Holi Festival – Bulleh Shah – Holi Kheloongi Keh Bismillah

May this Holi bring Indians together and let’s make a sincere effort to bring together as many diverse Indians as possible into the public events. May the barriers of ill-will fall and goodwill prevail whether you celebrate or not. Let freedom be the foundation of our society.

Holi is a Hindu festival of radiance and celebration of spring with colors that nourish one’s joyous moods and complements the function of respective elements in the atmosphere. The essence of Holi is liberation and breaking the barriers between adults and children, family members, and friends, and the festivity opens up to each other.

Although Holi is part of the Hindu tradition, most Indians participate in it, it presents the unity of Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians and of course, Jains, Zoroastrians, Baha’i, Jews, Buddhist and native traditions. You can read more about it at  http://centerforpluralism.com/happy-holi/

“Festivals of the World” is an educational series commenced by Mike Ghouse in 1993. When we live in the same communities as neighbors, we might as well learn about each other. The best way to build cohesive societies is for its members to participate in festivities as well as commemorations of each other, or, at least understand each other’s’ joys and sorrows. For the believers, the events have religious connotations, but for others, it should be a cultural event, an event where their friends join them as friends to celebrate or commemorate, this is what builds relationships and bonding and eventually safe societies.

I am proud of the pluralistic heritage of India. Over the last thousand years, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Jains, and Jews have done everything to be a part of each other and yet have retained their identities. The society has developed a common culture, however, to the shameful exclusion of Dalits and Adivasis, who are considered inferior humans; it is repulsive to think that such attitudes exist even now.

A lot of work is done to correct thousands of years of DNA’d attitudes of the caste system, this disgusting practice needs to go. We are talking about human dignity and respect the God-given the uniqueness of each one of us. Thanks to Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Ambedkar and thousands of Indians for taking up the issue to correct the wrongs of yesteryears.  My father was bold enough to break the norms and invited the Dalits in our home to share tea or a meal with us, and eating from the same utensils that we used, and I fought vigorously at the street corner water taps to give equal access to the Dalits.

A foreigner visiting India cannot tell who is a Muslim, Hindu, Christian etc. We all look the same, dress the same and pretty much eat from the same range of foods. If you visit a park, beach, tomb, a touristy place, restaurant, and a theater, you will find all of them enjoying the activity together; you cannot differentiate who is who.

However, the filthy politicians continue to pit one Indian against the other, nothing different than the US or any other nation. There was a time, such divisive tricks did not work with the people and even now, it does not work with a majority of Hindus, Muslims, and Christians.

Devotional songs are a part of every Indian, including Atheist, they all enjoy the songs.  As a Muslim I have participated in the devotional songs of all religions, they sound beautiful and the essence of all of them is to express gratitude to the creator.

Even though the film Padamavat has portrayed King Alauddin Khalji as a crude lustful man, he is no different than the kings of the past or the leaders of today.   What is important is Khalji was shown giving utmost respect to the festival of Holi, by having one his attendants place symbolic colors on his face. There are innumerable stories among Kings and the commoners of yesteryears, another example was King Aurangzeb protected a Hindu queen because she ties a Rakhee (symbolic of sister’s love for brother).  There was, and still tremendous respect for each other’s traditions.

Some of the most beautiful Hindu and Sikh devotional songs are written by Muslims and vice versa. The most popular Indian poetry includes references to the multiple religious points – for example in the film Pyasa, there was a song called, “Jinhein naaz hai hind per o Kahan hain,” and in one of the lines the poet brings in two different faiths commonness; the status of a woman; A Radha ki hamjins, a hawwa ki beti.”

This week an incredible poetry of such syncretism has appeared. This was written some 300 years ago and the poet Bulleh Shah has beautifully merged the Islamic tradition with the Hindu tradition.

Bulleh Shah was born in 1680 and wrote this poem before this death in 1757.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ar7Xnydoxk&t=219s 

Daler Mehendi has sung this also – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeZuxGJyDQI

Let no one pit you against the other, in the end, we all die, let’s die in peace without messing ourselves with hate and ill-will. Neither Hinduism nor Islam or any other religion teaches us to hate or harass the other. Next time a politician attempts to generate ill-will towards others, and if you are in the crowd, yell back to shut up and ask him to speak about bringing Indians together for peace and prosperity.

You may also like this video – Festivals of 10 Religions    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vAwvoqz01I

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Mike Ghouse

Bharatvarsh - Syncretic, Pluralistic and Cohesive India in Vegetable Language

Here is an extraordinary analogy of India's syncretic culture expressed in vegetable language.

Over the years, I have read many articles written by Chidanand Rajghatta and have enjoyed the message he communicates with a good sense of humor. He is fellow Bangalorean and I learned that he,  Late Gowri Lankesh (was his ex) and I went to college at the same time, and we were all pukka (strong) humanists, which we still are. His home in Bangalore is two streets from my Sisters home, which is home to me.

In the past, I have written and spoken extensively about how human organs work cohesively to create a normal functioning human body. When I read Chidu's piece, I was imagining the vegetables come to life and teaching us a lesson how to live cohesively.

I read this again, and one of my other stories I tell is "the community is a bus" and how we can imagine each tire of the bus to be a representation of a faith and how all of them need be filled with right amount of air in the tires, sort of level playing field for the bus to certainly, smoothly and assuredly reach its destination. I started reading this again - each veggie to be representative of a group - it can apply both to India and US, where insecurity is raising the heads of nativism and biases against other immigrants is raising its ugly head as well.

Let an Indian read and explain to you, many of the vegetable named in here are in several Indian languages, if you google the name, the English version will popup. Bhartvash simply means India. 

The Optics of growing together in a plural, syncretic, inclusive Bharatvarsh

By Chidanand Rajghatta

All the vegetable representatives in India gathered at the kitchen table to discuss a vital matter. The Prime Minister of India had declared that Tomato, Onion, and Potato were his TOP priority, causing great consternation among native vegetables. They felt foreigners were being given preference over homegrown varieties.

“Let the meeting come to order!” commanded Brinjal, the reigning vegetable king who traced his origin to the Baingone Era in Bhartavarsh. He was a widely traveled intellectual who was known as Eggplant in America and Aubergine in Europe, where the French had honored him with the Grand Prix des Legumes.

“So why is everyone so agitated about this TOP spin?” asked Brinjal.

“Well, your Highness…the TOP vegetables are all of foreign origin. If they get priority, we natives will rot. They have already become essential for Indian cooking and dominate the sabzi mandi,” complained Okra. Although of African origin, Okra claimed he was a Brahmin of desi provenance. He also boasted that Bhendi Bazaar in Mumbai was named after him, although the discerning knew it came when the British referred the area south of Crawford Market as “behind the” bazaar.

“Well, I’ve been hanging out with Potato and never thought of him as a foreigner,” mused Brinjal, candid about his soft corner for a friend he fondly called Aloo. “In fact, he has deep roots in India and keeps an eye out for me.”

“They just pretend to be from India, sire. They all came from Mexico,” whispered Bottlegourd, a low-key vegetable who was actually a social climber and an alcoholic. “Imbosters!” hissed his cousin Bittergourd, who said he was a native of Karela. "Immigrants!” snorted Carrot, whose ancestors came from Persia but who pretended to be Indian. “Yes, yes! Foreigners!” piped up spiteful Chilli, who was herself from Mexico but was always mean to others who arrived in India more recently.

“Ain’t no problem where they come from. We are all in this together now. Make India Great Again!” yelled Pumpkin and his brother Squash, who were Americans settled in India.

“Oye Kaddu! Chup!” snapped Cucumber and Lettuce, withered old layabouts whose salad days were behind them but who were always shutting up purported foreigners. “Yeah, ask the potheads to bring them in and let’s hear what they have to say,” drawled Fool Gobi, who didn’t even know if he was a vegetable or a flower, if he was from India or China.

So on King Brinjal’s orders, Potato, Onion and Tomato were ushered into the meeting by Weeds, who were useless security guards. Weeds were always high, thought they deserved to be called Highness, and didn’t care where they came from or anyone’s origins for that matter. When they first heard the PM advocating TOP, they misheard it as POT and swayed wildly in the breeze, giving each other high-fives.

“So what do you have to say about these charges?” King Brinjal asked TOP.

“Sire, we have been in Bhartavarsh for so long that we have become natives. We can OPT out, but you will have no batata vada,” said Potato, as his wife Hot Potato and their children Small Potatoes cowered behind him.

“And no sambar,” piped up Tomato, blushing as she eyed Potato’s lazy brother Couch Potato.

“And no pakodas,” added Onion, tearfully.

King Brinjal weighed their words. They were right. If they left, Bhartavarsh would be left with just useless Weeds, that Fool Gobi, that infernal Okra, and too many Gourds. Everyone would start to worship Gourds and it would rob the country of its variety and diversity. And who knows, one day they might even decide that he, King Brinjal, actually came from China!”

“Well, I have thought this over. If we let them go, we will all miss them because we all came from the same mother earth,” he told the agitated desi vegetables. “We should let baingones be baingones and live together happily ever after."

Chidanand Rajghatta is an Indian-born opinion columnist based in Washington, D.C. He is the present foreign opinion columnist and a United States liberal blogger for the Times of India. He received his Master's Degree in Mass Communication from Bangalore University, Bangalore. He is the author of The Horse That Flew: How India's Silicon Gurus Spread Their Wings.