The Constitution of India and the secular state

As I have stated before, India is (or rather, should be) a secular state (राज्य, rajya), but a Hindu nation (राष्त्र, rashtra). However, several articles in the Constitution of India obstruct the realization of India as a secular state.

Here is an excellent letter to the Hindustan Times by Sanjeev Nayyar, founder of the eSamskriti web site, about minority rights in the Constitution of India and the implications:

esamskriti- Marking lives less ordinary
The term minority is not defined in the Constitution. Nowhere in the world, except in India, is a minority defined by religion or caste. Is anyone listening?

The subject articles, Articles 25-30, may be located in http://lawmin.nic.in/legislative/Art1-242%20(1-88).doc. To quickly locate these articles in Microsoft Word (I use Word 2002), select View > Document Map. Articles 25-28 may be found under the heading Right to Freedom of Religion; Articles 29-30 may be found under the heading Cultural and Educational Rights.

PS eSamskriti is a treasure trove of essays on Indian culture, history, and philosophy and photographs. Check it out!

Seva for orphans

It often seems that Indians don't take care of their own, and that only foreign organizations undertake humanitarian efforts in India. Here, however, are two indigenous efforts to provide homes for orphans, found through Hindu Press International:

• Mayor Of Delhi Visits Home for Kids Orphaned And Displaced By Kashmir Terrorism - Twenty-three children orphaned by terrorism in Kashmir are receiving instruction in Hinduism, in addition to food, clothing, shelter, and education in other studies. According to Shri Rakesh Gupta, if these children were not adopted and looked after by the society, they might fall into wrong hands, "resulting into a disastrous situation for the Hindu society and the nation itself."

• Project Hope and India Heritage Research Foundation Open Orphanage for Tsunami Orphans - "An orphanage for the tsunami orphans has been constructed in Cuddalore by Project Hope, the organization founded by H.H. Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji, Spiritual Head of Parmarth Niketan Ashram, Rishikesh and Bollywood star Vivek Oberoi, operating under the auspices of India Heritage Research Foundation, Rishikesh." This project will pair orphans with widowed or abandoned women, thereby providing love and comfort for all (take that, Deepa Mehta!)
  

In a subsequent post, I will highlight the efforts by Indians, in conjunction with non-profit organizations, to wipe out two major scourges: leprosy and kala-azar (black fever), more formally known as Visceral leishmaniasis (VL).

Tagore in Hindi

UPDATE 2007-06-04: This article was replicated on Blogs - Gadar - Film Information without attribution.


Rabindranath Tagore

Outside of his native Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore is probably best known for Jana Gana Mana, India's national anthem. Now there are two efforts in making his work better known outside of Bengal.

DD One began a weekly series of Tagore's songs on May 13. The series is broadcast at 10:30 PM IST and will run for a year. According to Indiantelevision.com,

... A unique aspect is that Gurudev's compositions have been translated into Hindi while retaining the originality of the musical and lyrical flavour of Tagore.

The songs have been rendered by some of the best known voices - both classical and popular. Some of the singers include Anup Jalota, Anuradha Paudwal, Bhupinder Singh, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Vinod Rathore, Suresh Wadekar and Mitali Singh.

Somnath Chatterjee (CPI-M), Speaker of the Lok Shaba, who represents Tagore's Shantiniketan and surrounding areas, also released a DVD (the first of a series) of songs of Tagore. No word on how or even if these DVDs will be made available to the public.

The second effort is a CD called "Mere Mann Main Dhadkan Main" to be released by T-Series. Hindi versions of Tagore's songs are sung by Indrajit Dasgupta, a government tax official, and narration preceding the songs is provided by Amitabh Bachchan. Bollywood actors Ashmit Patel and Rituparna Sengupta (who is also a veteran of Tollywood, that is, the Bengali film industry) will be featured in a video.

Mere Mann Main Dhadkan Main was announced with great fanfare this past January. At that time, it was said that the recording would be released in February. Nothing happened. Now, with renewed buzz, it seems that the release might be imminent. I couldn't find anything on the T-Series web site.

Google to Digitize 800,000 Books at Mysore University

One of the recurring themes here on Mera Bharat Mahan is the protection of India's heritage, be it natural or cultural, tangible or intangible. From Hindustan Times via Hindu Press International:

Google will digitize 100, 000 manuscripts, many inscribed on paper and palm leaves, held by University of Mysore. Topics cover ayurveda, mathematics, medicine, science, astrology and economy. In addition, Google will digitize 700,000 books held by Mysore University. All digitization will be done free of charge.

This is wonderful - using modern technology to protect traditional knowledge.

Common Myths About Hinduism

For me, India's nationhood is based in its Hindu culture. To put it another way, India is (or rather, should be) a secular state (राज्य, rajya), but a Hindu nation (राष्त्र, rashtra) (Thanks to Santhosh for providing the Sanskrit words).

This article Hinduism is Not a Religion: Common Myths About Hinduism from about.hinduism.com neatly makes these points: in particular, read the sections A Culture More than a Religion and A Common Faith of the Indian Subcontinent. The only section that I quibble with is Hinduism is Not Really Polytheistic! I agree with Sita Ram Goel that terms such as "monotheistic" or "polytheistic" are terms adopted from revealed religions that divide and confuse.