A Secular Rethink

In school, secularism was a sort of synonym for India. A component that defined this country. We knew it such because that is how we dealt the school essays. But then childhood is not a terribly enlightened period of life and what with the education system we have had. I had my mouth watering when I saw this topic in such bold print and with great enthusiasm got my friends to share their views. I got only one response, an educated one from the corridors of Delhi University. For the rest, some shouted minority, some personal space, some religion, but no one would give me 50 real words. In all that was there, I took solace in the fact that all these men in consideration are themselves seculars, sometimes without even realizing it.
I was conveniently ignorant of this grand political tool, before they demolished a mosque. Without realizing my political alienation, I felt I have no stomach for the fundamentalist Right Wing. It was a shock indeed, Right had gone wrong. But the secular antidote has proved a slow and understated prophylactic to my weak stomach. And this day I am offering a 2000-word tribute to the phenomenon, which we might have done without, if only we realized that humanity takes precedence to politics.
Lets go back in time and try tracing the evolution of Religion. Religion in itself was the ‘way of the society’, the guidelines to prevent humans succumbing to the animalistic inhumanity. It was more about providing a semblance to the society that was just developing, than it was about God or Spiritualism. It wouldn't be a far-fetched imagination to interpolate Prophet as a leader who just wanted a peaceful society and outlined some principles with the order of the day in mind. The orders have changed. The society has changed. The religions are no more inflexible absolutes. And that is where secularism pitches in. In a society where there are people of different origin, religion, race, secularism has to play an important role. More so, when the same people are working together. Think of an Infosys divided along religious lines. Think of what it can do to the Sensex. If we are secular enough to work together, we would need to spare just one more thought and get that secularism as a way of life. In India, the same will apply to the difference in Caste.
And we have been practicing secularism of conveniences. I am secular not because I uphold the spirit of secularism, but because it helps me serve my own ends. I might be religiously secular, but am positively `Right' when it suits my needs. I do not mind snuggling up with a Muslim girl, but a Mullah is a no-no. I will condemn a post-Godhra pogrom, but I find catharsis in movies bashing Pakistan. I will shout my throats sore for the US Marine oppression in Basra, but I will rather keep away from the Jewish colonies. All along the history, we have used and abused secularism, not the idea, but the word itself as a plank to serve political needs.
Unfortunately, the education system across the globe has been unable to outline the importance of secularism. In a bid to attain Technological and Economic advancement, the societies world over customized the education-system to the extent where something as vital as secularism has transformed into a political word: a no-no. Have we ever realized, that secularism can be exploited as a solution to the global terrorism. After all it is either ethnic or religious catalyst that propagates the terrorist reactions. Amidst the barrage of repetitions and re-iterations, what I am endeavoring to establish is that secularism is not a mere antidote to weed out religious differences in a diverse society, but it is by and large a state of mind and alienation of thoughts that makes rational thinking a way of life and tolerance a habit. I know it doesn't sound terribly fashionable to speak of tolerance and spacecraft in the same paragraph, but hell, if I am living in a society where we celebrate nuclear weapons in the name of God then I can live the paradox my way. Fashion can take a back seat. Secularism was formulated during Italian renaissance as an attempt to separate church and politics. The idea of secularism was not to let one interfere into another. Given what has come out begs the question. From there on, secularism has been the mainstay of majority of the countries. Except for a handful of Islamic states and a few more other religious states, we can lay a fair claim that we are in a by and large secular global structure. Of late, for some funny reasons, secularism, Jinnah and Advani have all starred in a political drama of the year. We might never get to know the motives behind the speech Jinnah made, however, the points he did outline are very much how we would like secularism to smell. He said that the country would focus on the development irrespective of the religion of the individual. He said that no one would be stopped from trading or working in the country because he belongs to a different religion. Now, coming at the time when the very formation of the country was based on religious lines, it does sound strange. Nonetheless, you have to grant that the words in themselves were true. And so was Advani's interpretation. I personally would like to take secularism, one step ahead. At the beginning of it, secularism might have been primarily about religion, however, with the changing context of the world, it wouldn't be incorrect to think of secularism as the concept which allows to weed off any sort of conventional bias effecting the functioning of social or economic go around. It has metamorphosed with the society to a new ground. We need to replace the religion, rather add to the religion, a set of irrational biases we have grown to live with. We have to look forward to a global secularism. It will have its economic repercussions, but we have to free economy, society, art, science.. from the biases. When it comes to science and technology, we have been unknowingly secular right from the word go. Sadly, the rest of the realms haven't been that fortunate. What is a more terrible irony is that the same work-secular-intellectuals turn into Togadias when they step out of the laboratories. With Indian context, secularism is a necessity given the diversity of the culture, a wonder that it thrives despite being surrounded by religious states (Nepal, Burma, Pakistan, Bangladesh), a political tool which everyone uses to one's advantage and is an emotional topic for the Old School because some of us still have our faith intact in the phenomenon. The day the mosque was demolished, the day Gujrat pogroms triggered, I lived my own cycle of emotions. I will not drag you through the complete journey, but the conclusion was imbedded with hopes that the education and modernity will soon breathe sense into the people and what with televisions and 24 hour news channels. I was hopeful for rise of rationality and the kid I was I hoped that this might be the last act of religious persecution. Communalism and its manifestations exist with great glee even in the corridors of knowledge and commerce. The only way to nip this advent of new age communalism is a cumulative effort from the institutions of education, commerce (by and large the corporate sector) and media to highlight the basic concept of secularism beyond the version we have. Secularism, freed of political abuse. There is a definite rise in the cumulative social consciousness towards upholding the rational spirit. Some of it is even inadvertent. And some is fashionable, because being secular is also being politically correct (at least that is the argument of those who love to ridicule secularism and think of it as something synonymous to the non NDA parties). I tow the line of looking for the positives despite my innate cynicism and try to feel comfortable in the thought that Secularism stands a better chance despite the general perception that this word is soon going to join the ranks with Sanskrit. And, not the Secularism as we have known it till date, but the evolved secularism of mind and thought. So, we are poised at a new level of a game in which secularism is the leitmotif. There are players from fundamentalist Right wing to ridicule secularism to the extent that they are willing to modernize their own hard-line stance. There are players like the non-Right wing politicians (starring Laloo Yadav from the place I roughly relate to as home) who use the word Secularism as a prefix to ‘forces’, which help them keep their vote-banks brimming. And there are players (the Tendulkars of secularism) to play shots even out of the book in order to keep the spirit alive. We already have a million issues to deal. There are roads to be made, hospitals to be built, mouths to be fed, children to be educated; do we have to add pogroms to the list? Secularism might have been the divorce of church and politics, and it could still be seen along the same vein in Europe, but for us, it is a new word in a New World. It is a necessity in order to weed out the impediment biases bring to our lives. And if we managed to make it to moon, if the Bollywood made Black, if Indian team could win a Test in Australia, I would like to stand the risk of being called the Hopeful Man of the Century and keep pushing for my dear secularism. We will still be corrupt to fill our coffers, we are not going to be spared of Nepotism, IPC will still be useful, but least we will have a world that is not infested with the dragons of biased persecution and terrorists will cease to be freedom fighters for anyone. Call me politically incorrect, smash my balls, but I will not stop from saying that the heart of all this terrorism-freedom fight business is fed by bigots who are the self-proclaimed custodians of religion. If we are able to imbibe the larger secular design in our lives, we will be able to establish a society that will be advanced in true sense. And that will stop the rise in the prices of oil and the pipeline to Afghanistan will be a reality and Kashmiris can do without the Alprazolams and there will so many honeymooners who won't have to get a visa for the romantic sojourns. There is nothing political about teaching secularism to our kids, it is an investment to a safer and just world.

The Begining

As a communications trainer, the biggest toll that your mind takes is self manipulation. You have to kill your individuality, or at least subdue it to make sense to people who want and need to learn to communicate. Guess this looks like a good place to make a venting ground and restore my individuality every night after the day's work.
There are a million things to say, but I would begin with the issue that is closest to my heart and mind i.e. books. The stories arriving from the training rooms are the ones, however, that are more far reaching vis-a-vis the entire phenomenon of blogging.
I lost a lot of time and energy today trying to figure out this means of communication and now no amount of self-training is making me ressurect my own thought process (I even train people to get them tight :C ). B Back