look something like this: boring lectures + confusing practicals + zero love life = a painfully average existence. That was me, Nirmal. Chemistry department, first year, specializing in nothing except avoiding viva questions. And then one random Tuesday morning, my life decided to conduct an unexpected reaction. Her name was Elza. She walked into our common language class like she owned the place. She was an English department girl, with that confident posture people in my department couldn't even fake. I noticed her the moment she sat two rows ahead. Noticed, as in, completely forgot what the teacher was saying, forgot my notebook, and forgot that I existed. She was laughing softly at something her friend said, and in that one moment, my brain, which was supposed to handle complex reactions, turned into NaCl. Plain, useless salt. It's funny how one person can ruin your entire academic focus with just one smile. I was from C...
Read more