6 ms·

> one's Indian heritage Depending on your perception, either there is no such thing as India heritage or it's so broad that it's bordering on being indistingui

by irahul 14y ago

> one's Indian heritage Depending on your perception, either there is no such thing as India heritage or it's so broad that it's bordering on being indistinguishable from non-Indian heritage. 1. We are talking about a country of over a billion people who are descendants of different races. Aryans, dravidians(I believe aryan invasion is under dispute but there are more people leaning towards it). I don't know what race the north-east folks are but they are different. 2. We follow differing, and sometimes totally different cultures. North and south India has different cultures; more so with north-east folks. 3. We belong to different religions with different practices. Hindu, Muslim, Sikhs, Christians, and a lot of other minorities. Owing to the huge population, even the minorities aren't really minorities. The number of Christians in India, for example, is larger than the number of Christians in Australia. 4. We have a vast economic divide. People on the peak and right of bell curve have totally different lifestyle than those on the left. People who are on the extreme right aren't any different from their else-world counterparts. 5. Even among the same income group, the lifestyle differs depending on the location. A person earning 25k/month in a small city and a person earning 25k/month in Bangalore isn't the same thing. 6. Though the low-lives tend to go up in arms every few weeks ostensibly trying to protect the Indian culture, there is no sole authority for deciding what constitutes Indian culture. If we talk about Hinduism, it has 4 vedas, 108 upnishads, and number of other books. There is no canonical book and many a times the scriptures are contradictory and/or ambiguous. More importantly, Hinduism is based more on orthopraxy than orthodoxy. Many a times courts have quashed bullshit "against Hinduism" litigations ruling that fucking read the scriptures, quote us the exact lines, make sure other scriptures don't say differently; or else don't waste the court's time. Now one might say that most of my points are about lifestyle, and don't represent Indian heritage per se. I would say lifestyle and companions are a big variable in shaping a person's values and viewpoints. Heritage, as in inheritance, depends on who you are inheriting from, and this hypothetical Indian "who" doesn't have a canonical definition. Personally, I was trying to look at myself and find out things which would constitute Indian heritage. I couldn't think of anything. Would somebody help me out with what constitutes Indian heritage?

intended 14y ago
Right now? Helping out country men from the north east, and surviving the daily tribulations of India with stoicism, and the ability to be open to all castes, creeds and colors The one thing that united most of India was mysticism and the belief that we are one under some god. You can experiment with that as a start. It's what bound the Sufis, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and several other religions during the best of our times. We don't want to emulate our worst times.
- irahul 14y ago
  > Right now? Helping out country men from the north east, and surviving the daily tribulations of India with stoicism, and the ability to be open to all castes, creeds and colors The discussion started from a post talking about Indian heritage, and the things which you listed(substitute people from north east with just people) are basic qualities expected in a decent human being - there is nothing uniquely Indian or heritage about it. > The one thing that united most of India was mysticism and the belief that we are one under some god. More often than not, I don't see a united India, which doesn't bother me much as long as people treat other people as human beings, and not some abstract entity(viz. Hindu, North eastern, Tamil etc). Countries are imaginary boundaries, intentionally and/or unintentionally created for various reasons(ease of administration among others). Mysticism is something I never subscribed to. I was indifferent to religion, miracles, rituals from a very young age. I believed a relation between me and god is personal, and priests, temples, rituals have no business being there. Eventually, I became an atheist. Granted not many people are atheists(in India, or any other part of the world), but people not into mysticism is very common. I am pointing this out as you were listing it as something which is inherently Indian, and I am saying it isn't and there isn't an authority which decides the Indian heritage. > You can experiment with that as a start. Experiment with what? Mysticism? Show me, I will verify. If it works, at that point, it isn't mysterious any more. If it doesn't, it is just imagination gone wild. > It's what bound the Sufis, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and several other religions during the best of our times. If that is the binding factor for you, good for you. For me, I don't give a shit which part of world you are from, what gods you worship, what color your skin is, what language you speak etc etc. You will get basic "one human being to another" respect, followed by "earned respect". If I just met you, you get the basic respect and empathy. If you are a superb programmer, good doctor, good athlete, good human being... you earn my respect. If you are an asshole(homophobe, sexist, xenophobic, wife beater...), you lose my respect. My system works for me and I don't see a reason to switch to Indian or American or Martian system.

by irahul 14y ago

intended 14y ago

Right now? Helping out country men from the north east, and surviving the daily tribulations of India with stoicism, and the ability to be open to all castes, creeds and colors The one thing that united most of India was mysticism and the belief that we are one under some god. You can experiment with that as a start. It's what bound the Sufis, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and several other religions during the best of our times. We don't want to emulate our worst times.

irahul 14y ago
> Right now? Helping out country men from the north east, and surviving the daily tribulations of India with stoicism, and the ability to be open to all castes, creeds and colors The discussion started from a post talking about Indian heritage, and the things which you listed(substitute people from north east with just people) are basic qualities expected in a decent human being - there is nothing uniquely Indian or heritage about it. > The one thing that united most of India was mysticism and the belief that we are one under some god. More often than not, I don't see a united India, which doesn't bother me much as long as people treat other people as human beings, and not some abstract entity(viz. Hindu, North eastern, Tamil etc). Countries are imaginary boundaries, intentionally and/or unintentionally created for various reasons(ease of administration among others). Mysticism is something I never subscribed to. I was indifferent to religion, miracles, rituals from a very young age. I believed a relation between me and god is personal, and priests, temples, rituals have no business being there. Eventually, I became an atheist. Granted not many people are atheists(in India, or any other part of the world), but people not into mysticism is very common. I am pointing this out as you were listing it as something which is inherently Indian, and I am saying it isn't and there isn't an authority which decides the Indian heritage. > You can experiment with that as a start. Experiment with what? Mysticism? Show me, I will verify. If it works, at that point, it isn't mysterious any more. If it doesn't, it is just imagination gone wild. > It's what bound the Sufis, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and several other religions during the best of our times. If that is the binding factor for you, good for you. For me, I don't give a shit which part of world you are from, what gods you worship, what color your skin is, what language you speak etc etc. You will get basic "one human being to another" respect, followed by "earned respect". If I just met you, you get the basic respect and empathy. If you are a superb programmer, good doctor, good athlete, good human being... you earn my respect. If you are an asshole(homophobe, sexist, xenophobic, wife beater...), you lose my respect. My system works for me and I don't see a reason to switch to Indian or American or Martian system.