The spectre of dharma

Shantanu Thakur

(thakur.santanu@gmail.com)

Viewing a currently ongoing web series drama on Netflix – Leila – gave me the jitters. It's about a dystopian future where a totalitarian state – Aryavart – segregates people and dominates every aspect of their lives. Years ago, George Orwell's famous novel - Nineteen Eighty-Four – had raised (and continues to raise) serious concern all over. This serial on the OTT platform gave me nightmares. The cold fact this was just a work of fiction was hardly any relief. It forced one to take a look at some of the things happening all around and think and rethink.

One is aware of the criticism the title of this article is likely to arouse amongst pseudo-religionists. But dharma carries layers of meaning and, to stay stuck with superficial definitions, or, vague, distorted ideas on it, is unadvisable. Most adults are often heard commenting on religion - (children, fortunately, are not as prone) – without much of an understanding, or grasp, on what they are talking about, or rather, how contrary to the principles of religion their opinions are, and, how harmful these could be to a generation and a nation.

History, they say, repeats itself and yet, it's an irony that civilizations fail to learn their lessons despite repetitions over time. Even after epochal leaps in science, technology and thought, mankind is still uncertain about where human civilization is headed. Threats from looming dangers such as an alarming climate change, heedless arms race, intolerance, bigotry and dogma continue to breathe down our necks - much as we pay scant attention and attempt to brush uncomfortable developments under the carpet.

Those of us who were born in independent India in the mid-fifties feel both good and sad when we look back on the times we grew up in. Good because, when we compare the ground realities today, we see a far healthier social climate that prevailed then. It's sad because a balanced and sound upbringing seems to have rendered many of us into misfits in the present milieu.

One of the most oft-heard songs in our childhood was 'Agni jugor phiringoti moi' by Bhupen Hazarika. As a spark of the age of fire, the Bard had dreamt of a new India and a new Assam that would be free from the machinations of the traders of hate and racial prejudice. Other great thinkers of his time and before also had lofty, noble dreams for this country - invocations like "where the mind is without fear and the head is held high' - has attained the status of a hymn. Yet, the country seems hell-bent on breaking into fragments by narrow domestic walls. Years later, Bob Dylan rent the air with similar thoughts: "How many miles must a man walk down before you call him a man?" The answer has been blowing in the wind all these years, but we refuse to see; fail to hear. For nations in a civilized age, how long should a dream for liberty, equality and fraternity take to materialize? Eternity? Shouldn't seventy-five-plus years be enough?

India had been a seat of deep contemplation on the spiritual and the philosophical for ages. The Vedic Age was a period of search and exploration to unravel the mysteries of the cosmos. Scholars and students from different parts of the world had spent their years in the ancient universities of Nalanda, Takshashila gathering wisdom that was around in this ancient land. Indian thought and Indian philosophy had attracted worldwide attention on the strength of its universal span and depth of understanding. Intolerance, or, straight-jacketed concepts, for that matter, had never been the highlights of the Indian oeuvre of thought. Yet, even in this age of space exploration, we have not been able to free our young generation from unproductive, wasteful debates and disputes over things as mundane and unnecessary as what to, or, what not to wear to school. What we had learnt to view as ordinary matters of day-to-day lifestyle have now had to be drawn to the portals of the Judiciary. All the better, perhaps; its sub-judice nature now at least helps to restrain us, pundits, from messing up things further.

It isn't that retrograde, obscurantist trends had never been seen earlier in our country – they were there, like in the history of all cultures. But here, the long-drawn efforts at socio-cultural homogeneity to make the people stand as one united front against British domination; the gradual expansion of education throughout the country and other related factors had helped to lay the foundations for the spread of liberal, tolerant ideas; amity, integration and assimilation. Mahatma Gandhi's ceaseless, untiring fight against untouchability; the enshrining of constitutional safeguards for a secular republic by scholars like Dr Ambedkar; simultaneous spread of leftist, liberal inclusive values – all these factors had succeeded in moulding an open, modern, secular India. At least in the case of Assam and the other states of North East India, one can vouch for the presence of a tolerant, enlightened environment for ages. Children and the young pick up their perceptions on societal and religious aspects from what they see around them in everyday life. They don't necessarily have to be indoctrinated through institutionalized religious education. Assam has been a visible case of a cosmopolitan culture for as long as we can remember. Perhaps the region's long history of assimilation from the all-embracing culture of the first Ahom King - Siu-Ka-Pha; values of tolerance and spirituality nurtured by Saint Shankardeva; the accommodative spirit of tribal societies; the spread of English education, etc were the factors accountable for this in Assam. A few instances of life as we had got to see in our childhood should suffice to make this point.

A Second World War veteran from Assam who had seen the world, when asked about his 'varna' would reply with a deadpan: 'the portion exposed to the elements is tan; rest of it fair!' Another upper-caste Hindu was often heard exhorting his relatives with: 'eshoesho Brahman, shuchikori mon!'( a line from Tagore). An Assamese chorus frequently sung in our childhood lucidly talked of a journey in search of light. It reminded us of the Vedic hymn: 'Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya' – from darkness unto light! We had seen with our own eyes a staunch Gandhiite- late Kalidass Sharma of KrishnanagarAashram – do his daily prayers from the scriptures of all religions. Such men are no more around. That Aashram, visited by the Mahatma, now languishes in neglect. The same man had also told us that in the interest of social accommodation, we also need to don clothes that in the collective company of people of other faiths, do not embarrassingly highlight our differences. Cosmopolitan behaviour, coupled with cosmopolitan wear, is sometimes necessary to let everyone share a sense of belonging. Your spirituality should come from within; not displayed through what you wear – the kingdom of heaven lies within you. All these and more from a Gandhiite.

Till the mid-seventies, the children of many Assamese families used to study in the English-medium missionary schools at Shillong. While some of them were boarders, the others were day-scholars. All of them were initiated into and made familiar with some Christian rituals and ceremonies. But this did not necessarily unhinge them. Their moorings in their traditions and customs remained steadfast. This exposure helped to give a wider understanding of the virtues of all religions; inculcate secular values and evolve as better, rounded human beings. Many amongst them are as well-conversant in the Bible as in the Bhagabat. We all had uniforms at school, but hardly any controversy over that. Whenever on occasions, the students of another faith put on their traditional dresses, it was more of a matter of joy than rancour. That added more colour to the fabric. Such things hardly ever affect anyone's religion adversely. In the morning assembly at the Sainik School, Goalpara, the disciplinarian Principal never failed to exhort us with his clarion call: Indians first and Indians last. Diversity is strength; not a weakness. Having grown up in such an upbringing, we of our generation are dismayed at petty prejudices that seem to be floating around today.

Time has come to air our views. This, after all, is the age of space exploration and technology. The spirituality of our religions should be used to restrain us from turning into soulless robots; not make us couriers of superstition. Earlier, highly popular Hindi films often used to have their stories built on the values of unity in diversity. These movies had served a purpose beyond entertainment. But the themes have also changed now. The school and college-going boys and girls should be taught about the essential unity of all religions. The India of our dreams has to be inclusive and tolerant. Let a thousand flowers bloom!