While at Chennai, every morning I took off to the nearby Panagal Park, typically between 5:10 and 5:20 in the morning. Yes, being on vacation doesn't mean that I sleep any much more than during regular days. In fact, according to this research report, going significantly off the workday schedules can create something like a jet-lag effect when the weekend or vacation gets over.
So, an easy five minutes after leaving my parents' home, I reach the park. Without fail, every single day, the park was far from quiet that early in the morning--the loudspeakers in the park blared out music. Hindu spiritual music, that is.
And only Hindu spiritual music. Nothing Islamic, or Christian. Only Hindu.
Panagal Park is no private space either--it is owned and maintained by the Corporation of Chennai. Yet, music of the majority religion was always played there, by the corporation itself!
I worry that this is merely yet another, and recent, example of the lack of a wall separating religion and government in India. It is even odder that it should be the case in Chennai, given the land's political history of anti-religion and atheism.
When I casually mentioned this, the response was that I could shut myself off by using an iPod/earbuds. There was no way I was going to argue about individual freedoms, the role of the state, and the state not favoring any religion.
As we got closer and closer to Christmas, I wondered whether I would get to listen to at least one or two seasonal tunes.
Artisanal was what I was looking for, but, much to my disappointment, mass-produced industrial varieties were the ones the neighborhood bakeries carried. Perhaps I was looking at the wrong places.
Finally, I bought one, which was not all that great to look at, from Hot Breads. It was not that exciting to taste either.
It was Christmas eve. As I left home for the walk, I thought perhaps I might hear a Christmas jingle or two. But, I had overestimated the conditions. The same old Hindu spiritual music greeted me as I neared the park. And the same old music throughout the entire hour.
Christmas day arrived. Surely, there would be a break from the Hindu music, was my thought. I suppose I never learn!
When in India, I rarely ever talk religion or politics, lest I offend the people there. I wish I freely could. Do religious minorities feel they are equals when there appears to be an overwhelming Hindu culture, even at a public park in the morning hours? Will Hindus, for example, accept loudspeakers blaring Islamic or Christian spiritual music at public parks? Is there any movement at all to ban religion at publicly owned facilities? Should I dare to engage people in these topics the next time I am in India, or merely be a passive observer? Am I being too much of a wuss under the guise of not interfering with local practices?
Crap, if only I weren't so pedantic!
1 comment:
Ahh; welcome back to blogosphere. We can't do without our daily dose of "kheisms: :)
You landed right into the middle of marghazhi - so inevitable that the din of loudspeakers hit you. No its not Hindu only - in Muslim localities the daily azan is an assault on the ears, especially as rendered by musically challenged imams. In Bangalore, there is Christian festival - I have forgotten which - which involves complete cacophony in a certain locality. Alas, rendering people deaf seems to be a prime objective of all religions.
There is little Hinduist about this, although because of sheer numbers you would see a lot more Hindu manifestations of it. Every religion competes with every other to put up a public orgy - processions, noise, occupying the middle of the road, insisting that everybody else is heathen, ...... The more public religion gets, the more awful it becomes.
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