The other side of the story!

A Diwali of Awakening! This is the first Diwali that I am taking stock of Diwali as a Hindu/Sanatani festival and tying it to the state of well being of Hindu/Sanatani people (followers of Sanatan Dharma, a spiritual and philosophical construct that came to be known as Hinduism because it was practiced by people on the far side of river Sindhu). Sanatan means the ever moving wheel of time and Dharma is loosely translated to living dutifully, as a seeker, according to one’s grain) It is with some chagrin that I have arrived at this state of tying Diwali to being a festival to celebrate the Hindu Identity. All my life it has been a Bhartiya festival, even one that belongs to entire humanity because indeed it does. A commemoration of victory of good over evil, what can be more universal than that. But good has been on it’s heels for far too long in many parts of the world. We need to have victories of good in the now also, to be able to celebrate those that happened in the past. Remember ...

Just to appreciate how dystopian animal sacrifice to please God is… No human being would ever “enjoy” the spectre of an animal running for his life, thrashing about or screaming in pain when attacked, his skin pierced and violence inflicted on it, while other animals look at the scene of violence and scream in agony at the sight.. intheir own way. Now, under the influence of bad doctrines here is what many of us do.  1. We accept that God made everything and that all are his creation. 2. We snatch back one of His “Creation” make a slit on it’s throat for it to bleed to death in pain, because “God” likes it that way; (take away it’s life that God gave it, and hand his head back to God and thereby show our gratitude to HIM that created the Universe and that animal) In sheer scale of being dystopian/distorted thinking;?how far is this from taking someone’s child’s head off and handing it back to the them to show your gratitude to them?? If for 10 minutes we can get past the religious ...

I don’t believe most people quite grasp the value of Hindu Vote. Hindus all over the world vote for politicians that they believe will move the agenda forward towards Education, Infrastructure, Healthcare, Economy etc. Many in India will vote along caste lines too. The belief is that those representatives will make policies more favorable to those specific Jaatis or Issues. Sometimes they do also.   Muslim people all over the world, do not do that. They may be broadly divided into five categories. Liberal Muslims, Somewhat Liberal Muslims, Mainstream Muslims, Hardcore Muslims and Fundamentalists. Aside from being Muslim, they have one more thing in common. They all want a little bit more Islam in their lives.  A liberal muslim, perhaps a doctor or technology specialist, who has provided modern education to their kids just wants a bigger Mosque in the area where he lives. He will donate and collect funds for the same. A “somewhat liberal muslim”who has a big Mosque already behi...