A Tribute to India.
The preamble of Our Constitution starts with We. Not I. Not You. We.
We have heen describing India as a symbol for unity in diversity since Time immemorial. Long before you learnt to type, long before you learned to eat, long before you learned to walk, long before you learned to speak, long before you were even born. Remember how you drew that tricolour in preschool? saffron, white, and green. Saffronwhitegreen. Together. Equal. How you wrote the same line in your copy everytime you had to write an essay on India? Over and over. India is a Secular state. India is a Secular state. India is a Secular state. Over and over again. So that you never forget it. IndiaisaSecularstateIndiaisaSecularstateIndiaisaSecularstate.
Then You grew up a bit, and you read the words on the first page of your textbook. Your tiny mind processing the four syllabus like your life depended upon it. Your mouth, trying unimaginably hard to properly form the word as it came out, rolling off the top of your tongue. Secularism. So that everytime you open your textbook, you are reminded. Reminded that this country does not belong to you alone. Or to Me alone. It’s Ours. Yours and Mine. Halfhalf. It was made to make you not forget, never forget, that the history of this country has not been drenched in blood for You alone. That They did not Die for You alone. That along with the saffron/green(there are no correct answers, there are never correct answers), there was saffron/green(there are no correct answers, there are never correct answers) there that night, too.
And yet, You forgot. You forgot like an infant forgets the way to his Home. Unintentionally. Immediately. And why? Because of tales that never happened, because of Gods that never Existed, because the Gods that do Exist wanted you to. Not because You wanted to. You went after them like moths fly into halogens to Burn themselves to Death. And eventually, you realized(falsely) that Your God is greater than someone else’s God. That Your Faith is greater than someone else’s Faith. That Your Worship is greater than someone else’s Worship. And that’s where You Fell. You started to believe(falsely) that your God is in Danger. In Danger from someone else’s God. And You, like foolish babies, agreed, no- Vowed to protect your God. Imagine, a mere mortal like you, taking it upon Yourself to save a God. If that God Exists(and You’re pretty sure he does), and if He created entire Universes, entire Galaxies, if He created You, then why does he need saving? The Gods Can Save Themselves. But You don’t believe in that. You believe, no- You know that he’s counting on You. And so you turn God into propaganda. Into a weapon. You use your own God to demean the others’ God. You use Him to demolish the others’ God. Not realizing(this time when you actually needed to) that You are using Him to destroy...Him. You are using The God to destroy The God. We all have the same God. And I, for one, actually know him.
Who hasn’t heard the tales of Ram? The victory of Good over Evil. Ram over Ravana. God over Man. And I know, withoubt a doubt, that he is not a weapon.
The weapon You have created is not Ram.
Let that sink in. A God does not need an abode. An abode needs a God. Wherever you place an idol, it becomes a temple. What You call Religion is Terrorism. And it is ruining India. It is pestering itself in the very roots of India. Forcing us to go back to the Dawn. And this time, it is upon You to save Her. She needs you more than your God does. And we actually have concrete proof that She exists. And that She is Dying. Her voice is being oppressed, Her children are being Killed. Cut. Slashed. Burned. Her protectors, the ones who gamble on their lives for Her, for Us, are being used to beg for votes and this must stop. Now. So take out your copies, and in neat handwriting, start writing-India is Dying. India is Dying. India is Dying. IndiaisDyingIndiaisDyingIndiaisDyingIndiaisDying. Continue to write until you learn. Until you remember Everything You forgot.
If You give up on Your God, He will still survive. He will continue to Exist. But if You give up on Your Home, She’ll be no more. It’s Time to bow down to Her, and find her once again.
Of course, We’ll still find her in the Small Things. We’ll find Her in the folds of a dusty tricolour, We’ll find Her in the smell of spices, We’ll find Her etched in graphite in the pages of an old notebook, We’ll find Her on the first pages of school textbooks, In the set of white kurtapajamas your mother forced you to wear on Independence Days. We’ll find Her in You. And You’ll find Her in Me. She shall always live in the Small Things. Like You and Me. Us. Forever.