India is a vast and ancient country that is immeasurably rich in history with a culture that is so varied that it can justifiably be called a sub-continent. One can write tomes on our country and not cover even the surface of its immense depth. So how do we define the Indianness of India? Could it be our movies? Or maybe our music and dance? Or our food? Our family values perhaps? Maybe the rural areas which represent India’s reality today or the urban areas which represent India’s tomorrow. Could it be the once prized liberalism or the recent conservatism which highlights the so-called conflict between the two at this point of time? On reflection, I don’t think any of these truly defines India. The answer in fact is so simple that I’m surprised it didn’t occur to me earlier. The Indianness of India lies in our religiosity. I wouldn’t restrict it to any particular religion, since we have practically every religion in the world existing within India. It is our attitude towards religion. Simply put, our deep religiosity defines the Indianness of India.

From times immemorial Religion has immersed itself in every single aspect of Indian life. The stories that most Indians celebrated throughout most of our history were always intrinsically linked to religious figures and godly heroes. Our music did not develop as a Godless expression of rhythm, but as devotional love for the divine. Our dances were always paeans to God. Our science was never a rebellion against an overbearing faith. In fact, throughout history, our scientists have been deeply religious and their research into science was an exploratory journey towards God. India’s ancient achievements in astronomy are universally acknowledged, but they were directed towards the divine study of astrology and to understand celestial Gods. Mathematics, especially trigonometry evolved in ancient India to aid in temple construction. Unlike western medicine which seeks to overpower the body, the approach of our ancient medicine system was driven by a need to restore our body’s balance with its inherent divine. In ancient India, our temples, mosques and churches were like modern day malls. They were not just places where people congregated to pray, but also where people gathered for entertainment, education and so-called secular ceremonies. Markets normally developed in the vicinity of places of worship. Merchants worshipped their goods and ships. Profit was a divine blessing and not a product of their own brilliance. As the temples of Khajuraho show, even erotic love was spiritual to the ancient Indians. Religion was not just an ‘aspect’ of our lives. It was the very centre of our existence.

This brings me to the kind of life we have been trying to lead as a country for the last few centuries. We have developed two sets of skewed perspectives. One is the completely unIndian idea that if my religion is true, then yours must be false. While this unfortunate belief has persisted in many parts of the world, a vast majority of Indians through most of our ancient history have always followed the tradition of our land, which is: “You have a right to your truth and I have a right to mine. Truth is one, but there are many versions of it. Ekam Sat, Vipra Bahuda Vadanti.” Simply put, the Indian way is that I will respect your path to God and you respect my path to God.

The second viewpoint that has emerged over the recent past is the concept of godless secularism, which holds that to be considered secular, you must detach yourself from or even dislike religion. According to this outlook, the only way to inculcate freedom of expression, a scientific temper and liberal thought is to deny religion. I can understand the need for this attitude in the West. They did witness a prolonged historical struggle between the church and the state. They lived through a period when their scientists and free thinkers were oppressed by religious powers. But did this happen in India? No. Why then have we imported a form of secularism that teaches us to fear religion? In fact, to be truly religious in India is to automatically be liberal. If you understand Indian religiosity, you will automatically defend freedom of expression. We have countless versions of the revered epic Ramayana. And the difference between some of them is vast; just read the Valmiki Ramayana, Tulsidas’ Ramcharitmanas and Kamba Ramayanam to know what I’m talking about. Indian religious practices protected the freedom of expression of Sant Tulsidas and Shri Kamban both of whom found their own unique approach to Lord Ram. This is not restricted to Hinduism. A careful examination will reveal this catholic spirit in all the faiths practised in our land. A Dakhani Muslim from Maharashtra has different customs as compared to a Muslim from the North, but neither thinks of the other as any less of a Muslim. A Syrian Christian from Kerala might have different practices as compared to a tribal Christian from Jharkhand, but they are both proudly Christian. This is the Indian way.

So if we want to be more Indian, we should embrace our religiosity. But embrace it in the Indian manner that is, lightly and with respect for another man’s right to find his own path to the divine.

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