The end of Hinduism

‘Tum Hindu hoke beef khata hai’ I have often been asked by my very proud upper caste Hindu friends while in Bihar.
I used to tell them that I eat it because I really like the taste, especially if it is made in the Malayali style. There is this small shanty mess- Chandrans- in the slums close to the international airport where it is made quite superbly. Another one is Nityanand restaurant in the market close to PWD colony in Andheri. I’m sure there are several other Malayali joints where they make good beef but not being a culinary expert of any standard I’m unaware of them.
The problem is Hinduism is now restricted to nonsense like this. Growing up in Bihar, the Tulsidas Ramcharitamanas style of Hinduism is all around you, especially if you live in a place like I did dominated by upper caste Hindus- the Singhs, Tiwaris, Mishras, Jhas and the Kayasthas. To put it lightly it is nauseating.
The brand of Hinduism these people sported mainly included reading the Hanuman Chalisa, with which I do not have any problem with, and then not having alcohol or meat or certain types of foodstuff on certain days.
Oh today is Saturday, oh today is Tuesday, today is this fast, tomorrow is that fast.
And followers of this brand of Hinduism always start off their religious boasts by saying ‘hum logo mein’ which is an indirect reference to the elevated positions of their castes in the Hindu social hierarchy.
In a place where tribals were a dime a dozen, this ‘hum logo mein’ always brought about a sad pained expression on the face of these tribals, most of them just the first generation into the mainstream. Most of them from houses where the father/grandfather probably cleaned the gutter lines and sewage pits till subsidized education gave them wings to dream dreams for their children.
The problem is for a lot of us Hindus, it is all this nonsense that makes us feel Hindus.
The rapid way the religion is shrinking in this nation, I’m surprised Hindus are busy abstaining from beef and good food on certain days rather than making full use of the time left. We are all probably the last or maybe the second last generation who will follow this religion, as we know it now. The Ramcharitamanas style Hinduism, where Ramchandra is the Raghuvanshi upper caste king and Raavan at most a crazed Dravidian king who you can substitute for a demon if you care. All the others of course remain monkeys.
The Jains have walked out, the Sikhs have walked out, and one of the biggest mass movements slowly going on without many realizing is the preparation for the Dalits to walk out.
In Tamil Nadu the movement has become a wildfire. The state is seeing Dalits embrace Christianity by the truckloads. Have you ever noticed posters across the length and breadth of Mumbai of Prayer Festivals and Jesus Calls with reverend this Kumar or Brother that Kumar holding fort. The vast vast majority who attend these festivals are one time Hindus who disgusted and pained by the upper caste Hindus not allowing them to enter temples decided to make their way to the nearest church.
In a very moneyed Muslim organisation centered in Dongri and which follows the hardline Wahabbi sect, I have seen scholars and students in long beards sit for hours with books in a well stacked library trying to drive the final cut in the heart of the Hinduism most of my friends follow. These books are all by Dalit authors, painstakingly detailed about the insults Hinduism heaped on them, and how moving away from the shackles of upper caste dominated Hinduism is the only way. A lot many of the books they read are by Babasaheb Ambedkar.
In Tamil Nadu the police recently had to open fire at an upper caste crowd after they disallowed Dalits from entering a 100-year old temple. Something like this happened in the early 80s in Tamil Nadu’s Meenakshipuram district. The Dalits converted to Islam and made life hell for the Hindus left in that village.
As India progresses and the opportunities of getting rich become better but more concentrated, caste aspirations will once again raise their heads. All it would take is a charismatic leader to lead away a large section of a certain caste to break away and then barter its voting power for reservations in jobs and education.
And we all know that when it comes to riches, social standing can go to hell. Just look at how some groups in Rajasthan- till a generation ago proud and fierce warriors who passed themselves off as Rajputs- are today demanding Scheduled Tribe status so that their children get a easier way to that pot of gold collectively belonging to all of India.
Ambedkar did it with Dalits and Buddhism but the great visionary was left helpless at a time when the means of communication was obsolete. With the bigger but definitely not better media today, a man like Ambedkar could run through all our notions of Hinduism like a hot knife through butter.
It happened once. It could happen in a larger scale. And that would be the end for Hindus. If you look around and see the obnoxious charade of cultural arrogance and selfishness that passes off as Hinduism and of course the sheer stupidity all Hindus possess, some might say the end of Hinduism might be good riddance to bad rubbish.