Religion has no religion

Aamir Khan's PK could not have come at a more appropriate time. Religious Conversions, forced and voluntary, are the talk of the town in India. Many Ghara Waapasee programs are being organized in several parts of the country. There are critics and supporters alike for these events. Religion has once again become something that creates division rather than removing it. And Aamir tells us that he doesn't know how to select the most appropriate religion for himself. And I fully support him. Imagine yourself being an alien landing in India and discovering that you cannot get any thing done without belonging to a religion. PK brought forth this dilemma in very entertaining way.

I wonder whether religion created us or we created the religion. The concept of religion has gone all wrong. Yes, I am not any authority to define religions and none of you need to agree to that. Yet, I see a strong need to put forth my idea. When PK learns that GOD in different religion has different fashion, people following different religion have different fashion, some GOD drinks wine and some abhors it, women in some religions wear white on finding a husband and some wear it on losing the husband, and the list goes on. What a complex phenomenon. Is this really what religion means? Complexity, untouchability, non-tolerance, murder and hatred?

If you do a certain thing, why do you do that? Either you believe it to be useful for you or somebody or you believe it to be convenient and comfortable to do. You will seldom do something which does not qualify as above. So, if your religion promotes something untoward like murder, will you do it? Not until you really want to kill somebody. And if you have decided to pull the trigger, will you not do it because your religion does not allow that? So, my dear friends, it all boils down to interpretation, convenience and belief.

Managers of GOD!!! I liked that term very much and PK certainly makes a mark there. It it their interpretation that we often blindly follow and the result is prolonged oppression and failure of objective. They continue to make wrong phone calls to GOD and give us misleading directions. They enforce on us, in the name of the religion, what they see best for themselves. And we writhe in pain with the long-term consequences of these corrupted preachings.

Religion for me is a time-tested, cordial, natural pattern of life. If you are looking for day-to-day or futuristic solutions to real-life problems, most often than not your chosen religion should help you get it. You must make your own choice of following a religion. I see no point in deciding it for you at your birth. When you are a grown-up, your religion should also grow up if you think so. And, follow your religion without contradicting or demeaning any other religion.

In today's world, religion has turned out to be the most dangerous scourge crippling our planet. What is supposed to be the preserver and comforter of life in any form is fast turning into its deadliest enemy. Banish any single religion and absorb good things from all sources and then declare that to be your own religion. Hate and anger are the worst qualities of human character and your religion must not contribute towards propelling them.

Our "DHARMA" towards Women

According to the Hindu mythology, the most complete conversation about the Dharma, one’s values and practices, took place between Yaksha, the benevolent spirit, and Yudhishtira, the eldest son of Pandu. Even today the questions and their answers carry a lot of significance. They give you a very good understanding of the ethics of life. No doubt, Hindus revere them now and hereafter.

I wish to highlight another set of timeless questions that Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas, put in front of the pantheon of the Kuru dynasty. She had been lost to the Kauravas in the ugly game of gambling, Chausara. Those questions sought replies not only from the legend of Bheeshma, Dronda, Krupachaarya, Dhrutaraashtra, and Vidur, but also to the rest of the civilized world, to us who are the inheritors of the past. What makes them invaluable is the context, pattern and organization of the society to which they belonged.

The one that haunts me the most is “Does a man own his wife? If yes, doesn’t he lose her the moment he loses himself? If no, how can one individual offer another up for grabs without his/her consent?” Yudhishtira had no answers. Others were silent too. She kept insisting for the answer. Finally, Bheeshma did break his silence and opined that “A man has every right over his wife.” To this Draupadi ripostes that “If this is the case then isn’t the man responsible for safeguarding the honour and life of his wife?” No more answers were given.

During those days women were accorded a high social pedestal. There voices were heard and good measures taken. Still, through this incident, the treatment of women as the objects of rebuke, vengeance and lust whenever things get a little bit ugly. What occurred before and after Draupadi came up with these questions can be discussed separately though that information is no less useful. The situation demands a careful study indeed.

Men have not learned any lesson in this matter. They continue to dominate, own, trample and humiliate women brazenly. We do get odd reporting of an event of men selling women for as hideous a thing as prostitution as well as a petty thing like a bottle of wine. Sometimes they stand on the side of the victim and at other times, they will be colluding with the perpetrators of the crime. They may feel bad when their own women get insulted but any other case can garner only lip service from them.

Both the contemporary and previous women folk have been subjected to this type of questionnaire more often than not. Alas, we have no answers even now. Of course, laws and regulations are there to protect and uphold women rights but that is it. Laws are paperwork if not implemented. A modern day Draupadi can be found so easily. Oppression of women, physical and mental, continues unabated.

Those answers must be researched to really ascertain what women mean to our society in particular and humanity in general. We treat women in ways that suit our needs for the occasion. Tradition is always tweaked and adulterated to drive home the purpose. Rape, molestation, punishment etc. are ways used to treat women when enemies want to settle scores, be it individual, group, countries or whatever.

A good society hoping to continue its journey into time must define an unbreakable code of conduct w.r.t. women. If men do the job, the groundwork is done by the women. They are complimentary for the society. They must be given the security and opportunity they need to live a life of dignity and purpose.

No Dharma is more important than establishing women as equals, at least.