‘On Being Indian’: Amit Chaudhuri on the idea of the thinking individual rooted in today’s India

Recently, the controversy surrounding the murals on the pedestal of 54 feet high statue of the Hindu god Hanuman at the famous Sarangpur Temple in Gujarat, which depicted him as offering pranam to, or sitting at the feet of, Swami Sahajanand, afforded substantial fodder for discussion in public and private spheres in the state. As the slugfest that ensued between the sages and cultural leaders representing the Sanatan and Swaminarayan factions got murkier and people in my social circle recklessly took sides, it was my octogenarian grandmother who had the last word, maybe the last mocking laugh, on the subject. She said in a firm, no-nonsense tone: “Do they know better than my dada (Hanuman), the god of buddhi (intellectuality) and jnana (knowledge)? He knows better who and who not to offer pranam to, unlike those who go around joining their palms to everyone the street, no matter how venal or violent. Your pranam is pranam and ours is haram?”

The future of an ancient civilisation

I wonder if writer Amit Chaudhuri would have confirmed the presence of what he calls “innovative assignation of meaning” in the above quip. My Bigg Boss-loving, pan-religious grandmother, a staunch Ram-bhakt who visits every mandir or mazaar in Ahmedabad...

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