A (religious) identity crisis?

[Guest guest]

Do you have a (religious) identity crisis?

 

by Shoba Narayan

The Mint

Jan. 24, 2008

 

The recent piece I wrote about learning the Sanskrit

poem Shyamala Dandakam came in for a lot of

criticism. As a writer, I enjoy criticism. It challenges me

to re-examine my world view. We columnists tend to

take ourselves seriously. Every now and then, it is fun to

have our convictions turned on their head; to be

upbraided a bit. The advantage of critiques is that unlike

complimentary notes, they deliver a lot of content and

therefore make for compelling if depressing reading.

Think about it. It is really hard to write an original fan

letter; after all how many different ways can you say, " I

liked your piece. " With critiques, you can list point after

point-Dear Columnist, First, you got your facts wrong;

second, you reached the wrong conclusion; third, your

stance and attitude with respect to the subject are

irritating and condescending; and fourthly, your writing

just plain stinks. And so on.

 

I received many such letters in response to the

Dandakam piece. Each made a different point but the

common thread was that people were offended by my

" casual " attitude to Hinduism. They felt that I was

disparaging Hindu gods and worst of all, I was not a

" proud Hindu " .

 

Religion is serious business these days. Offending

religious sentiments, whether intentional or not, is both

sensitive and dangerous. As explanation to all those who

criticized my stance on Hinduism, let me just say that I

am still struggling to find my place in the world with

respect to religion. I am Hindu, yes, but I am not sure if

I am a proud Hindu. To me religion is an inheritance and

a choice. I was born Hindu and I like the religion

enough not to choose another and convert. But being a

proud Hindu is something that I wriggle away from. I

was in Goa recently and a Hindu member of parliament

told me that he was a " proud Hindu within the confines

of his home but outside, he was an Indian first and a

Hindu last. " That sounded right to me.

 

Religion is one measure of identity but it cannot be the

only one, especially in India where three of the world's

major religions thrive. Bensontown, Bangalore, where I

used to live was populated with many Muslims. My

doctor was Muslim but I would like to believe that he

was a doctor first and a Muslim second or third. The

grocery store that I got my stuff delivered from was

owned and run by a group of Muslims from Malabar.

They were pious-the shop closed at 4pm every

Friday-but they were friendly, efficient, and didn't

differentiate between the Hindu and Muslim households

that they did business with. Or so I like to think.

 

Kerala, a state that I love, is full of Christians. I am close

friends with several Syrian Christian families who seem

in many ways to resemble my own: the link between

generations, the unsparing gossip about scandals, all

passed around with a tinge of self-righteousness at

weddings, the obsession with food, the code of

honouring your word. These are similarities. For them to

preach to me about Christ and for me to preach to them

about Ram would emphasize our differences; push us

apart instead of keeping us together. [....]

 

We each have many identities. As Walt Whitman said,

we " contain multitudes " . Religion is one but there are

others. We are each of us son, daughter, spouse, sibling,

friend, and professional. I tend to identify myself

through my work and I would suspect that most Mint

readers are the same way. I am attracted to Hindu

philosophy but not ritual. At the same time, I like

Christian gospel music, Buddhist koans, Sufi sayings,

Jewish literature and Islamic verse. Does this mean I am

less of a Hindu? I don't know. I thought " secular " was a

phrase that I could use to define myself, but I am told

that it has become a pejorative these days.

 

Okay, bottom line. Here is the reason I have trouble with

religious identity-because it leads to prejudice. [....] I

for one am not willing to walk down that path. I can go

out on a limb and write about a Hindu verse in these

pages, but I like to think that it is not a " religious " piece.

 

Yes, I am Hindu but please, that's not all I am.

 

http://www.livemint.com/2008/01/24235758/Do-you-

have-a-religious-iden.html

or

http://tinyurl.com/35c4j8

[Guest guest]

This article reminds me of when the Dalai Lama simply told someone: " I am but a

simple monk. "

 

Why do I say this? Well, this author attempted to make himself more than what

his religion is.

 

I do see his point, though, to an extent. While it is okay to identify one's

self with a religion (or any kind of group for that matter), making it the

-only- thing to identify one's self with could lead to ethnocentrism, and

ethnocentrism can lead to prejudice. I see it quite a lot in the area where I

live.

 

Thank you for the read! It was a refreshing read and a reminder that we should

remember our faith, but also that we cannot connect to others if it is the

-only- thing we identify ourselves as in terms of labels...if that makes any

sense.

 

Jai Ma!

 

Sincerely,

Christina