Not the Age for Spirituality - The Indian Hypocrisy

   It's not yet the age for spirituality ! -

     shouted her mother.
The vibrative waves of those words pierced the 17 year old's eardrums of her mid-ear.But what bled was , her young heart .The stench of hypocrisy filled the atmosphere as the little girl was emotionally pressured to stop her puja ( ritualistic worship comprising of art,devotion,action,creativity and concentration - which induces a meditative field which opens up dimensions to higher consciousness and possibilities ).

 She felt a weight - like a lump on her throat as she stopped chanting the Ganapathi Atharva Sirsam for her beloved Ganesha ( oh and before I forget , her 40 year old mother's dictionary is void of the word ' Ganapathi Atharva Sirsam' ) .The sindoor ( kumkum ) paste meant to adore Ganesha's elephantine forehead dropped from her anxiety filled ring finger onto the floor, resembling drops of blood from her battered heart...

  The little girl retreated to her room, accessed the social media and had a glimpse of what the society has established as 'normalcy' - her peers posting their selfies taken in modern day temples. The girl frowned as she saw the typical hashtags of - '' traditional me , saree day, cultural me , proud to be an Indian , VinayagarChathurthi ,  proud to be a Hindu .... etc ''

 Her mind resonated with the convoluted question - Is this normalcy they speak of ?

   

The scenario above depicts a common happening in many Indian families on the contemporary.Apparently, they have set a legalised age for spiritualism and culture.

 Yet,the elders of the family who are at the age of nearing their graves wouldn't have made the slightest effort to get into spiritualism.. and they won't.Because this is something that you have to engrave from a young age, and not when you have retired from life.

And yet,these hypocritical parents act and behave like saviours of the Indian culture and spiritual heritage - only when they feel their identity threatened. Examples include :

- Disallowing children from marrying partners of a different religious background.Because you see,these parents are intensely aware of the ABCs of Hinduism and have raised their kids perfectly in line with the culture , so much that marrying a person of another religion would wipe out their entire generation within a jiffy, like how a toilet paper would do its job.

- Sharing whatsapp videos or newspaper headlines that shows western interest in the Indian culture and Hinduism.For example,the viral video of the American Erhard boys chanting the Sri Rudram in the American Hindu Conference.These people share something they don't even know of- and yet claim pride from it.Neither do they learn it or allow the young to venture into learning it.. but why ?? you may ask .. well because we have the western countries doing the job for us . We just claim pride from it ... Tee hee !

- Speaking about the ancient Indian marvels and spiritual icons in drink parties.Not to forget about stealing their credits and claiming pride from it.You can see this coming from drunk uncles very commonly. It could be as silly as - '' swami vivekananda delivered a speech about Hinduism in Chicago,and so I am proud to be an Indian drinking wine in this party''.  And not to be surprised if their kids have never heard of Swami Vivekananda.

 

More like saviours and lovers of their identity with terms and condition applied - only when they feel threatened or the urge to steal the credits of the forefathers.

There had always been myriad of youngsters - potential like Swami Vivekananda who have had their passions and love for their culture killed by such parents.

For such parents,they are happy with their kids going to temples on a specific day of the week( for which they have no idea of its significance ) , light some lamps in front of the deities ( also without knowing the reason to do so ) , beg God to fulfil their personal wishes ( this is called ' prayer' for them ) , pay no attention to the veda mantras chanted by priests ( which they have no idea as to what they are.What more, most people can't distinguish the difference between songs and veda mantras.There are some who even have the habit of classifying everything as 'thevaram' ).

Other examples include revolving themselves around the Navagrahas at godspeed , begging the planets to reduce their effects on them and whispering their personal wishes into Nandi's ears...

 These shameful acts only concludes that - most Indians have no clue about their own cultural practices.Neither will they learn them,or let their offsprings learn..

 When their children venture into spiritual dimensions,become vegetarian,read scriptures,chant mantras,meditate,bathe and dressup deities,these parents get all agitated.This is when they start with their mental pressure upon their kids..

'' This is not the age for this ! ''..

  then why haven't you started at your old age yet ?? Can you even sit in a yogic asana and eat like how your forefathers did ? oops , osteoarthritis will knock the door.

'' You can't be vegetarian ! Stop being a hindu fanatic ! ''

  Fanatic  ? The basis of the Indian culture is ahimsa (non-violence).Vegetarianism is a crucial part of the ancient culture.It is okay if you can't control your cheap desires for flesh,but we can - so allow us to be human.

'' Why are you conducting prayers and performing elaborate worships ? Are you going to be a priest ??

Why are you belittling priests ? Why did you get the help of priests for your marriage, house-warming, homams and even for death rites ? Are you even aware of the science of mantras ? Why is it that you share western researches done on vedic mantras and yet prevent me from chanting them ? and when you can spend time ELABORATELY on gosssips and TV serials , why can't I spend something elaborately which brings goodness ?

'' Why can't you be like other children ? I am ashamed when you are different from the rest ''

By asking me to be like others,you simply mean smoking,drinking, listening to 'harahara mahadevaki 'jokes' , clubbing,partying,substance abuse and such fake life that brings no benefits to me or others right ?  If you are ashamed, please disown me as your child.I have the support of your own forefathers,the founders of the Indian culture,sages, enlightened beings and gurus who will take care of me. I have no time for such hypocrisy.You belittle the very culture you are embedded into.Have some reverence for it.

 Image above : Hara Hara Mahadevaki is a whatsapp sharing of sexual jokes.It is a direct insult to the hindu culture.It is extremely famous amongst the tamil youths.Shameless actors even portray it in TV shows and movies.Do our oldies get agitated by this ?

'' These things were possible in the past .. things have changed ''

Nothing has changed.It is just the irresponsibility of your generation that has brought this downfall. If you feel unattached to the Indian culture , why are you keeping figures of its icons like Meera Bhai and Swami Vivekananda in your house ? Discard them all. Stop going to temples and celebrating festivals.Don't slither into the culture and fill it with superstitions - which has already been done.

THese are the common questions put forward by parents.. and the right answers do exists,but most teenagers do not retaliate because they too understand the importance of parenthood and the identity of parents as divine.

 However, tolerance has its limits.Parents should do what is their dharma.In ancient times,it was parents who introduced the spiritual culture to their kids.There are many instances were children have disowned their parents for goodness... Stop sticking to the idea of ' parents are god' if you can't uphold the dharma of it.Such statements are subject to change on the contemporary.We know parents who rape and sexually abuse their kids today... would you still give such parents a 'godly' label ?

Even back then,the divine took the form of Narasimha to kill the demonic father of Prahlada, who refused to worship his father but only Narayana ( God) .The divine who is the very representation of dharma did not stop  killing Hiranyakashipu in front of his own son just because he is a 'father'.

Every parent who prevents their child from nearing godhood is indeed the modern day Hiranyakashipu.They possess the same demonic quality as him.

In Shiva temples too,one can easily find the vigraha ( idol energised with energy- brought into life ) of Chandikeshwarar facing the Shivalingam. Many are still unaware of the story behind Chandikeshwara.

 Chandikeshwarar was one of the Naayanmars of Tamil Nadu ( one of the 63 revered saints ). His method of worshiping the lord was to build a shivalinga out of sand and do abishekam ( ritualistic bathing ) to the shivalinga with milk , while chanting the Sri Rudram.

Chandikeshwarar's father was enraged with this scene of witnessing his son pouring milk onto sand and immediately rushed to beat his son.Chandikeshwarar,being immensely absorbed into his worship,was unaware of his father's presence.He took an axe ( some say it was a wood - later transformed into an axe) and hurled it towards the disturbance he felt.The axe chopped off his father's leg and the father died then and there.Chandikeshwarar was blessed by Lord Shiva Himself into enlightenment...

 The elders should understand that stopping spiritualism upon their children is in no way their rights.Harsh may be this article,but harsher is the current reality.If the upcoming generation is left to rot this way,we will have our culture sinking down.We can't be waiting for another Vivekananda to descend all the time.We are all Vivekanandas.It is time we uplift the spiritual culture and heritage of India,which is the very essence of our blood and genetics.