Why I Am A Hindu

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Mr. Tharoor, when you categorize casteism under the chapter of ‘Questioning Hindu Customs’ of your book, then why are you all for caste-based reservations, and not for financial need-based reservation? Or are you just trying to defend how for votes your party has repeatedly shattered the fabric of Hindu society for decades? When the book’s Indian publication was first planned in 2010, officials from Gandhi’s party, the Indian National Congress (popularly known simply as Congress), described it as “defamatory, inaccurate and unsubstantiated” and threatened legal action, while her supporters burned effigies of Moro in Delhi. Gandhi herself was said by aides to have seen a copy of the work and to have been “saddened”. Finally, Pgno: 247. '' Pluralist and democratic India must, by definition, tolerate the plural expression of its many identities. To allow the self- appointed arbiters of Bharatiya Sanskriti to impose their hypocrisy and double standards on the rest of us is to permit them to define Indianness down until it ceases to be India''. On Alcohol ban in Gujrat, pg 239, '' Hindutva hypocrisy is also much in evidence on the subject of alcohol, deemed to be un-Indian and officially banned in the P.M's own state of Gujrat''. Hinduism’ is thus the name that foreigners first applied to what they saw as the indigenous religion of India. It embraces an eclectic range of doctrines and practices, from pantheism to agnosticism and from faith in reincarnation to belief in the caste system. But none of these constitutes an obligatory credo for a Hindu: there are none. We have no compulsory dogmas. This is, of course, rather unusual. A Catholic is a Catholic because he believes Jesus was the Son of God who sacrificed himself for Man; a Catholic believes in the Immaculate Conception and the Virgin Birth, offers confession, genuflects in church and is guided by the Pope and a celibate priesthood. A Muslim must believe that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is His Prophet. A Jew cherishes his Torah or Pentateuch and his Talmud; a Parsi worships at a Fire Temple; a Sikh honours the teachings of the Guru Granth Sahib above all else. There is no Hindu equivalent to any of these beliefs. There are simply no binding requirements to being a Hindu. Not even a belief in God.”

At one point in Orhan Pamuk’s perceptive novel Snow, the protagonist Ka highlights the supreme paradox of religious mobilisation in his part of the world. Defenders of militant Islam draw upon religious vocabularies to justify their politics, without once mentioning God or faith. It is precisely the distinction between politics in the name of religion, and faith, that Shashi Tharoor in this rather charming book on Hinduism and Hindutva seeks to emphasise. a b "Why I Am A Hindu: Shashi Tharoor's sentiments are those of a liberal trying to reclaim the religion from the fringe". Firstpost. 19 February 2018 . Retrieved 25 October 2021.Textbook rewriting- it is true that the Bjp has introduced the Hindu version of things, but then congress is not at all innocent since it derives its resources from left tilted historians. The Bjp banned the movie Paadmavat even when the story has been fictional. Pg no: 247, '' Taking offense is the name of the game these days; hurting the sentiments of a community is the name of the crime. Please do read what Congress leaders on this matter. https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/boll... One can say that he has done a fine cut and paste job in the first half of the book with his own vague and unclear thoughts peppered with readable prose. Tharoor is unsparing in his criticism of extremism and unequivocal in his belief that what makes India a distinctive nation with a unique culture will be imperilled if Hindu 'fundamentalists', the proponents of 'Hindutva', or politicised Hinduism, seize the high ground. In his view, it is precisely because Hindus form the majority that India has survived as a plural, secular democracy. Dr Tharoor has risen in my respect significantly and opened my eyes to many things in this book - which I think is more the point. From the Indian Puranas he quotes a small tale which says “The truth exists but it is not always true …”.

Why I Am A Hindu comes out at a time where the present government's loyalty lies in the cows in the country rather than the human population, where gaurakshaks impart the law unhindered, where the difference between life and death is a moustache, a beard or a burqa, and where self-imposed moral police decides what you should and should not do in your personal life; all in the name of religion, in the name of Hinduism. At a time where citizens are losing faith in Hinduism as a result of all the atrocities being done in its name, Shashi Tharoor through his book reminds us, as well as the bigots in the country as to what exactly Hinduism stands for. This book is co-authored by Shashi Tharoor, the intellect, and Shashi Tharoor, the politician. The intellect Shashi Tharoor begins the book beautifully, elaborating on the core tenets of Hinduism and all things that makes Hinduism not just a religion, but the very way of life worth emulating. Briefly delving on the probable origins of Hinduism, the challenges it faced all along its many millennia-old existence, the ways in which it overcame those challenges and the innumerable saints and holy personae that stand as shining beacons for all the virtues that Hinduism is all about. Ironically, Mr. Tharoor makes you feel proud about being Hindu, more than all the antics and assertions of the so-called saviours of the ‘Hindutva’ brigade. In an age of manipulation through fake-images and messages spread through social media, people have been taught to hate the real soldiers of India’s freedom struggle, forgetting that these ‘Hindutva’ proponents made little or no contribution during the struggle for India’s independence. But Shashi Tharoor is no pushover to let them go easily. His book is a timely and sensible argument against the malady that is ‘Hindutva’, a product of fear and paranoia. This challenge of authenticity, however, cuts across a wide intellectual terrain. It emerges from those Hindus who share V.SWhile politically this change for Mr. Tharoor might be rewarding, but the question is – If putting his reputation at stake worth the reward? In all, this book is a carefully crafted effort ahead of the 2019 general elections to break the Hindus away from the BJP, towards a party which has been a minority appeaser only, for 70+ years and subjugated the religion which wasn’t really a vote bank for them, for they were divided into castes and sub-castes by Congress and is not being united under the banner of development. Shashi Tharoor should note that after 12 months Wendy Doniger's book reentered the market and the ban on the book of Shivaji Maharaj ji has been lifted by the Sc. Tharoor has written numerous books in English. Most of his literary creations are centred on Indian themes and they are markedly “Indo-nostalgic.” Perhaps his most famous work is The Great Indian Novel, published in 1989, in which he uses the narrative and theme of the famous Indian epic Mahabharata to weave a satirical story of Indian life in a non-linear mode with the characters drawn from the Indian Independence Movement. His novel Show Business (1992) was made into the film 'Bollywood'(1994). The late Ismail Merchant had announced his wish to make a film of Tharoor’s novel Riot shortly before Merchant’s death in 2005. There was that One then, and there was no other. In the beginning there was only darkness, veiled in darkness,

The next set of chapters are on the stalwarts of Hinduism – Swami Vivekananda, Adi Shankara, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and many others along with short, concise versions of their teachings. It is absolutely riveting to read about Vivekananda and his teachings which hit home with searing effect even in today’s world. From here on, Tharoor moves on to Political Hinduism or Hindutva. We cannot call terrorists -Islamic Terrorists since they literally betray and go against their principles. Accepted. Then why Goons are called Hindutva Goons. Is that what Hinduism professed? The first part as the author asserts are his personal opinions and how he has understood Hinduism and his understanding of the religion. I agree with some aspects as I too had a similar trajectory of conforming as a child followed by rebellion during my high school and college days. And, now I believe in my own terms and pace. Like the author says the book is too small to cover the span and beliefs of Hinduism and how it has evolved. While reading I had to constantly remind myself that it’s the author’s individual opinion rather than an objective approach.But, unfortunately, unlike his other books, Mr. Tharoor finds himself wanting of logical and powerful arguments to persuade the reader, and at times himself appears to be admiring the right-wing philosophy, before jolting himself up to remind that he is associated with the left-wing. No doubt, he is adroit at convincing you in what he feels is right with logical and systemic reasoning, but his constant cribbing against Hindutvavadis/Sanghis/Bhakts creates a monotonic rant. Also, there is this trend I have observed in Tharoor's books, he tends to repeat the same stuff in the same book quite often which sometimes looks like a paucity of ideas rather than reinforcement. It is suggested that while the Vedic era saw only the worship of a formless and imageless God, the conduct of rituals and the propitiation of the river and mountain and tree gods of local tribes, all of which were ‘portable’ and not confined to a fixed spot, it was the arrival of the Greeks under Alexander in the fourth century BCE that brought into India the idea of permanent temples enshrining stone images of heroes and gods.) Again, while the Hinduism of the Vedas emerged from mantras and rituals, including elaborate sacrifices, the Puranas promoted their values entirely on the basis of myths and stories. By developing the concept of the saguna Brahman to go with the exalted idea of the nirguna Brahman, the Puranic faith integrated the Vedic religion into the daily worship of ordinary people. Using the seductive power of maya (illusion), the nirguna Brahman of the Vedas took the form of saguna Brahman or Ishvara, the creator of prakriti, the natural world and the God or Bhagavan of all human beings.” At the onset of this book and thereafter at multiple junctures, the author Shashi Tharoor distils the overall message and concept of Hinduism into a phrase from the Upanishads which is : ’ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti’. This means : ”That which exists is One; the sages call It by various names” and there could not have been an easier way to sum up Tharoor’s definition of what being a Hindu is all about. This medium sized book begins with a much interesting premise of trying to explain what Hinduism meant much before it morphed into the populist chest thumping of ‘Hindutva’ and also of why a way of life in the form of Hinduism is still relevant in today’s world. The book succeeds in this by small measures and having been used to Tharoor’s eloquent articulation skills, the final chapters of this book were a let-down for me as a reader. Another outrageous remark by Mr. Tharoor in this book is when he praises the caste-based reservation in India, just because it has been a part of ‘divide-Hindus-and-rule’ policy of Congress for decades.

Pg no: 230: There was the Shiv Sena MP, a member of the ruling coalition shoving food down the throat of a fasting Muslim during Ramzan and getting away without the slightest censure from the ruling party. On this matter, according to Tharoor the Bjp has not applied any disciplinary action on the MP. That's wrong. Now, humanity professor Tharoor can explain why Congress wants to form a Government with such people who can't respect others' beliefs? Only opportunism? Chandhoke, Neera (17 February 2018). "Why I Am A Hindu review: The power of politics as religion". The Hindu . Retrieved 25 May 2018. Without a hint of doubt, these words which moved the world when were recited by Swami Vivekanand in United Nations will move any reader and make them proud of Hinduism! PS: While I am a great admirer of Shashi Tharoor’s knowledge and work, his constant deterioration to server his unfit boss in the Congress party worries me. Over the decades, Congress has prevented many great leaders from contributing towards the growth of the country because it believes that only the Gandhi-Nehru dynasty has the right to lead India, and I fear that Shashi Tharoor might end up as another casualty of this Congress philosophy. And that would not only be a loss for Mr. Tharoor but also for India, as we would have lost another great leader to Congress.The Second Part of the novel under Political Hinduism has a three-point approach- 1. Hinduism is great plural and enigmatic, not puritanical. 2. What Hindutva people do wrong. 3. The Bjp is responsible or gives some examples of what the Bjp had done. It is nothing but a political rant using Hinduism as a shield to conquer the masses of readers. Scholars in other countries, shuddering under the impact of religious politics, have tried to appeal beyond politics to texts and syncretic practices. The strategy has simply not worked. We might have to counter and dare dominant formulations with alternative forms of politics. That is precisely what the leaders of the Indian National Congress did in the early 20th century. They introduced the language of minority rights in the 1928 Constitutional Draft and secularism after the major Kanpur communal riot in 1931, as a part of constitutional democracy. Shall we think of politics as a radical critique of an inequitable religion as well as religion as politics?