Why India is a Hindutva nation. And why time won’t turn back

Why India is a Hindutva nation. And why time won’t turn back

I am sitting next to this guy in the plane. He’s from the North. We were both trying to get the most out of the little space on the hand rest. Before we took off, there was a little Cold War going on to get the most space on the hand rest. (I won)

While I was trying to jostle for space, I got a glimpse of what he was doing on his phone. Well, Facebook. He was scanning his newsfeed, his thumb swiping up and down. Hovering over posts, clicking on links. Reading half of a news story, watching a video stream on mute with subtitles. Then his thumb would move up and down his phone screen. It’s difficult to tell what a person is like without knowing them too well. It’s near impossible. 

So to say I got a glimpse of what he is like in real life based on a glimpse of his phone screen, is just wishful thinking at best. And me talking out of my ass at worst. 

Well, let the worst begin.

He first clicked on a link about how Hindus have been affected in the Delhi riots. He read half of it and moved on. Then he went back to his Facebook timeline and swiped down. A certain Mr Ashish Gupta posts kept popping up on his timeline. Mr. Gupta seems very convinced that there is a conspiracy against Hindus unraveling. He is sharing posts by TrueIndology, OpIndia and some other pro-Hindu accounts and portals. There was also Zee News in the midst. There are other items on the Facebook newsfeed that are similar in nature.

I am so ready to judge this gentleman sitting next to me. Then it occurred to me—Facebook has probably figured out what this man likes to see on his feed. It’s pushing those posts on his feed no matter how old or recent it was. All of them have the same theme—Hindu khatre mein hai. Or, something about the greatness of Hinduism.

I almost didn’t notice all of this. I was scanning through my Twitter feed. It’s peppered with folks who I agree with and those who I don’t. I follow around 7,000 odd accounts on Twitter. I have made it a point to not life in my echo chamber. It takes its toll on my mental well-being. If you found this piece on Twitter, just go check out my Twitter feed. I outrage about almost every stupid thing someone says. Whether it’s the Hindu khatre mein hai idiots, or those who praise Congress and hope this comatose political party saves us. Well, the last political party we thought would save us—Aam Aadmi Party, is busy committing political suicide. So, I think we should not keep our hopes up. 

If we scan everyone’s phone screen and notice the feed on their social media accounts—that could probably tell us why India will remain a Hindutva nation. The man sitting next to me on this flight is probably a nice guy. He wishes his dad good morning diligently. He’s probably a good husband to his wife who’s sitting right next to him in the line of “premium seats” that we three occupy. Till he fell asleep after the flight took off, he was on social media, just like me. He is being bombarded by everything that feeds his prejudice (my prejudice is to make myself so miserable that I yearn for a trip back home to see my brother’s kid). 

How many of us can, want to, or even care to live outside our bubble? How many of us want to question things around us constantly, and judge them by their merits? How many of us truly care to learn about different sides to an argument? How many of us care to know that Hindutva will eventually consume us all? That it will burn us to the ground, while editors at right-wing magazine, living in Thane, call for a civilisational war that Hindus must rise to. This editor runs the magazine that owns OpIndia.

Do you think that all this can be turned around in one generation or by wailing on Twitter? Do you think that you can change your family member’s mind and force them not to share conspiracy theorist and filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri’s tweets?

The genie is out of the lamp. We have used up our three wishes. The last one was to set the genie free. That was 2014. Now the genie has realised that it has magical powers of destruction. It has started to flex its muscle. It has convinced many normal people that Hindu khatre mein hai.

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The flight is facing turbulence now, and man next to me has finally given up the dreams of hogging the arm rest. He’s sitting compact and within his seat and let go of even his side of the armrest. He’s trying to sleep uncomfortably, like most people do in planes. Everybody is asleep on the plane, except for the flight attendants. As I write this, I realise that despondency and giving in to a bully is never a good choice. Even if it’s difficult to put the genie back in the lamp, it’s worth the trouble. And just like this man finally gave away the space on the arm rest, one must take back what one has lost. In our case, collectively as a society, we have lost decency and humanity. It’s ironical that our elders taught us these two things when we were kids, but now completely forget what they tried to instil in us, all throughout our lives. 

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Sometimes we must take the world as what it is. It’s we who need to change. Not change into loonies. But something else entirely. And that road is not an easy path. But good things don’t come easily do they. 

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The sun is rising in the east over a bed of clouds. Even in my overworked, sleep deprived state, it makes for something serene and beautiful. The night surely is darkest before dawn. I see a dawn coming.