Is Diane Rehm still there? I used to listen to her a lot

Why I get nervous when traveling with people in Hindu garb

Not too many things bother me when I am traveling, but every now and then I see men in yellow (formerly white)dhotis and women clad in barely sufficient saris waiting to board the same airplane.

Suddenly I am overcome with a paralyzing fear of bald men doing a Hare Krishna in the aisles as they do Pooja right in front of pious passengers.

Then there is always the possibility of some wacko sadhu doing arti and causing a panic as his dhoti catches fire and not even his sterile holy urine is able to extinguish the flames of his premature funeral.

The worst fear is the prospect of a horny Hindu female dragging a dead horse through the aisle as she makes her way to the rear (of the aircraft). What if the horse comes alive at 30000 feet as she fulfills her nacro macro?

Now Chowk will surely ban me for sharing my innermost fears.

He has several articles published on some south asian websites.

This is the alpha and omega right here…nothing else matters.

You are of course absolutely correct. The real solution to this problem is a changing or evolution of human consciousness to a point where we can all see the world as one and thus unite. I’m actually not joking.

I often find myself reacting to the standard western refrain simply because it is so one-sided and it is what I hear the most. Therefore I try and present the counterpoint to that.

Ultimately though, perhaps Gandhi’s idea of being the change you wish to see in the world is the way to go. Perhaps we should all be working on ourselves a little more and pointing fingers at others a little less.

People do question such things. But the argument is always along the lines of “I am the victim, I am the underdog, I have the moral high ground, so shut up already”. In reality, no one has the moral high ground. Let us take Na’s casual reference “she’s probably an upper caste Hindu, and we know what they do to people” Well, I am an upper caste Hindu, and I thought to myself, “Muslims were a superpower in the middle ages, in the days of Akbar and Aurangazeb. They were mean to us Hindus. They will be mean to us again if they reinvent themselves, and become powerful once again. They already are mean to Hindus in Kashmir where they are a majority and in a position to enforce their will. Why shouldn’t we kill them all when we have a chance now?” You see, Na is afraid of me, an upper caste Hindu, and I am afraid of him, a Muslim. In the end, all these religious-political debates and wars are about our fears. By not addressing the fears, politicians, historians, columnists, and bloggers do us all a disservice.