Cultural Orphans: Indians ashamed of their own heritage

[prasad1]

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​- Major General Mrinal Suman For an Indian, a visit to Indonesia can be an eye-opener. It is fervently proud of its heritage. Although it is the largest Muslim country in the world, it has inscribed the picture of Lord Ganesh on its 20,000 rupiah currency notes. Even the most prestigious institute of technology has Lord Ganesh in its logo. Indonesia's official airline is called Garuda (Lord Vishnu's mount) and the official bank is named after Kubera (the Hindu god of wealth). Indonesian government patronises and supports dance dramas and puppet shows that depict stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata. It has also issued many stamps on the two epics. Jakarta has a huge sculpture of Lord Krishna revealing Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna. In Bali, statues of Hindu deities adorn most public places. Several cross-roads have massive sculptures portraying scenes from Hindu scriptures, like the sun-god riding his chariot, yoked by seven horses. For an Indian, it is a puzzling experience: a Muslim country honouring Hindu gods. Unable to control his curiosity, a tourist quizzed our guide Mustafa. After looking at the perplexed faces of the group, Mustafa responded, "Earlier all of us were Hindus and worshipped these gods. Whatever be the reasons, we converted to Islam. I do not pray to these gods but respect them because I know that my parents, grand-parents and ancestors worshipped them. They are a part of my heritage and ancestry. Should change of faith make me disown my heritage? That would amount to my disowning my own lineage and ancestors." The silence was deafening. In a few sentences, Mustafa had taught us what we Indians have not learnt for centuries. No educated Indian ever boasts of India's rich heritage. Our education system has ingrained in us an acute sense of inferiority. We eulogise everything that is Western and run down our own glorious past. Everything concerning ancient India's intellectual prowess, cultural richness, multiple philosophies and liberal thoughts is painted as narrow-mindedness. India is perhaps the only country in the world that is ashamed of its heritage.

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[GANESH65]

May be true to a great extent. Centuries of foreign rule whether it is the Mughals or British or for that cause any one else have dented more than half of our cultural past. Introduction of English system of learning by British so that they have enough clerks to run the government machinery during their tenure and vide spread conversion to Christianity caused major shift from Hindu Values. The science of Ayurveda and the Language of Sanskrit were the major losers. Our vote bank politics later did the rest. Our politicians in a race to please some communities or casts for sake of clinging in power found no time for rejuvenation of our ancient culture. The damage caused to our cultural heritage is immense.