Not long ago, the ‘Ram Ram’ chant was only limited to morning greetings to friends, family and acquaintances in the northern parts of India, where Hindu traditions have largely been Ram-centric. It was a harmless, docile and lovable phrase used mostly by Hindi-speaking folks.
Even in that same space, delineated by Hindi as the main language, in Mathura, for example, as projected by individuals representing that area, people wish each other saying ‘Radhey Radhey’.
In my part of the country, Southeast India, we would normally wish friends with a smile and folded hands saying ‘Namaskar’ (definitely not a ‘Namastey’). A Tamilian would say ‘Vanakkam’ in the same vein. This just goes to show how diverse we Indians are, even in such simple daily acts.
‘Ram Ram’, ‘Radhey Radhey’ Used To Be Harmless Wishes That Could Disarm Strangers
I have a love for languages and have always tried to learn at least a few wishes in every language that I have encountered. Even if one cannot speak a full sentence afterwards, it is easy to disarm and soften a stranger by wishing him or her in their local language. Perhaps because of this, many Indian politicians, including the late Indira Gandhi to the present day prime minister, Narendra Modi, may be noticed as always trying this simple trick on the audience in large gatherings, and they invariably have received applause in return.
For northerners, particularly Hindi speakers, saying ‘Ram Ram’ or ‘Radhey Radhey’ is not just the equivalent of a westerner’s perfunctory ‘good morning’, but it is also tantamount to taking their favourite lord’s name twice.
Such is the use of mythological proper nouns, which many in this country have been deifying, that using those names was believed to be akin to chanting mantras.
Only unrecorded history knows for how long this practice has been in place. Uttering the name of Ram or Krishna’s consort Radha therefore, stood for cheerful and happy, bright moments in the lives of average north Indians. Although the Ramayana and stories of Krishna may have been read by many across the length and breadth of this sub-continent, that too in various languages, it has to be accepted that this kind of usage of the name of King Ramachandra or Radha, is not universally practiced by all Hindus across India. It is very clearly limited to the Hindi-speaking areas of the north.
How ‘Family Man’ Ram Became A ‘Muscular’ Figure
Interestingly, the image of Ram has also drastically changed. From a family man with a wife, and sacrificing brother in tow, some people have moulded his image as a muscular bow and arrow-wielding warrior character. Deification be damned, Ram today is being compelled to fit into the frame of our requirements. Krishna and his consorts, on the other hand, would never fit the bill of violence because of his overpowering image of a wily lover boy, although he was the main architect of one of the greatest wars on which the Mahabharata is based.
In this backdrop, the recent use of such names of mythological/religious importance, especially of Ram, whom certain sections of Hindus consider as maryada purush (a concept that translates literally into ‘respectable male’) has got those belonging to other parts of India thinking.
In Odisha, we Oriyas also wish others by saying ‘Jay Jagannath’. In that state it is Jagannath (Creator of the Universe) who is generally revered as the reigning deity. Interestingly, like ‘Ram Ram’, the use of ‘Jay Jagannath’ too is disarming and friendly. However, and a tad sadly, the word Ram has, it seems, become politically charged.
‘My Lord Is And Always Will Be My Private Love’
Recently many television viewers across India were unpleasantly surprised to view how the phrase ‘Jay Shri Ram’ was being bandied around on the first two days of the commencement of the 17th Lok Sabha. The vehemence and aggression that was palpable behind the sloganeering inside the House was disturbing, to say the least. As a Hindu Brahmin by birth, I am not inclined to scream the name(s) of any deity that I quietly pray to for blessings.
My lord is and always will be my private love, and adoration affair. Unfortunately, Ram’s name is now being used as a weapon, an instrument to subjugate, forcefully, some others who may, for the time being, be the temporary ‘enemy’.
Let those who care understand that all Hindus may not be chanting the name of the King of Ayodhya for every ritual. Ram is fine, but we also have Jagannath, Ayyappan, Maa Kali, and so many names that it seems unfair to vilify and demonise Ramachandra as is being done presently.
(Tathagata Satpathy is a former Member of the Lok Sabha from the BJD and a veteran journalist. He tweets at @SatpathyLive. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)
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