It’s a Saturday. One of the two days of the week when I say special prayers to Hanuman ji, get ready to step out and drive through the usual Bangalore traffic.
I’ve had noticed my share of posters on rear windshields of cars, from names of owners to places the car has been to, logo of the university its owner attended to their favourite Guru’s image. Have seen it all.
A recent disturbing phenomena that has caught my attention while navigating traffic snarls – increasing number of rear windshields with a poster of Angry Hanuman. In some of these stickers, he is showing lesser degree of angst, while in some, his bloodthirsty eyes sends a chill down the spine. It has disturbed me to the core.
Where Are the Smiling Idols?
Since childhood, we have grown up with seeing smiling idols and pictures of Hanuman in temples and calendars. There is always a sense of calmness that oozes from those idols and pictures. As per mythological tales, when Lord Rama was ready to leave the earth, he asked Hanuman to stay back and look after his kingdom, and humanity at large. It is believed that Hanuman stayed on earth ever since. One of the reasons Rama asked him to stay back was Hanuman’s capacity for selfless love, compassion and forgiveness. That’s the Hanuman we know and heard stories about.
One may argue that it is just a harmless vinyl image that has caught up with the imagination of many. I wish it was that simple and harmless. Changing social behaviour and preference says a lot about its inhabitants. There probably isn’t much one can do about, but it is not to be overlooked.
There is a lot going on around us these days. The palpable tension, fear and angst can be easily felt in conversations, social media threads and very often in TV news too. In my solitude, I ponder and wonder, is it for real? What are we so paranoid about? What is making the Hindus so insecure in a country where their likes are more than 70 percent of the population?
Insecurity Among the Majority
I really hope there was a straight answer. There isn’t. It’s a layered phenomenon that would require a long discourse in human psychology, politics, and of course, religious fanaticism. For now, let’s take a look at nimble observations and facts.
Nothing real has happened recently that would lead the majority of Indians to feel threatened, but they are feeling so. Probably due to a repetitive feeding of fabricated agitating content or perhaps this angst was always inside, but it wasn’t considered civil to say ill about others.
Now, you won’t be considered extreme to say disgusting things about another religion in a gathering. Rather, you’ll get more nods than your friend who talks about brotherhood. In recent times, the Good Samaritan, good neighbour and good person mask has fallen off, and lot of ugliness has come out in the open.
The not-so-subtle hints about culture and religion, which has started cropping up in unusual contexts, worries me. It continues to disturb me when a perfectly intelligent and educated person gives “reasons to hate or be wary of the Muslims”. These reasons are often laced with anecdotal cynicism.
Angry Hanuman Stickers
On one occasion, I struck a conversation with my cab driver whose car had adorned the said sticker.
Apart from his wearing-Hindutva-on-his-sleeves attitude, he mentioned that the sticker is his way of telling the world that we are not cowards and won’t stay silent against the enemy. He fumbled when I stated facts about no real threat.
He ended the conversation with, “If they are not coming after to vanish our kind, why do they reproduce in such large numbers?” This was not his own thought, the same argument have surfaced on WhatsApp messages and Facebook posts to call young adults to be ready for a future calling.
It is real and pervading everywhere, some choose to acknowledge, and others look the other way.
Society is a reflection of its people and so is their God. We all understand symbolism and so we do understand what is being reflected with such images – it’s the hatred, asking you to get ready to kill in the name of protecting religion, and the tone that even God wants it. It’s hard to say when it started, what we do know for sure – it is growing fast. Is the hatred now part of our collective consciousness? I don’t know the answer to it and hope it is not. I hope that there is still hope.
‘Rama Has Been Used to Incite Enough Hatred’
Sometimes I wonder, is mankind really this gullible?
It bothers me as a citizen, a person and as a Hanuman bhakt too. I grew up as an atheist by choice and later felt connected to Hanuman. Ever since, he is my guiding light. Like millions of other people, God is beyond the dramas of the earth. Rama has been used to incite enough hatred in last two decades, thought he was never showcased as the angry man seeking revenge. He was lucky to have left with enduring smile in his posters till date.
The curious case of angry hanuman carries a subtle message, the emotion of his loyalty to seek what rightfully is his master’s. The world is God’s stage and I could never comprehend why a piece of land makes so much difference that it becomes a reason for bloodshed.
Truth is – it doesn’t matter to our Gods, it is man-made madness and has done enough harm to our country. In these extreme times, just being acutely aware of the staged changing social dynamics, we could be less gullible. This angry imagery is not my Hanuman.
(Pracheta is a life coach, who was a techie-on-stage in her previous avatar. She can be reached @PrachetaB. This is a personal blog and the views expressed above are the authors’ own. The Quint neither endorses, nor is responsible for the same.)
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