'Pilgrimage' by Paulo Coelho (Review)

                  The book 'Pilgrimage' by Paulo Coelho is a fictitious journey of an aspiring "religious master" across the road to Santiago de Compostela in the Spanish countryside to recover his 'sword'. The journey is a pilgrimage across various historical sacred centers with stories, innuendoes and messages for disciples en-route. As the story progresses, the protagonist was joined by his guide to tread the revered path and in the meantime teaching him exercises of RAM, which enabled him to eventually understand his true path and meaning of life. The guidance of the mentor and the hardships faced during the journey are reminiscent of everyday life struggle to some extent and encourages humans to follow principles (of Christianity) to catapult themselves into higher beings.

            The author has drenched his story in mythology with constant sermons on the Bible(some of them are difficult to understand) and its verses while mischievously usurping other faith teachings and projecting it as Christian with missionary zeal to influence and hogwash naive readers. The book is a feeble attempt to knit an adventurous pilgrimage trip with biblical overhang (stuffed with miracles) to impress upon readers to lead the righteous path for that will bring blissful solitude in one's life in tune with God. I finished this book disappointed and people who want to read it as a fictional story can clearly avoid this book. 

Image Courtesy - Google Images 

Challenges Ahead

Pluralism and tolerance are the foundations of every society that takes pride in being democratic. Since time immemorial, Indian culture, composed of 80% Hindus, has been diverse and tolerant towards different religions and perspectives. 

However, the Indic society as a whole is experiencing challenges that are peculiar in modern times. 

The detrimental influence of Abrahamic faiths on Indian civilization became apparent once the Abrahamic religions mushroomed from the medieval century onwards, making it patriarchal and fiercely hierarchical. 

The Historical Background

Even if we leave out the medieval background of Islamic attacks on indigenous religions and people, the Indian subcontinent has a blood-soaked history of deceit and division. 

The post-Independence religious division of India and the consequences endured by religious minorities in their respective countries of choice are stark reminders of how different ideologies treated their respective populations. 

On the strength of the majority of Hindus who were secular and tolerant of others, India became pluralistic, secular, and inclusive of its minorities.

Pakistan (and Bangladesh) adopted religious theocracy as the Muslim majority abhor other faiths, actively pursuing the path to proselytization to convert or kill others. 

The Current Scenario

For long, the hallowed path to secularism appealed to the majority population. As a result, the social fabric remained largely intact. However, the rising radicalism and ghetto mentality among a segment of the Muslim population is a new danger to Indian culture. 

For a long time, politicians' appeasement politics instilled in Muslim populations an attitude of entitlement. As a result, sporadic violence against other religions (Hindus) in society was rejected or disregarded, resulting in the emboldening of fanatical Islamic groups.

Gradually, such fundamental organizations became politically active, their intolerance grew tremendously, and they began to attack even coreligionists who did not follow their diktats. 

 Rise in Islamic Fanatical Attacks

The vicious attacks and fatwas issued against Padma Shri awardee Kazi Masum Akhtar of Bengal serve as a chilling warning. The fact that his tormentors are still free to roam and that his life is at risk reflects well on the cooperation of a few politicians and the appeasement tactics of Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress administration, which may be counterproductive in the long run. 

Similarly, trolling of three Muslim girls for dancing in Malappuram, Kerala, or fatwas declared against teenager Nahid Afrin from Assam by Islamic bigots rightfully points fingers towards increasing Islamic fundamentalism and demonstrates the growing radicalization and intolerance among Indian Muslims. 

Condition of Minorities in Pakistan 

Let's look around the state of Pakistan and check the social fabric. We find growing Islamic radicalization, increased cases of violence, and forced abduction of young girls from minority communities has become a regular feature.

The condition of the most vulnerable religious minorities in Islamic societies is highly disheartening and deplorable, not to mention the state of the LGBT community, which is viewed with disgust in Pakistan.

The forceful abduction, killings, and rapes of minority community girls coinciding with their dwindling population reflect medieval-oriented societies' lack of empathy and tolerance towards human values. Ironically, this ethnic cleansing of persecuted minorities is in its last phase, as the minority population has already reduced to 1%.  

The headache is such sectarian societies refuse to transform and embrace the transition in human civilization and instead take pride in their oblivion. The plight of 14-year-old Mehak Kumari testifies to the sorry state of affairs in neighbouring Pakistan and challenges Indian secular society to tread the future path with caution. 

Image Courtesy - Google 

Hotel Mumbai (Review)

                 As one would have inferred, the movie presents some graphic violent scenes and narrates the true story of the heinous terror strike at Mumbai in 2011. The story is about the heroic deeds of the staff of Hotel Taj, who valiantly and selflessly sacrificed their lives, in exchange for the safety of their guests. The zombies of terror who carried out the dastardly act were inspired and guided by their handlers from Pakistan were shown dramatically was both agonizing and shocking to watch. The scourge of terror, emanating from  Pakistan is the center-piece of the movie and is showcased brilliantly and realistically, for the whole world to watch and understand.

            There aren't many movies available that focuses on the plight of terror victims and this is where this movie stands out. It presented the facts without any provocative undertone for the audience to draw a conclusion. Dev Patel has performed with honesty and one is infatuated with his skills, Anupam Kher is an old hand who can mesmerize you with his performance every time. The movie has been banned in some countries which is ironic and sad, but then, hypocrisy suits the narrative of few and hence should be another reason for people to go out and watch. The movie is a painful reminder of what India has confronted for long and bares naked the ugly face of Pakistan sponsored and abated terrorism in the world. 

Images Courtesy - Google Images 

Understanding The Scenario

                The world is changing and is changing pretty quickly much to the discomfort and surprise to the leftists. The ideal world of the privileged, spun around the demented notion of hating India and Indian culture, which is devoid of ugly "Bigoted' Hindus is in the self-destruction mode. And as the hallowed communist world is crumbling, the changed scenario is exposing the ugly self-obsessed, thoroughly corrupt leftist ideology. Leftist ideology engulfed the popular psyche in the aftermath of independence and continued its grip over intellectual fraternity until the mid-'90s, eventually lost its relevance in the modern era.

              With declining fortunes, the Left mutated, from the crushed working classes or the economic bondage of the industrial revolution to issues such as racial equality, gender equality, gay rights, minority rights. The mutation helped the leftist's ideology to survive the world over on college campuses. These issues were supported by the majority of the population, however, in its zeal to emerge as a leader, the leftists wrongly misread such victories(on social issues) as their own and not of the society which has evolved or transformed lately. 

                   Leftists in India have been conducting a kind of cultural war against Hindus since independence. With academics and cinema which was the popular mode of entertainment (easily manipulated) under their influence, they were successful in setting the narrative. As one needs an enemy to malign and project oneself superior and claim holy, the leftists went on rampage thus prooving the infamous quote true, ''I’m Left and You’re wrong, however, in case of India its variant was - I’m Left and You’re Communal". In its wisdom to smudge and scorn at Hindus and their culture, they were endlessly looking for small minority blocs to patronize, the first one to depend upon were Muslims, minuscule Christian population, etc. In their endeavor to garner support, they didn't shy away from screaming for the human rights of the criminal elements than with their victims. Democracy has been mischievously used as a weapon to destroy the very society that takes pride in democratic and pluralistic values. The leftists projected Hindu Nationalists as the oppressors, and their victims are righteous in uniting in the revolution against the Hindus. 

                 School and college books were fudged with historical blunders while leftist historians like Irfan Habib, Romila Thapar (fake Aryan invasion) had a free run. They twisted Indian history, making barbarians heroic while demonizing native rulers. Every possible treachery or mischief can be cited in the books, that had a profound influence on impressionable minds, making the young generation oblivious to the glorious Indian history and culture. The second method employed to smudging Hindus and influencing young minds is the visual media namely cinema. 

                  The secular cinema has been Hindu bashing for decades.  Every society has some flaws rooted in history which an enlightened society strives to overcome with time. The flaws and comic narration of  Hindu culture and Sanatan Dharma in the guise of exposing social evils is however rampant in Bollywood. The young generation that barely crosschecks the facts takes the movies as gospel truth, benefiting the pseudo-narrative. Thus, mocking of culture and tarnishing the warriors who fought for the civilization and the Dharma is conveniently peddled in the name of freedom of expression. The research carried out by Dheeraj Sharma (Professor, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad) is an eye-opener and can be assessed at - https://www.hindustantimes.com/editorials/stereotypicality-in-indian-cinema-is-not-a-healthy-trend/story-y6SG1xuOvBb0cZfWJpUg0H.html 

                As Russian scientist and Nobel laureate Ivan Pavlov proved in 1900's that the brain can be programmed to like or vehemently dislike someone or something without any reason, films and other media instruments, fudged history books are and has been frequently and for long used to create a negative perception of Hindus, Indian cultural values or organizations and such an impression once created is ever-lasting and no amount of facts, reasoning or proof can alter it. From Pavlov's theory to cognitive learning theory, there are a host of scientific facts to prove that people are and can be mentally n emotionally manipulated to desist from certain ways of life or programmed to dislike things, without there knowledge. Such is the influence on young minds that they abhor the very people who stand for inherent shared values while colluding with arsonists and communal thugs. 

 Image courtesy - Google images