Tag Archive for: Hindusim

Ayodhya: The Last Exile of Lord Ram and His Return to Janmabhoomi

“The power of a mother: from Manushi Chillar to Majid Khan” in TOI Blog

India is a nation whose people value their mother with reverence, from the portrayal of deities in powerful and caregiving roles to men folding their hands in obeisance to ‘lakshmi’. A country which terms its nation as ‘Bharat Mata’ is a rare find in this technologically advancing world. The power of a mother is undeniable, her tears can bring her son back from the abyss and her values can make a woman globally acclaimed.The power of a mother is undeniable, her tears can bring her son back from the abyss and her values can make a woman globally acclaimed.

After a 17 year drought, India’s Manushi Chhillar won the coveted Miss World 2017 title in China. The previous winner was Priyanka Chopra, in her winning answer, Priyanka stated that her idol is Mother Theresa. Manushi, after 17 years, also gave a response based on the value of mother’s which received a huge applause from the audience. The question asked was, “Which profession deserves the highest salary and why?” The 20-year-old said, “A mother deserves the highest respect. It’s just not about cash but also the love and respect that you give to someone. My mother has been a huge inspiration. it is the mother’s job that deserves the biggest salary.”

This reply has awoken the people of India to embrace their cultural values and put their beloved mother’s on the pedestal they deserve yet are rarely acknowledged for.

It has been the argument of feminists that housewives are the largest unpaid workers globally, resulting in work done worth billions of dollars yet not recognised in our economy. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development revealed that an average woman in India spends five hours a day in unpaid work, Indian men spent under 51.8 minutes a day. If the same woman has children from the age range of 1 to 6 years of age, the workload hours increase. Yet the term ‘housewife’ is frowned upon, a mother’s work is thought to be trivial, and her life imagined to be a ‘waste’.

Even if the work of a mother is thought to be a backbreaking task the entire process is imagined to have no economic value whatsoever, even though motherhood helps prepare kids for the national and international labour market. Yet all the efforts that a mother puts into the household, giving her love to her child are not disregarded. On one hand, where a mother’s love brought the coveted Miss World title back to India, a mother’s love also brought back a son from the brink of self and national destruction.

The effect of the love of a mother on her child is profound. Footballer Majid Khan who joined Lashkar-e-Taiba returned home after seeing a video of his mother crying for his return. Majid was seen at the funeral of Muzamil Manzoor, a militant killed during a gunfight in Kund. A week after he announced on Facebook that he was joining the militant ranks he returned. J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti welcomed Majid’s decision to return home.

‘’A mother’s love prevailed. Her impassioned appeal helped in getting Majid, an aspiring footballer, back home. Every time a youngster resorts to violence, it is his family which suffers the most,’’ she tweeted. Shortly after the return of Majid Khan, a 16-year-old boy heeded to his parents’ call and returned home in Chimmer village.
Seeing the positive effect that has been created by these videos of mothers telling their sons to come back home, many other mothers of terrorist sons have started doing the same.

In response, there are sons who are returning back home and aren’t being arrested. The government of J&K has declared that there will be no penalty for first-time offenders of any crime. In this manner, we can see that the role of a caregiver isn’t limited to our conventional belief of mother, but is also by the government. This different approach to rehabilitation of the youth, the belief that there is still hope, and the understanding that there is a gap in approach between the Indian government and Kashmiri youth has brought about a new approach.

The question still arises that with the hullabaloo surrounding Manushi Chillar’s response, to the return of children from terrorist groups, are we truly deserving to be called a nation who respects their mother in the 21st century? Compared to Western countries where children tend to live in nuclear families and leave their residence at the tender age of 18 years old, the attachment to parents isn’t as strong as in India.

Or yet that was the case until at least a decade ago, the new age trend is for Indian children to be educated outside of India and continue to live there, Indian children are leaving their parents alone. To achieve the dream of being successful in life, where success is measured in terms of international standards of income, the primary caregiver falls behind. Perhaps it is time to follow what we preach, not just say that we love our mothers but be there to care for our caregivers at a time that matters the most.

Compassion is the key to Hinduism, does it still exist?

The Times has reported that the Holy Banyan tree is dying, the same tree under which Krshna ‘delivered his message of the Bhagwad Gita to Arjun’. With cemented paths, large bells, lights fixated all over, the problem has escalated with two claimants battling for the care of the tree while the tree is withering. The last remaining relic of the Mahabharata is dying; we have lost sight of what is important.

We pray to nature, to animals, to every living being. We pray to images that replicate holy deities in the form of shivling, in the form of a footprint. Yet we have turned the heart of our nation, Delhi, into the most polluted city of the world. Our metropolitans are growing fast, but to what end? Children have asthma, pm 1.0, 2.5 and 10 are polluting every pore of our natural being, blackening our lungs, shortening our life expectancy. During winters young and old alike leave the city and head for the mountains or the beaches, shutting down businesses, taking long vacations from their jobs, while breadwinners of the family send their spouse and children outside of the city to make sure they are safe.

As a religion that equates every living being to God, we have failed in respecting nature and our religion. In turn we are poisoning our family, our friends, and our neighbors. The cruelest act to mankind is pollution, we are living in a slow poison genocide. Each one of us is responsible for this act, and each one of us can make a difference.

India has a rich history when it comes to forest conservation. In 1730 AD Khejarli Village of Rajasthan, the King had ordered for the felling of Khejri trees, sacred to the Bishnois. Bishnois are an offshoot of Hinduism following 29 principles. Amrita Devi couldn’t bear to witness the destruction of her faith and the village’s sacred trees, so she hugged the trees and said “A chopped head is cheaper than a felled tree.” People from different villages joined her. The soldiers chopped slaughtered 363 Bishnois. As soon as the King received news of this he ordered the soldiers to stop the operation and designated the Bishnoi state as a protected area. This legislation still exists today. In memory of the deceased, a number of khejri trees are planted around the area.

This was the beginning of the Chipko movement, now nationally prevalent and widely acclaimed as an effective method of forest preservation.

The United Nations made June 5th World Environment Day in 1947, in 1950 Dr. K M Munshi created Van Mahotsav festival for forest conservation and planting trees. It is now a week-long festival, usually from the 1st of July to 7th July. We celebrate World Environment Day where for an hour we turn off the lights of our homes, but have forlorn Van Mahotsav festival which is more in-line with our ‘dharma’.

On World Environment Day 2017 ‘Mann ki Baat’, Prime Minister Modi talked about how traditional Hindu scriptures such as Gita, Shukracharya Niti, and Anushasan Parv of the Mahabharta highlight the values of forests. He planted a Kadam tree which has much religious value in Hindu scriptures, and also placed a traditional earthen-pot with it, a traditional method of conserving water, and ensuring it has regular water supply.

On Twitter Narendra Modi encouraged farmers to plant 5 trees in celebration of the birth of their daughter, as the farmer can reap monetary benefits from the plantation and use that for her marriage. A two pronged approach which saves the life of a girl child and doesn’t make her seem like a burden, and also helps the farmers family economically.

‘Each one plant one tree,’ a popular yet simple motto if followed can make a huge impact due to our 1.3 Billion population, the second largest population in the world. As at 2016 the tree cover of India was 23.81%. The Government of India has set a target of 33% cover by 2020. If united we can bring a change in the pollution levels, not only nationally but also globally thereby leaving a world safe for our future. If each one plants one tree, if each one ensures that each sapling lives its complete life, we can save the world. With Delhi’s population of 18.98 million people, if each person decides to plant at least one tree we can come closer to meeting the minimum requirement of 33% forest coverage in a metropolitan area.

The question arises, why only ‘each one plant ONE tree’, why not two? For each Hindu’s Antim-Sanskar we need at least 2 trees, we can return the favor to Mother Earth. If we could make the effort, find the motivation, respect our heritage and living beings of all nature then we can collectively make a difference in India which can impact the globe positively.