Being a Hindu has nothing to do with whether you are born one or a practicing one or a mere appreciator of its tenets.

Being a Hindu has nothing to do with whether you are a man or a woman.

What it means to be a Hindu definitely will vary whether you are a Hindu from Kerala, TamilNadu, Karnataka, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa , West Bengal, Rajastan or Nepal or anywhere.

What it means to be a Hindu will definitely vary whether you are from the upper classes or lower classes and the window of Hinduism that was allowed for you over centuries.

The Festivals vary based on your caste, region and culture. The way the common festivals are celebrated too vary across cultures and geographies. The stories around popular festivals too vary based on where you come from. The same festival holds different significance for different regions. All of it is still under the definition of what it means to be a Hindu.

What it means to be a Hindu in different places will vary whether the local gods are worshiped, a variant of the popular practices are in vogue, or whether the popular more powerful brahminical practices are in power. The Hindu customs will vary based on so many things. Some festivals are purely vegetarian and still Hindu. Some festivals are non-vegetarian and still Hindu. Some festivals are open to all and still Hindu. Some festivals are very community or caste-specific and still Hindu. Some festivals are centered around Sanskrit and still Hindu. Some festivals and customs are local language specific and still Hindu.

The worshipers of the Shanmathas are still Hindu even if some of them do not see eye to eye.Followers of supposedly celibate male gods are Hindu and worshipers of the female forms are Hindu too. The followers of the Bhakti cult are Hindu and the rationalists and those who tread the path of Gnana Yoga are Hindus too. The extreme forms like the Aghoras come under the wing of Hinduism, animal sacrifices come under the fold of Hinduism, the extreme feasting and extreme fasting are cyclic and periodic and are also Hindu. Those who follow the lunar calendar are Hindus and those who follow the Solar calendar are Hindus too. There is a temple for Sita, Draupadi, Shakuni and Duryodhana equally as a simple stone under a tree can become a God. All nature worship is to be Hindu. To study the ultimate union of the male and female as equal and opposite is to be Hindu. To honor the arts and creativity is to be Hindu. To honour tools of the trade and skills is to be Hindu. To honour the female creative energy is to be Hindu. To question creation and its creator is to be Hindu. To honour the sustenance of the universe is to be Hindu. To comprehend cyclic destruction is to be Hindu. To honour transgenders and to acknowledge gender change is to be Hindu. To respect wealth and prosperity is to be Hindu. To be grateful with the food on one's plate is to be Hindu. To see mindfulness of the mind, spirit and body and align it to the cosmos is to be Hindu. To understand the science of sound, phonetics, vibrations and cosmic alignment is to be Hindu. To be in doubt amidst the decisions of life is to be Hindu. To see the Brahman within is to be a Hindu. To study the sun's transit is to be Hindu. To welcome spring is to be Hindu. To study Meta -physics and quantum physics to be Hindu. To breathe and study the breath is to be Hindu... To be an atheist and yet believe in the wisdom of the concepts of Hinduism is to be Hindu too. To believe in many worlds beyond is to be a Hindu. To believe that this world alone is real is to be Hindu too. One can go on...

To reduce this vast, vast ocean of collective thinking, practice and brilliance to become a tool of homogeneous manipulation and separation is pathetic to say the least. The responsibility of allowing that kind of power to anyone to foist a narrow definition what it takes to be a Hindu today lies with the Hindus alone. To be stupid is to have this vast brilliance and broad encompassing of many ways of life and living given on a platter to stupid politics or politicians. It is nothing short of the criminal. And, the crime lies not with politicians looking for tools to manipulate you but with the people alone in allowing such folks to become the voice, the face and the definers of what kind of a Hindu you ought to be. Stupidity collects its own numbers. To be a true Hindu is to not be stupid.

I am a Hindu. Just my kind of Hindu. I get to decide that. And, i don't wear it on my sleeve. So, you will never know what kind.

You can be whatever Hindu you want to be. There is no particular Hindu to be. That is the exact vast freedom, Hinduism gifts you.That is if you get it. Else, you are in a cage of your making and definition of what it is to be a Hindu, and not even Hinduism can save you from your prison. 

- SS

 [ 25/6/2018]