Thoughts on Hinduism
In the wake of several developments over the last four decades, the religious situation in India has changed. We all know what the incidents are .We remain a secular nation, but the faultlines have deepened. Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh- all religions have been drawn into this religious debate. I can’t say much about other religions, though I have read and practised a bit of Christianity , Buddhism and Sufism in addition to my own, namely Hinduism, and still do. What I can say is about my own religion, with conviction, clarity, certainty, born of a thought process that has varied in the past between atheist, agnostic, would be convert ( yes, I used to wear a cross made with matchsticks in my childhood and speak against idolatry) to a firm adherant of my own faith today. “ I respect your faith if you respect mine” is my norm. I see certain Hindus , especially Bengali and Malayali Hindus revelling in beef consumption , as if it were amritam , so to say. A confession here- I