Good, Evil and Indians Between

The idea that eventually good always wins over evil originates from postulation that god is always by the winning side. This idea is  principally clumsy and incoherent with the facts of the world we live in. We know history is always written by the winners, that to say their god was by their side and hence they won, is to be morally and ethically dishonest. This reduces the difference between dharma and adharma, good and evil, righteous and unrighteous to the mercy of the winner. We see this aspect in every facet of modern life today from nationalities, to language differences, political system differences, political party differences, gender differences, religious differences, class differences and every other division among human beings that one can think of.  The winner takes it all. What’s more we celebrate these ideas that are the root cause of the fractured India. Dusshera, a Hindu festival about celebration of good over evil exemplifies and amplifies this fractured India where we glorify the differences within and demonize the one’s who are at the receiving end. It is no coincidence that this elaborate glorification of the winner, is quintessentially reminiscent of Akbar-Birbal bed time stories for kids in one of which when Birbal was once asked to shorten a line drawn on paper without cutting or erasing it. He drew a bigger line adjacent and parallel to old one, symbolizing that it is important to demonise the other if you want to glorify your own. How else would be the winner called protector of dharma unless the loser is reduced to representing adharma? How else would kshatriya Ram be given godly status without reducing vedic brahman Ravan to demonic one ?

With thousands of centuries of turmoil, invasions, migration, prejudice, intermingling and cross-breeding behind us we haven’t yet succeeded in bridging the gap between the godly and the demonic, but then we don’t intend to. Dusshera is a constant reminder that the battle is still on as we watch from sidelines. Like in a Tennis game (or for that matter every game) there is certain kind of fans who don’t have loyalties to either side. They always side with the winner, whomsoever he may be, and won’t shy away from demonising the same player who was in the eye of their unadulterated adulation once, if he doesn’t perform as per their expectations this time and every time. Sachin Tendulkar, Amitabh Bachchan and if Gandhi was alive would vouch for this stupefying paradox among Indians. I call such fans, Agnostic fans stopping short of calling them “disloyal loyalists” which would be an oxymoron.

Most of the Hindus or for that matter Indians fall in this category of Agnostic fans who don’t care to know what is right and what is wrong, what is moral and what is immoral and how the difference between the two is to be decided. What they care about is how to always be on the winning side, because they know winner is always right, moral and dharmic, since good always wins over evil. Or that it should !

How do we justify this inherent dishonesty and corruption ? Well, we say we are like grass that can weather the storm by bending over backwards and still be rooted. We are always on the side of dharma. We are always corrupt righteous.