The Banyan Tree and The Creepers

This post is triggered by a line I read in XTM’s post on Fire and Saffroniates:

“I’ll now call them, the Saffroniate (Brahmins or Brahminised). They pretend otherwise, but the numbers don’t lie. The threads light up when he’s around and yes, I’m aware of the layered joke: threads mean something else too”.

Not sure if XTM realizes how awful this comment is. The straw that broke the camel’s back was Kabir directing his sneers at BP. XTM banned him and made clear the return path. Now the argument is that this should be revisited because “the numbers dont lie”. All of this is XTM’s prerogative so why then direct such a crude comment towards the rest of the commentariat?

Anyway, since mocking Indians citing race, language, religion and caste has become frequent on BP, I will share some inputs about the India that I experience on a daily basis. This is not a post that I will buttress with a lot of data because that misses the point. India is understood by living here and Indians can be understood when you live with all sorts of them, not just by hanging with a few within a cozy circle.

I am taking this liberty because I have traveled to more parts of India than most have. Where all I won’t say, except that I do know first hand what the Punjabi mindset is and what it feels like to live along the border, that too with South Indians for company.

a. Indians do not live and breathe caste. The bitter ones who routinely argue in bad faith on BP will never accept this, but this is the fact. Personal choices may be dictacted by it but in daily life, most Indians do not view each other through this prism.

b. It is easy to ask something provocative such as “were the Keralans Muslim?”. I did not want to respond to such provocation but I will comment now. At first glance, one cannot tell because everyone looks and dresses the same. in this case, they knew all the Hindu temples in the area by name, took me to all of them, were respectful and affectionate. And yes, they were Muslims.

c. I have a really dark friend who is a Brahmin. I have a really fair friend with bluish eyes, who is not. We have colleagues from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, all with different skin colours, castes, communities etc. No one knows precisely what nor is there any interest discussing this. Only pitiful fools try to push outdated racial theories to divide Indians.

d. When we travel, for instance to western or eastern India, we all speak in Hindi with the local residents because that is the common language we all know. None of that comes in the way of the genuiness and depth of our relationship with them. This is true for Indians in all parts of India, notwithstanding some disgruntled elements who practice parochialism.

d. Most people in Kerala, Andhra and Karnataka can understand and speak Hindi comfortably. The language is growing rapidly in Tamil Nadu also. I know Maharashtrians and Punjabis who speak fluent Kannnada, Tamil and Malayalam. Indians migrate and settle in all parts of India. 5000 Gujarati families have settled in Kochi for generations. They maintain their culture, celebrate Navaratri with all the gusto, and speak fluent Malayalam. South Indians have obviously settled all over India.

e. When a dear friend passed away recently, the first person to come and pay respects was the head pastor of the local church. The second was the Muslim shopkeeper in the neighbourhodd. Why? because my friend, a Brahmin, was a much loved doctor who made an immense contribution to the community. To all those who keep citing data and examples to the contrary, show some grace and accept that this too is India.

f. Language such as this: “Have you ever wondered why Indo Aryan India is lagging in HDI indicators compared with Dravidian”, those who peddle such race poison do not know and do not care what North India has endured.

Alberuni writes about the exploits of Mahmud in Northern India. “Mahmud utterly ruined the prosperity of the country, and performed there such wonderful exploits that the Hindus became like atoms of dust, scattered in all directions.”

Dr.Ambedkar: “Mahmud took Kannauj in AD 1017. He took so much booty and so many prisoners that the fingers of those counted them would have tired. The going rate for an indian slave was 2 to 10 dirhams. Over half a million Hindus, beautiful men and women, were taken back to Ghazni as slaves. “

Will Durant described the Islamic conquest of India as “probably the bloodiest story in history”. He estimated that over 50 million Hindus were slaughtered.

Kitne Ghazi Aaye – Kitne Ghazi Gaye, but Indians, especially Hindus, withstood all of it and are now beginning to turn a corner. This is nothing short of a miracle.

India is the banyan tree that is surrounded by creepers. The creepers routinely mock it, flippantly citing race, caste, language. But the banyan tree stays silent, because it has seen many such creepers come and go. These creepers too will be swept away by time but the Banyan tree shall always remain standing. Amen.