Prime Minister Narendra Modi is so creative as a politician come election time. Last time general elections were held in 2019, he went to Dhyaan Kutia cave in the Himalaya ranges of Kedarnath and sat there in “dhyaana” pose, Buddha-like pictures of which went viral right across the media space , within and outside India.
This time in 2024 on the eve of 2024 general elections, he’s done even better : it’s a sub-oceanic meditative pose at Dwaraka. 🧘♂️! And the media , print, electronic and social, are all going virally gaga over it. Watch and enjoy the YouTube video below !
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Modi’s public exhibition of his religiosity is so very infectious. Hindus across the nation watch their popular leader wearing his faith on his sleeve and they too feel encouraged to enthusiastically take a cue from him. The old adage “yatha raaja thathaa prajaa” is now suddenly so relevant in this context — as the ruler behaves so will the subjects imitate him !
After the consecration of the new Ram Mandir at Ayodhya held on January 22, 2024 — an event in which PM Modi turned out to be as much of the cynosure in the eye of the national media as Ram Lalla deity himself — a great wave of religious fervour, frenzied almost, seems to have descended upon the country and enveloped the hearts of millions of Hindus. This became evident to me on social media in the last couple of weeks as I watched several widely forwarded WhatsApp video-clips of large groups of Ram Bhakth passengers at Chennai railway station and Bangalore airport, waiting to board train or flight, suddenly take time out to break into impromptu “mob flash-dance”, with a lot of foot-tapping and grooving to loud Ram bhajans and religious ditties. Watch these clips below as examples:
And watch this other one below too where a bunch of young ladies seized by religious fervour are setting the Bangalore airport passenger waiting-lounge on fire by exuberant exhibition of Ram-Bhakthi.
There should be no doubt at all therefore the old saying “yatha raaja thathaa prajaa” is so true today! If pics of a Prime Minister’s scuba-diving “dhyana” can send Hindus into religious delirium, then “praja” must join the party too? “Flash-mob dancing” on a railway station platform is the poor man’s equivalent of “scuba-dhyaana”, no?
Not all Hindus however are impressed by the PM’s ostentatious religiosity.
A friend said to me: “I think this man seeks too much publicity. What was the need for him to go deep down the sea with all that fancy diving-gear & two helpers tagging along too and a videographer to film all of it in real time?! Too much drama baazi this our Honb’le PM creates! It sometimes makes him look a little cheap. I totally hate all this publicity-seeking overdrive. Where is his humility gone?! Could a common man ever be able to afford all this “scuba-Dhyaana” drama? Really sad …and this constant show of Bollywood-style religiosity must be putting off a lot of people. Me for one, certainly.”
To which I replied:
“If you ask me Ostentatious Religiosity is a mild or benign kind of mental sickness — it’s still a sickness, though, a religious kink perhaps — that we Hindus seem to have been afflicted with. It’s cause? A general resugence in our country of rising Hindu pride in the last 10 years of the BJP rule spreading across many states of India, all climaxing on January 22, 2024 with the “prana pratishtan” of Bhagavan Ram Lalla.
Psychologically, it seems to me like a new kind of “discovery of India” syndrome for even ordinary Hindus. It has become a popular kind of “kick” , “instant thrill” for the young and “free spirited” who have suddenly found it is all “ so cool”! It feels good and there is heightened excitement, after all, in religiosity too.
Well, it certainly is “so cool” but the excitement is of the same kind that this young girl seems to have wanted in doing what she did : doing brave, joy-filled dance moves on a railway track while the train went hurtling by! Watch this chilling video-clip of a young girl creating an instagram dance reel next to railway tracks that is going viral even today !
http://dhunt.in/T64Ef
Mob-flash dancing out of religious fervour on railway platforms and in the airport waiting lounges is now “cool” and “exciting too” especially if caught on a selfie photo or a video posted on Instagram, Facebook , X or WhatsApp. It’s a heady intoxication. It’s irrational exuberance perhaps if you don’t like to call it “ostentatious religiosity”.
It’s perfectly understandable that for the Hindus of India the time has now certainly come… after 1000 years of physical, political, economic, intellectual and cultural slavery in history … to start taking a bit of assertive pride in their Hindu identity. Most of us agree with and respect that sentiment but it’s the loud and public exhibition of it that some of us, like yours truly, feel uncomfortable with.
Public space in India is, we all know only too well, an already “overcrowded barracoon”, to borrow the writer V.S. Naipaul’s phrase. Why then make the “barracoon” even more stuffy, and unbearably claustrophobic? Shouldn’t railway stations, train compartments, bus termini, airport waiting lounges, parks, malls etc. —- all best be left to the public to use quietly without experiencing any more inconvenience and more noisy fuss than there already is?
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A lot of people however disagree with me.
One friend argued with me vehemently defending Modi-inspired “flash dances” for Hindu Pride and Ram-Bhakthi on railstation platforms. The argument goes like this:
“Why dont you just leave it to individuals? if they are comfortable with it, let them go with a bit of spontaneous happy dancing / singing. Why should become an issue for so-called sophisticated Hindus, like you? Why are Hindus of your type such uptight spoil-sports? Isn’t it all just like a group of children going on a picnic and starting to dance, sing and show emotion publicly? Isn’t it joie de vivre? Why must adults too , out of sheer joyful emotion, not have equal rights as children to celebrate? Why should anyone else decide what kind of fun adults should have or should not have as pure, plain fun? The “kummi dance” you saw on the railway platform form is the most traditional in Tamil Nadu; its folksy exuberance. It needs no classcial choreography etc.. And for all you know, those dancing ladies may have planned to perform it in Ayodhya too! It’s just an exhilarating feeling that is today overwhelming Hindus who at last have started feeling free to express themselves in ways they want to in their own land! Why grudge them the freedom to finding their voice at last? It’s harmless. You perhaps may wrinkle your nose at expressions of feelings in public… But who are you to sit in judgement over others, telling them what is right or wrong?”
Well, it is not my intention to sit in judgment of people’s behaviour in public, but to me, from what I’ve seen in the video-clips of excited women dancing in the airport at Bangalore and the railway platform at Chennai Central, the “ostentatious religiosity” on display is about only as “spontaneous” as PM Modi’s own deep-sea “scuba dhyaana” was ….
Another friend said to me mockingly, “What’s wrong with Hindus types like you ?! Can’t you for once get off your “sophisticated hoity-toity high-horse” and celebrate the moment ?! Why can’t you say “Woww! Great! Fab” etc. and applaud in the same way you do when you see video-clips of happy flash-mobs dancers, say, in an underground tube-station in London or at Madison Square New York?”
My reply to the friend was in the form of a counter question:
“We’re talking of religious spectacle in public space … Tell me, would you be saying all the same things you’re telling me now if 200 hundred Muslims were to gather and do their namaaz on platform no. 5 at Chennai Central station? Or, a 100 Christian faithfuls knelt on the floor and began singing loud psalms at an impromptu Sunday Mass ceremony inside Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport?”
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Ostentatious Religiosity inside places of worship, or in places specially designated for worship, are perfectly understandable and in fact would be greatly in order. Outside in public spaces however Ostentatious Religiosity only descends into Ostentation and Religiosity takes a back seat. It doesn’t really matter which Religion it is : Amongst other religious groups in India too Ostentatious Religiosity is indeed very common amongst the faithful . The most glaring symbols of such ostentation we all see are the cone loudspeaker, the garish neon-lighting, the huge flex cutouts or billboards, and all the litter and trash left behind on the streets after a great religious procession has gone past ….
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Religious Faith moves mountains. Faith also inspires behaviour. And our PM Modi is a man of great faith. He is entitled to practice his Hindu faith in ways he chooses to. Nobody has any business really to sit in judgment on why his faith should move Modi-ji to behave in ways that seem rather unusual … such as going off to a mountain cave in Kedarnath to sit in meditation or don expensive scuba-gear and go deep-diving under the ocean at Dwaraka to perform “jala dhyaana” … and come out taking selfies of such behaviour or being videographed and then having pictures posted, or rather, plastered virally all over social media and the press .
The problem with Modi-ji’s Ostentatious Religiosity is that it tends to become a shining exemplar… a counter-intuitive exposition of yathaa raaja thatthaa prajaa…
Modi-Ji’s behaviour only reaffirms in the public mind that image of the slick politician in pursuit of votes wearing the Muslim skull cap for the occasion, visiting a nearby famous Dargah and genuflecting before a grave , commensality at an Iftar party during Ramadan; or yes, seeking votes too in Christian dominant districts and constituencies in India (eg Kerala , Goa or North East) by making a well-publicised appearance at community Mass and the Sunday Sermon, or presiding over a Bible-reading or Psalm-singing choir event, or showing up at Good Samaritan soup-kitchen specially set up for a show of Christian charity…
The religiosity of the Prime Minister of India may well be an exemplary act of faith. But then because he chooses to be so ostentatious about it, it actually turns out instead to be … quite unfortunately… toxic. And why? Because it comes across as nothing but manipulative deliberate , calculative and pretentious election time charm-offensive.
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Narendra Modi-ji is a man of superlative qualities of head and heart. Like many millions of Hindus, I admire him. He is in many respects a “maha purush” of the modern day.
He is an exceptional man and the deeds of exceptional men cannot be judged lightly for two specific reasons both of which have been adduced for us by another “maha purush” immeasurably more exalted than Modi-ji . I’m talking of Bhagwan Sri Krishna’s avatar who spake thus in the Bhagavath -Gita.
In the first instance, Sri Krishna in his own very carefully chosen words spelt out the real significance of the saying , yathaa raaja thatthaa praja ….. !
Here is what Krishna said :
लोकसंग्रहमेवापि सम्पश्यन्कर्तुमर्हसि || 3.20||
loka-saṅgraham evāpi sampaśhyan kartum arhasi
यद्यदाचरति श्रेष्ठस्तत्तदेवेतरो जन: |
स यत्प्रमाणं कुरुते लोकस्तदनुवर्तते || 3. 21||
yad yad ācharati śhreṣhṭhas tat tad evetaro janaḥ
sa yat pramāṇaṁ kurute lokas tad anuvartate
You should perform your duties (as a leader or ruler) to set an example for the good of the world. Whatever actions great persons perform, common people follow. Whatever standards they set, all the world pursues.
In the second instance, in his own carefully crafted words, he warned us about the toxicity latent in Ostentatious Religiosity:
आत्मसम्भाविता: स्तब्धा धनमानमदान्विता: |
यजन्ते नामयज्ञैस्ते दम्भेनाविधिपूर्वकम् || 16.17||
ātma-sambhāvitāḥ stabdhā dhana-māna-madānvitāḥ
yajante nāma-yajñais te dambhenāvidhi-pūrvakam
Self-conceited and stubborn-minded people, filled with self-pride and arrogance in their wealth (or power) , perform ostentatious sacrifices in name only, with no regard to the rules or spirit of the scriptures.
In other words, Krishna through the Shloka conveys subtly that even the most virtuous amongst people sometimes make a travesty of religiosity. They go about doing grandiose ritualistic ceremonies so as to look pious in the public eye. But they do not adhere to the injunctions of the scriptures, and instead perform religious acts with barely concealed intent for personal advertisement and pretentious display.
Such people think that they are the greatest, perfect, and most privileged and what they think and imagine and do is the law and virtue. There is no law or authority which thus can bind them. Even in spiritual and religious activities, they do things as per their whims and pleasure. They do everything only for one purpose, and that is Self Aggrandizement. The injunction of the scriptures however is clearly the very opposite :
gūhitasya bhaved vṛiddhiḥ kīrtitasya bhavet kṣhayaḥ. (Mahabharat) [v11]
“If we advertise a good deed we have done, its merit decreases; if we keep it secret, its merit multiplies.”
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Not only PM Modi-ji, but all politicians in India who belong to the Hindu faith, ought to be mindful of the above 2 Shlokas of the Bhagavath-Gita.
Ostentatious Religiosity has really no place in Hinduism.
Sudarshan Madabushi