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Journalism of Courage
Elections 2004 reminds one of the first Matrix movie. The concept was straight out of the Upanishads and Advaita philosophy, that what we think is ‘reality’ is not so. The movie script eerily echoes Sage Bhrigu in the Bhrikurvalli of the Taittiriyopanishad: “Life comes from the mind, is sustained by the mind and goes back into the mind” (Manaso hy eva khalv imani bhutani jayante, manasa jatani jivanti, manah prayanti abhisamvishanti). But a frail human being empowered by this faith can then find the strength to heal her own wounds and fight stronger forces. This time it feels as though our people sent a huge message to each other: We don’t want God dragged out on the road. We’d prefer to keep God private, build this nation instead.
So the biggest message beyond the fact that each state did its own thing is: Hindus are NOT a monolith, juggernauting over Muslims and Christians. Most Hindus feel deeply wretched about Gujarat and much else. We prayed that the BJP should not win at Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura. Leave us be, with our neighbours and friends from other communities. This does not mean we are less attached to Sanatana Dharma. However we don’t want to go back to ancient India. We want to move life ahead. And we know that the Congress is provenly as tainted as its rivals.
But as the dust settles on the hustings, a slow, plaintive tune played on a bamboo flute seems to waft across the land. It sings a melody born of this soil, called ‘Desh Raag’, a raga derived from the countryside, from folk scales so ancient, so widespread across our hills, rivers, plains and coasts, that it and its related ragas make a whole genre called “deshya ragas” in music treatises, both Hindustani and Carnatic. It says, softly but clearly, “Hear us. If your ears are deaf to Desh Raag, it will become a deafening roar and shatter your eardrums when your earplugs are removed.” Perhaps one is permitted the whimsical thought that this is our song of faith that the land deserves better. But having changed the government, we cannot fall back into our old inertia that the texts call ‘tamas’. Instead we must make it happen ourselves. It means paying our taxes and learning civic sense. It means getting our daughters educated and thinking well of our neighbours and fellow citizens. It means transcending the suffocating pigeonholes of religion, regional and caste identity to declare, “Mera desh mera gaon” and not its opposite.
The sarkar operates like the Matrix in fooling us into dependency. It feeds on our energy to sustain itself. Shaking it off every five years is not enough. Our lives must come from our minds right through and master the Matrix.
