WHY I AM A HINDU BY SHASHI THAROOR 

Why I Am A Hindu by Shashi Tharoor ; Published by Aleph ; Pages 302 ; Price Rs 699/-

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Shashi Tharoor is  the Enfant Terrible of the Indian literary world. He is enveloped in a cloak of infamy after the unfortunate demise of  his wife. But that is not our concern now. It is about  his latest work,viz., “Why I Am A Hindu” .

He is the acclaimed author of over 15 books. Noteworthy are  “The Great Indian Novel”;  “India: From Midnight to the Millennium” and  “An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India”. The last book fetched him  the  Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, for the best non-Fiction work.

He acquired fame as an Under Secretary-General of the United Nations. He was a Minister of State for Human Resource Development and Minister of State for External Affairs in the Indian Government .

 He has amassed  literary awards, including a Commonwealth Writers Prize.He is the recipient of  the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman which is India’s highest honour for overseas Indians.

 The Title  is not original .We have the  very famous        “ Why I Am Not A Christian?” by Bertrand Russell and the not so famous  “Why I Am Not A Hindu?” by Kancha Illiah .

Tharoor’s  book  is divided into two sections. Section One is a concise  history of Hinduism. The first chapter is “My Hinduism ” which introduces us to the brand of Hinduism   under which the author  grew up and is a competent review of the tenets  of the  religion.

Tharoor covers the bewildering multiplicity of Hindu gods and the several tales about them which were  kept closely in an ambit governed by  a single and sole idea -that is  “Brahman”.  No doctrinal control ties down Hinduism which makes it uniquely  democratic. He writes with great felicity -- “Hindu thought is like a vast library in which no book ever goes out of print; even if the religious ideas a specific volume contains have not been read, enunciated or followed in centuries, the book remains available to be dipped into, to be revised and reprinted with new annotations or a new commentary whenever a reader feels the need for it…”

The introduction is followed by a detailed analysis of certain cardinal concepts that are unique to Hinduism--- ideas like  paramatma, brahman, dharma, karma, maya, mukti, varna, ashrama and yugas. We are treated to  the six philosophical traditions of Hinduism  and its textual tradition, beginning with the  Vedas,  Upanishads and Puranas,  the Agamas,Sutras and Shastras. Considerable light is  thrown  on concepts such as  utsavas, yatras, pujas as also the prevalence of vegetarianism and alcohol in the Hindu way of life.

According to Tharoor ,“Every Hindu may not be conscious of the finer points of his faith, but he has been raised in the tradition of its assumptions and doctrines, even when these have not been explained to him. His Hinduism may be a Hinduism of habit rather than a Hinduism of learning, but it is a lived Hinduism for all that.”

Tharoor then delves into  Hindu Customs and tackles controversial  subjects like  Caste, Superstition, and “Godmen”. He believes  that the unjust social system of classification,  undue dependence on gurus, and inordinate  belief in signs and omens are not just rooted in the Hindu religion but are also unfortunate corollaries of a poverty-ridden and directionless society.

 “Great Souls of Hinduism”, is an account of eminent persons  who revolutionized  religion. From the sages Vyasa, Yagnavalkya and Patanjali to Mahavira  and Buddha; from Shankaracharya and Ramanuja to the Bhakti saints; from Kabir, Nanak and Mirabai to Raja Ram Mohun Roy and Osho, Tharoor covers the entire gamut of  major religions of India . Of course pride of place is given to  Swami Vivekananda.

 The author traces the route  of ritualistic “Vedism” to  an “idol-worshipping” religion, responses to  the challenge of Buddhism and its eventual absorption  and the impact springing from  the onslaught of  Islam and Christianity.

 The second part of the book is titled “Political Hinduism”. Tharoor  develops his analysis  with the idea of secularism. The appropriate  term in the Indian context, according to him  is “pluralism” simply because India has been the home of a variety of  religions. Religion  treated as  “dharma” inevitably results in it becoming  a “Way of Life”.

Tharoor contrasts this with the idea of Hindutva as propounded by  Veer  Savarkar and perpetuated by his RSS counterparts and successors like M.S. Golwalkar and Deendayal Upadhyaya. Tharoor makes a critical analysis of  ideas of “Integral Humanism”  of Upadhyaya  in the context of  the BJP declaring it as its formal ideology.

Tharoor dwells on  the BJP’s brand of Hindutva politics as being based on a victim-turned-avenger complex, a narrative of failure and defeat, and hatred for the Muslim community. Even if one were to turn a blind eye to the clear lack of Muslim representation (at least in the Lok Sabha) in this government, one can hardly ignore visible and worrying trends such as lynching and cow vigilantism. Ideas like ghar waapsi and love jihad, and groups like gau rakshaks and “Anti Romeo squads” operate and thrive under the aegis of the ruling party. Tharoor  brings out  the alarm caused to  peace-loving Indians in this context.

He also critiques the “cultural project” of Hindutva, which aims to “nationalise and spiritualise”. “We should take pride in what our forefathers did but resolve to be inspired by them rather than rest on their laurels. We need to use the past as a springboard, not as a battlefield. Only then we can rise above it to create for ourselves a future worthy of our remarkable past.”

He also strongly condemns the whitewashing, or saffronising, of India’s cultural past vis-à-vis the actions of vigilante groups such as the Bajrang Dal and, most recently, Karni Sena. Tolerance undeniably  is the badge  of Hinduism.

 Tharoor’s voice is firm and gentle, in equal measure. He reminds the reader of Hinduism’s pluralistic glory and and also warns of the perils of confusing it with the narrow and bigoted notion of Hindutva. He looks at the myriad manifestations of political Hinduism in the modern era, including violence committed in the name of the faith by rightwing organizations and their adherents. He is unsparing in his criticism of extremist 'bhakts’, and unambiguous  in his belief that everything that makes India a great and distinctive culture and country will be imperiled if “ religious fundamentalists” are allowed to take the upper hand.

      Tharoor has distilled the important elements in an easy to understand fashion for anyone to quickly get the real flavour of Hinduism.

 Sashi Tharoor is one of India’s finest public intellectuals and he succeeds in giving  us a profound book about one of the oldest and greatest religions of the world.

 “Why I Am a Hindu” is a simple, uncomplicated and extremely elegantly written book.

P.P.Ramachandran.

4.3.2018