All Indians are born with luggage which we are expected to carry with us throughout our lives. The baggage I am talking about is our cultural baggage. Indians especially carry a very huge and heavy bag, more likely an aluminium trunk. Every ‘learned’ person claims that we have to let go of this cultural bag that we carry if we want to ever develop into a great country. Everyone, from a student of a local engineering college to ex Infosys guy Nandan Nilekani, wants Indians to let go of its past. But do we really have to?
Has anyone ever opened the bag they carry around and actually seen what lies in it? Have we ever read our history books, our scriptures and mythologies not to mug up for exams but to examine our past? We must realize that there is a lot to learn from our past. A lot of good things were told that must be done. A lot of mistakes were made from which we must learn so they are not repeated. It was this past that inspired Indians to overthrow our colonial rulers so we could live our lives the way we wanted to.
Have any of these new-age rationalists ever read any of our scriptures? Because those who have read them would attest to the fact that they have a lot to teach in almost every field from music to politics and can be helpful to all kinds of people in almost every situation imaginable.
Isn’t it hypocrisy to speak about something you don’t know about?
