Author: Maria Wirth
Whenever news about India make it to the local Nuremberg newspaper, my mother reads them out to me on phone. Usually, those news portray India in a poor light, like ‘people died from cold on the streets of Delhi’ or, especially in the past year ever so often, ‘another gang rape’, conveniently ignoring the gang rapes on home turf. During recent months, however, one term clearly dominates the western media, and going by the language used, it seems to be the most dangerous and heinous trait that any Indian could have, and that needs to be condemned by one and…
Some time ago much was made in the media of a dress code order by some Kanpur Colleges. Female students were not allowed anymore to wear jeans or other western attire. A lot of eve teasing had happened right at the gate of the colleges and the management felt that the way the students dressed, encouraged eve teasing. The media took up the cause. They felt that it was an infringement on the personal freedom of the students and quoted some girls who supported this view. The new dress code sans jeans was called draconian – a strong word.I am…
My article “When Germany is Christian, is India Hindu?” got amazingly good response with thousands of facebook likes. However, some readers felt I made a mistake by not distinguishing between good, tolerant Hinduism, which is a private belief, and bad, intolerant Hindutva, which stands for the ‘communal agenda of an extreme right Hindu party’ that wants to force uniform Hinduism on this vast country, an act which is completely un-Hindu and against the pluralism of India.Is Hindutva really different from Hindu Dharma and dangerous? Or have those, which coined the term, an interest in making it look like that? No…
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,…