One of the biggest assets of
Hinduism I have always felt is its decentralization of religious practices. And
therefore I have always believed more than a religion, it is a way of life. We
have more Gods than we can count and remember and while many believe that
Hinduism is essentially a throbbing, living example of polytheism, I always
believe it also has the traits of Monotheism and Pantheism. Which is why when
someone from Europe wonders how I plan to celebrate Diwali, I itch to answer, “Just
like the French wine connoisseurs celebrate Oktoberfest.”
Our different Gods help us to
reach the One as we deem fit. And then we find our own unique ways to reach The
One. But as I travel around the country, I see a strange phenomenon. Slowly the
complex fabric of our culture is giving way to the worship of what I call the
Mega Gods – The avatars of Shiva and Vishnu. Even the Incarnations of the
Mother Goddess are losing out to the male deities of Monotheist nature. The
local gods are slowly being forgotten. In Luka and the Fire of Life, Rushdie
speaks of the Forgotten Gods from ancient religions who no one remembers
anymore. Slowly the Gods in our ancient forests and lakes and mountains are
facing the same fate. Time it seems is able to consume even divinity. Whether
it is good or bad only time can tell. I just wish there was someone working on
the forgotten Gods of India.
While the Gods leave, one by one,
like the vanishing languages of the world, the ‘Godmen’ fill up their places.
Feeding on our insecurities, they now control a vast swathe of our country and
slowly blind faith and rituals replace the logical mind that once told us that
paths to The One can be many and yet they reach the same destination.
Sometimes you need the light of
Knowledge to show you the way. For darkness is powerful and all encompassing
but always loses in the end.
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