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[Rakesh Iyer]

Dear Anupam jee

First of all, I don't think in terms of a 'big brother' when I talk of
Hinduism. Hinduism is not a big brother. The problem lies with the meaning
of the word 'Hindu' itself.

If one looks at say Islam or Christianity, there are definitions of who is a
Muslim/Christian or what is a Muslim/Christian. Yes, indeed, they are ways
of life. The Muslims by and large, are supposed to follow the Koran (which
is their holy book), as per my perception. Even the Christians are supposed
to follow the teachings of the Bible, I feel. The problem comes when one
tries to define what/who is a Hindu.

There are so many definitions of the word Hindu itself, that one doesn't
know which definition to accept and which to not accept. Some say the word
'Hindu' comes from the word 'Sindhu' , which was used by the Arabs to
indicate those who lived on the east of the river 'Indus'. For some like
Vivekananda, anybody is a Hindu. For someone like Savarkar, the word 'Hindu'
had political connotations. And for someone like Gandhi, 'any good man is a
Hindu'. And then again, there is no one single common text to be followed by
Hindus, unlike say Islam or Christianity.

In other words, a person can be Hindu by one definition, and yet not a Hindu
by another definition. And any definition can be acceptable or unacceptable,
depending on personal choice. Therefore, everyone is a Hindu and again, no
one is Hindu. Or in other words, everything is Hindu, and yet nothing is
Hindu. Depends on the choice you wish to make.
And so, the way a Hindu lives can be Hinduism. But then again, since all
people can be Hindus by those definitions, and all people can't lead the
same way of life, Hinduism to me is a combination of different ways of life.


Of course, if no one is a Hindu, then Hinduism is nothing, because Hinduism
is an ism which is supposedly followed by Hindus, right? (If capitalism is a
phenomenon dependent upon capital and socialism is dependent upon 'social',
then Hinduism is dependent on 'Hindu' and if no one is a Hindu, Hinduism
doesn't exist)

And when something is a way of life, it doesn't mean that it's a religion.
It becomes a religion when it is stated that anyone who is not a
Muslim/Sikh/Jain/Buddhist/Parsi/Jew/Christian/etc. is a Hindu. That's when
one gives it the status of religion.

So why worry if you worship any God?

PS: The article I like to put up on social polarization, I may not be able
to put up today. I will try to do so by tomorrow. I apologize for the delay.