“While the protests in other states was about demonetisation, for want of foods and higher wages, Tamilnadu stood out for its protests over Jallikattu; for an entertainment?” My senior colleague commented. Another one said why Tamilians would like to be cruel to the bulls and want Jallikattu so desperately? When I explained the way Jallikattu is organised involving no cruelty, he dismissed it by saying “Why play with bulls at all?”
Mind you, both were Hindus! When I asked if it is OK for him if the court bans Deepavali or Dussara, I was for talking as if I represent South India!
In fact, this is the very syndrome that was exhibited by Indians for the last two millennia. This psyche was at the root of helping an invader from outsider, only to settle scores with our own.
The idea of India, since the days of Vedas and Sangam literature was about a large nation that housed various kinds of people. It is the ‘lack of respect’ to our own people that affected Indian psyche so much so that we love anything that is foreign; whether it is the religion or dress or food. We fight forever to decide whether Sanskrit or Tamil is the oldest language, without reading literature of both languages.
Perhaps India is the only nation in the world, where native history is not taught in proper sense. We take pride that our country is spread from the hills of Assam to the marsh lands of Kutch. We take pride that not only Himalayas protect us from the cold northern winds, but also about having the long coast. India is the country that has a desert and dense forests. Is it correct, without realising the diversity of the country, we would like to have all Indians to be like mannequins? I don’t think so.
For seven decades our text books crooked up the ancient history and presented it as the culture established by light skinned Aryans, who came from the west! The word ‘Arya’ that was used till then to denote ‘gentleman’ became suddenly a race! A new word ‘Dravidian’ was coined to represent ‘darker’ Indians. And we believed them! This is the worst part.
We believed the Ravana, one fair skinned Brahman was Dravidian and Rama, the man dark as clouds was an Aryan. We pray to Lord Krishna, whose statues are made of black granite and feel he was an Aryan, while forgetting the meaning of ‘Krishna’ itself is black. We call him Kanji, Kanha, Kanhaiyya, Kannayya, and Kannan, but forget that all these words are simply slangs to each other.
In Soundarya Lahari, written in Sanskrit, Adi Sankaracharya calls himself a ‘Dravida Sisu’. And he was the one who first tried to integrate the India just before the Mughal invasion. Was he Aryan or Dravidian?
Our entire pre-medieval history starts with the Chandragupta, we move to Ashoka. Talk of Gupta dynasty and suddenly we start reading about Mughal invasion! Whatever we read in the name of ancient history revolves around the discoveries of Harappa & Mohanjodaro (incidentally, both are now in Pakistan), as if there was no culture in the planes of Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri! Maybe the civilisation in Indus valley got erased and so there you can dig to find relics. Maybe Varanasi, Ujjain, Vijayawada and Tiruchirappalli have survived since old days.
With time, after independence, school history has accorded more space to ‘National Movement’! Correct, we shall read more about the national movement. Even here, there would not be a single person in our country, who can tell name of one ‘freedom fighter’ from each state of India. This is because, the history we read revolves around few leaders only.
Seems the way we read history is at the root cause of present India. We should not change our lifestyles simply aping the west, but should continue the ‘evolved’ lifestyle. The practices and customs in India from one place to the other vary, despite all believing in the same type of god or gods. This is because these customs have evolved suiting to the native climate, as people adapted to the nature in their surroundings.
It is really easy to dominate and rule this country, for the people are really ready to get divided. It is not about Jallikattu or Deepavali or Nagpanchami! It is about the domestic culture that is as diverse as Indian population is.
We need to change our text books and start reading our history in the correct perspective, if we at least be ready to prevent another invasion. Next invasion would not be from outside, but will be from within.
Frequently a question is asked why we are still frustrated, despite a nationalist government in place. We will remain frustrated till the nation becomes one, with all its diversities preserved. Maybe we need another Adi Sankaracharya