Self Loathing
It's been a while since I read an essay this length with attention and interest. There is a lot here that I agree with but some arguments do not hold as much water. That said, the central thesis is spot on:
Rather than viewing India in terms of (Western) Left versus Right, it’s better to understand India’s political struggle as gravitational – between centripetal forces that pull India towards a civilizational core versus centrifugal forces that push India towards its diverse and sometimes isolated expressions.
The centripetal side believes India’s unity rests on Dharma – the ancient, elastic idea that has bound its many peoples for millennia. The centrifugal side comprises those who either shrink into parochial identities of caste and language or look outward to ideologies imported from elsewhere, whether from the Middle East or the West. One side emphasizes the whole; the other, the parts.
The centrifugal section of this tension then produces an intelligentsia that grows nauseous of the ideas of Hinduism and even India itself. Instead, this block attaches primacy to things like caste, (non-Hindu) religion, linguistic identity, or superfluous class markers such as how one speaks English, what shows one prefers on Netflix, or who can produce the least catastrophic Indian variant of pasta (no doubt still overcooked and over-sauced). They curse fate for birthing them as an Indian.
It was towards the end of my high school years that Hindutva became a thing to talk about in casual conversation. Such was the political climate of the times. Mild mannered folks started to have strong and often uncomfortable opinions. Previously they might have kept their thoughts to themselves but it was now open season. It was around the same time the contingent of self-loathers started to grow. Nature seeks balance and so it stands to reason that no one side has a had decisive win so far.
Rather than viewing India in terms of (Western) Left versus Right, it’s better to understand India’s political struggle as gravitational – between centripetal forces that pull India towards a civilizational core versus centrifugal forces that push India towards its diverse and sometimes isolated expressions.
The centripetal side believes India’s unity rests on Dharma – the ancient, elastic idea that has bound its many peoples for millennia. The centrifugal side comprises those who either shrink into parochial identities of caste and language or look outward to ideologies imported from elsewhere, whether from the Middle East or the West. One side emphasizes the whole; the other, the parts.
The centrifugal section of this tension then produces an intelligentsia that grows nauseous of the ideas of Hinduism and even India itself. Instead, this block attaches primacy to things like caste, (non-Hindu) religion, linguistic identity, or superfluous class markers such as how one speaks English, what shows one prefers on Netflix, or who can produce the least catastrophic Indian variant of pasta (no doubt still overcooked and over-sauced). They curse fate for birthing them as an Indian.
It was towards the end of my high school years that Hindutva became a thing to talk about in casual conversation. Such was the political climate of the times. Mild mannered folks started to have strong and often uncomfortable opinions. Previously they might have kept their thoughts to themselves but it was now open season. It was around the same time the contingent of self-loathers started to grow. Nature seeks balance and so it stands to reason that no one side has a had decisive win so far.