Skimmed through in 30 seconds (Mensa member), so may not have got all nuances, but can we also have a thread branching into Test cricket and the abomination that is IPL in particular and T-20 in general?
On Sat, Feb 1, 2014 at 9:05 AM, Udhay Shankar N <[email protected]> wrote: > Because it's been too long since we've had a good flamewar. > > Because this made me grin. > > Because Aadisht (along with most of the list) has been too silent of late. > > Udhay > > http://www.aadisht.net/blog/2014/01/31/why-hindutva-is-like-dog-breeding/ > > Why Hindutva is Like Dog Breeding > > I have had an insight. Admittedly it was one of those insights which you > get at 1 am when you can't sleep because you had the last cappuccino of > the day a little too late in the day; but despite the circumstances in > which it arose, I think it is a valuable insight. And it is basically > this: the two extreme views of what Hinduism actually is correspond > exactly to the two extreme views dog lovers have about how you should go > about getting a dog as a pet. > > Explaining the analogy means I will have to first provide context. > > For many years, I was mystified by the fact that Hindutvawadis could > hold these two beliefs simultaneously: > > Hinduism is really awesome > Hinduism is under grave, horrible threat and must be preserved at > all costs from any combination of: > Sickular Media > CONgis > Love Jihad > Vatican Missionaries > The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty > Ramachandra Guha > Twitter Secret Santa > > These simultaneous beliefs would manifest into calls for legal and > illegal action against anybody who criticised or denigrated Hinduism in > any way, no matter their actual intent. > > I, and other likeminded people would be bewildered and say things like > "If Hinduism is so great, surely it can withstand these very minor > criticisms." In fact, it was really polite people like Salil Tripathi > who would say such things. I used to say much more outrageous things > like "Boss if Hinduism is this vulnerable to criticism, why are you even > bothering with something so weak? Start practicing a more robust > religion like Islam or Thor-worship or some such. Persisting with > Hinduism can only lead to tears and misery as you watch it collapse > around you." > > It was not until this month that I realised that this argument was > totally pointless because it assumes that we were thinking of Hinduism > in the same way. We weren't. I was thinking of Hinduism in the way that > Gautam John and Anoopa Anand think of Indian Pi Dogs. They were thinking > of Hinduism in the way that pug owners regard their pugs1 (or actually, > any purebreed dog, but pugs are fashionable these days, so the analogy > becomes clearer - and actually more forceful, as we'll see later on). In > fact, considering how loaded the terms Hindutvawadi and liberal have > become these days, using the terms Pug view of Hinduism and Pi View of > Hinduism might actually be more enlightening in the general discourse2. > More so if you consider that Hindutvawadi could refer to actual > behaviour or actions, while Pug View and Pi View very clearly refer to > mindsets. > > If you are Good Guy Gautam, or somebody similar, then resilience, > health, and being robust are necessary conditions of being awesome. You > think pi dogs make great pets and companions because they're healthy, > active, and friendly. A wide genetic stock, you feel, allows for a > pleasing variety of very resilient specimens. Extending the analogy to > religion, what you like most about Hinduism are the practices or beliefs > that are easy to live with and carry on, and its ability to absorb > influences from other religions if they're good ideas. > > But if you're on the other extreme, you're not bothered about health and > resilience at all. What you're concerned about is pure breeding, even if > the result of this breeding creates an animal that is so strangely > shaped that more than two out of every three of its kind have diseases > that are directly traceable to its weird shape. The strange, disease > prone, almost nonviable form of the pug (which, along with the modern > bulldog, exemplifies selective breeding run amok) is a feature, not a > bug, because it makes the pug look so cute and distinctive. > > Extending this to religion, the weirdest parts of Hinduism, that make it > so difficult and cumbersome to practice, and which also seem so totally > pointless to the disinterested observer, are precisely what the devoted > but threatened promoter of Hinduism thinks are the whole point. It is > irrelevant that fasting for your husbands' good health, letting your own > or other peoples' gotra or caste influence your decisions, practicing a > sattvik diet, or going through elaborate rituals to qualify as a proper > Hindu have not made them happier, more prosperous, or more productive > than the rest of the world that has happily gotten along without all > these. It is because it is difficult to maintain, easy to go wrong, and > serves little purpose, that this sort of Hinduism is so valuable - it > shows that for hundreds of years, you've managed to keep something > largely unviable going in its pure form. > > Actually, an obsession with purity is the kinder interpretation of why > the Pug View of Hinduism likes the bizarre bits of Hinduism so much. I > could be more conspiracy minded (like the Pughindus themselves) and > suggest that they want Hinduism to be this unsustainable so that, like a > pug, it is completely dependent on the owner and in its power. But this > would be mean. Besides, there's some other support for the hypothesis > that it's driven by an obsession with purity: their insistence that > Hinduism is a way of life and not a religion and so you can only be born > a Hindu and can't become one through practice. > > It also is supported by how horrified Pughindus are at the thought of > other Hindus doing anything that is not found within Pughinduism, no > matter whether this activity is good or bad. A Pughindu is appalled at > people playing Twitter Secret Santa because it might be a covert attempt > to spread Christianity. It doesn't matter that by playing secret Santa > you have successfully detached the gift giving part of Christmas from > the accepting Jesus Christ as your saviour part of Christianity. It also > doesn't matter that the more people who aren't practicing Christians go > around wishing others a merry Christmas in a spirit of goodwill and > warmth, the more it actually changes Christianity from the violent and > genocidal religion that Hindutvawadis say they hate, to an actual > religion of brotherhood and love that can't threaten Hinduism with > genocide. It doesn't even matter that prosocial behaviour like gifting > is correlated with an increase in happiness for the gifter and not just > the giftee. The suggestion of cross breeding and tainting the bloodline > is enough to horrify them. > > Tragically, this obsession with purity puts Pughindus makes the suffer > from dreadful envy and a Catch 22 situation. By keeping their vision of > Hinduism pure, they have made it either impossible, unappealing, or too > time-consuming to practice; and thus people keep deserting it in favour > of Islam, Sikhism, Christianity, Buddhism, or secular humanism. Worse is > when these people keep mocking Pughinduism for being so odd; which then > leads to them crying up and down3 about how Hinduism is threatened; much > as pug owners keep crying up and down about veterinary bills. > > Which means that Pughindus see Islam in particular the way pug-owners > see Indian street dogs. Pug owners look at pi dogs, and envy their > robust good health, and wish that their pug were as healthy and capable, > but are horrified at the thought of breeding their pug with it, or even > letting it into their houses. The Pughindus are miserable when they see > the united front that Muslims appear to present, and wish that Hinduism > itself had it4, without realising that it is the type of Hinduism they > practice that makes it impossible to present that united front. > > Also, if you agree that the Pug View of Hinduism looks at Islam the way > posh people think of street dogs - healthier, gregarious, but also > dirty and not something they want around - you will suddenly understand > why a certain analogy that compared massacre victims to a puppy under > the wheels of a car makes perfect sense. > > Meanwhile, Pihindus, who are quite happy to practice a mongrel Hinduism > with lots of cross breeding in its pedigree are not concerned about the > health of their Hinduism at all, and don't suffer this agonising envy. > About religion, anyway. They might feel envious about other things like > smartphones or whatnot. > > But the upshot is that while they share a religion, Pughindus and > Pihindus see it in completely different ways. And until this fundamental > disagreement over what it is they are actually talking about is > resolved, nothing useful can ever come out when they talk about their > own religion. There will be only noise and no light, until we have a > reformer who can talk to the two sides, explain the difference they have > that must be reconciled, and perhaps, bring about the end of the > religious equivalent of puppy mills. Until then, we will keep struggling > on, talking but not understanding. It is very sad, but there it is. > > > > Footnotes > > 1: Full Disclosure: Some months ago, I had a highly unpleasant meeting > with somebody who, over the course of the meeting, whined about not > enjoying their holiday in the Philippines because it was so third world, > about how they didn't want to take up their only job offer because it > was in Mumbai which was unsafe compared to living in the Delhi family > home, and how their undergraduate class in Delhi was full of uncool > students from small town India and Delhi University should reserve seats > for people from Delhi who otherwise wouldn't even be able to get in with > high marks (which I found a particularly staggering demand considering > that this person had gone to America for their MBA). The person in > question also had a pug, which was paralysed, and in a heart rending > display of the problems only the very rich face, kept slipping while > attempting to walk, because the floors in the house were of marble. It > is possible that I am now contemptuous towards pug owners as a class, > based only on my animosity towards this one spilling over. > > 2: This may seem like a really arrogant expectation, but 'Sainath > Fallacy' has now slowly started being used by a wide variety of people > on Twitter, two years after I coined it. So it may soon make the jump to > mainstream media; and Pi View and Pug View may follow a similar > trajectory. I can dream. > > 3: The phrase 'crying up and down' is of course one that was much > beloved by HIM. It is used in a spirit of focusing the mind on the > divine, but should not be allowed to degenerate into mere idol worship. > Even after HIS departure, we have found HIM in other manifestations. > > 4: When Pughindus wish that Hindus were united, the subtext is that > other Hindus should become more Pughindu and do the hard work of > changing their lifestyle by, for instance, going vegetarian or spending > money and time on elaborate rituals or pilgrimages. Pughindus never > consider working for Hindu unity by becoming like other Hindus who, when > they hear Radha, dance instead of entering an outraged frenzy. This > insistence on other people doing all the hard work has a parallel in the > way it's usually Indian pug owners' domestic servants who have to clean > up the pug's poop. > > > -- > ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com)) > >
