Author: Maria Wirth
Judging from media reports, India has a BIG problem with rape. No other country seems to come even close. All over the globe “another rape in India” is reported ever so often. On my last visit to Germany, I jolted when on 27. December 2013 the most popular TV news ended with “another gang rape in India”. It was one of only five topics of the 15 minutes broadcast. Even my sister wondered how a gang rape in India made it to the main news in Germany. That same day in a conservative estimate, over a thousand rapes would have…
When recently, on a visit to southern India, I saw so many new churches , I got the idea to write an open letter to Pope Francis. He is getting a lot of praise for his ‘bold’ statements in the west. However, so far he only talks about ‘respectful coexistence of religions’. He needs to walk his talk and stop conversion. Here is my letter: Respected Holy Father, Great hope for a positive change in the Catholic Church is pinned on your Pontificate and recent statements indicate that this hope may not be misplaced. The future, your Holiness said in…
“Can you imagine – in Europe there are people who believe there is no Bhagawan (God)!” Baba Ramdev, a highly popular yogi, said this to a sea of thousands of Indian schoolchildren with an expression of genuine wonderment on his face. I saw it on TV and it made me smile. He is right. In Europe there are people who believe there is no God and I almost had become one of them. It is quite normal there. Yet for most Indians this is unbelievable: ‘Don’t these Europeans have any reasoning power? Can’t they come to the conclusion that there…
The panel discussions in the English news channels in India are amazing. It keeps amazing me how panelists manage to reply at length to a straight forward question without giving an answer. Usually, the anchor shifts his position, asking the questions that would make the person targeted most uncomfortable. However, on 18th October 2013, the anchors of both Times Now and Headlines Today did not shift their position. They took a clear stand on whether there is merit in following up on the dream of a ‘Baba’. The stand was: definitely not!Usually anchors talk a lot, but on this occasion…
During Navaratra season, there are many opportunities to attend a bhajan session in India. Yet did you ever wonder about the value of bhajan? Some of the great spiritual masters value it highly. Especially in Kali Yuga, it is said that bhajans are an easy way to connect with the Divine that permeates everything. Somehow I took it for granted, that there is no monetary charge for attending a bhajan session. After all, the lead singer benefits as much, if not more, as those who follow him or her. Everyone simply expresses his devotion in a joyful manner.When I went…
धार्मिक मूलतत्ववादीओं की संख्या बढ़ती जा रही है और यह हमारे समाज के हित में बिलकुल नहीं है। अधिकांश लोग इस बात से सहमत होंगे, मगर इस बात की छान–बीन करनेवाले लोग बहुत थोडे होंगे कि, धार्मिक मूलतत्ववादी होते क्या हैं । जाहिर है कि, ऐसे लोग अपने धर्म के मूल तत्वों से चिपके रहना पसंद करेंगे । वह चाहते हैं कि उन का जीवन उन के धार्मिक ग्रंथों में दी गयी हिदायत के मुताबिक हो और उस से उनके भगवान उन पर प्रसन्न हो । चूँ कि, अब धार्मिक मूलतत्ववादीओं के कारण समस्याएँ खड़ी होती दीख रही हैं, क्या…
हठधर्मी ख्रिश्चानिटी के दम घुटनेवाले माहौल में पली हुई एक महिला के विचार, जो हिंदू धर्म की लचीली स्वतंत्रता और ताजापन को सहारती हैं- और हिंदू समाज के एक घटक की अपने निजी धर्म के प्रति अपराध की भावना को देख कर अचम्भित महसूस करती है- हालांकि जीवन में पूर्णत्व पाने के लिये हिंदू धर्म सब से बढ़िया रास्ता है। हिंदू कहा करते थे, “सभी धर्म समान हैं।” वास्तव में, दो सबसे बड़े धर्म, ख्रिश्चानिटी औऱ इस्लाम इस बात से सहमत नहीं हैं, इस सच का सामना वह नहीं करना चाहते थे। यह दोनो धर्म यही दावा करते थे कि,…
The belief in rebirth is in the blood of most Indians. It is not a blind belief. There is a lot of evidence for it, as the author discovered. I don’t remember which Bollywood movie it was. Two heroes were wooing the heroine and naturally one had to die in the end, because she could not marry both. As it happened, he indeed died. It was a sad end, because he was a nice guy. Just then a voice ended the movie, “Vapis aega – dusra roop me.” (He will come back in another form). It brought in a philosophical…
Modern science has come to the conclusion that all is one energy. Long ago, India’s wisdom came to the conclusion that all is one awareness/ consciousness, i.e. the one energy of science ‘knows itself’. It is not inert, not dead. So far, science either does not know about the claim of the Indian rishis or fights shy to investigate it. Suppose there is a scientist whose theories have always turned out to be right. Other scientists have validated his theories, sometimes after a long time gap and after they had to discard their own theories. Now, this scientist comes up…
मैं काफ़ी अर्से से भारत में स्थित हूँ, फिर भी कई बाते समझने में मुझे अभी भी कठिनाई महसूस होती है। उदाहरण के लिए, जब भी भारत को एक हिन्दू देश मानने की बात होती है, तब बहुत सारे शिक्षित भारतीय क्यों उत्तेजित हो जाते हैं? भारत की बहुसंख्य जनता हिन्दू है। भारत की परंपराएँ इस देश की खासियत मानी जाती हैं। पश्चिमी लोग भारत की तरफ आकर्षित होने की यह एक प्रमुख वजह है। फिर भी इस देश की हिन्दू जड़ों का स्वीकार करने में कई भारतीय नागरीकों को क्या बाधा हो सकती है?यह रवैया दो तरह से अटपटा…