I had an interesting coincidence of reading the Taittireeya Upanishad and having unrelated dialogues with my monotheistic (namely Muslim, Christian etc.) friends, which results in to this note.

We Hindus, while forming exclusive and often overlapping fan clubs of our favorite gods, are different from the staunch and disciplined monotheistic fan clubs, which tolerate or forgive no such nonsense. While retaining our right to remember one, two or many deities at the time of celebration or tragedy, at heart we know that ‘sab ka malik ek’. However, our light hearted approach to our saviors appears to be conflicting to Non Hindus and often confusing to us Hindus, too.

One of my monotheistic friends told me that she believed that Vedic philosophy propagates monotheism i.e. belief in a single God. I said I couldn’t agree more.

Physicists tell us that the universe was created after the gases came together under heavy pressure and exploded in a big bang. Physical elements, mostly liquids hurling all around formed stars, planets and other astral objects that is our universe today. While life as biologically defined exists on earth as perhaps well as on some other planets, if self-vibrating atoms and airwaves are to be defined as alive then it pervades the whole universe.

What physicists seem to be telling us is that there is ONE single life force to the universe. In my view these physicists are scientifically monotheistic. They do not believe in multiple independent sources of energy driving the universe.

What do Vedas and Upanishads tell us? Let’s just take the example of Taittireeya Upanishad. It talks about brahme. In Sanskrit, it is ‘brahma’ where the end of the word is to be pronounced like in German words such as ‘Bayerische’ or ‘Porsche’, so I am changing the spelling to avoid confusing it with ‘Brahma’ the Lord.

Brahme is the name given to the pacific life force that was (and is) shapeless, nameless, indescribable, unclothed and without any physical features. It ‘decided’ to become many from ONE. The ‘sleeping’energy thus first took the form of space, then air, then fire, water and solid matter. Then brahme the energy continued to live within the physical manifestation – the universe including its life forms and objects made of vibrating atoms.

How interestingly this matches with the scientific explanations! Gases could not have existed without the space mentioned in the Upanishad, and the rest of the story from the big bang (fire) onwards is visibly fitting the Upanishad proposal.

Indian wisdom or sciences (literally the Vedas) have been studied in great detail by Western academics and scientists for centuries. Max Mueller and others used the term ‘monism’,not ‘monotheism’ to describe the Vedic thought of oneness. Monism consists of the argument that everything that we know today as well as that, which our ever expanding science is finding in the universe, is integral and inseparable part of brahme and hence we all are intertwined and interconnected. Conversely brahme resides in all of us, in animals, plants, rock, plastic, waste etc etc.

Monotheism is different thanfrom monism because it argues that God is different from humans and other matter. God is the creator, supervisor, blesser and punisher. He has to be different in order to effectively run the show. He is akin to an all powerful father or a king or a superman. He is not human but is given to being understood by humans. I think there is an emotional element to this argument. Kids always indulge in oversleeping, overeating, writing on newly painted walls etc because they know the all powerful mom and dad will take care of their mess, even if sometimes slapping them, only to love them more finally.
Acharya Rajneesh, as he was known before he became Osho, used to say something to the effect that all paths of understanding the universe and your place in it could finally be classified in to two – the path of emotion and the path of wisdom. He would have described monotheism, traditional Hinduism etc. as the paths of emotion, submission, devotion – the Bhakti or Prema Marga.

The path shown by the rishis of Upanishad and Veda and the physicists as well as the paths of Buddha and Mahavir who do not speak about God and his role – are the paths of rationale, science and logic. Brahme is no loving father, nor does it punish. It is not visible, fathomable except through the big bang and its aftermath. Rajneesh would call this Jnana Marga – the path of knowledge and wisdom.

To each her own !

e.mail : chetans@bankmuscat.com.sa

I am somehow feeling very foolish about the on-going media frenzy and public debate about BCCI chief N Srinivasan’s much demanded resignation. The unborn resignation is somewhat like a truant and overdue child birth that pains the expectant woman and possesses the nervous attention of her husband. The foolish thing is that my physical and electronic neighbourhood looks like a billion blood-vessel-bursting husbands panicking over an overrated soon-to-be born resignation.

Talking about my close companions, my educated and professionally successful friends – it is important to indicate that they are intelligent and practical – have declared that they will not watch any Indian cricket under the auspices of BCCI until the BCCI rot gets stemmed, starting with the process’ biggest milestone – Srinivasan’s resignation.

‘Srinivasan’s Resignation’ could be a nice Shakespearean tragi-comedy with some of the bard’s wit and wisdom woven into the narrative, but presently it does not qualify to become even a ‘Bhejafry 3’ hence I refuse to be its excited audience. I will continue to watch every game of cricket that attracts me.

Let me present here some arguments to establish that the importance of Srinivasan’s resignation is bogus and it makes us forget more urgent things.

Our Obsession with Symbolism. We Indians love symbols – and our love is beyond logic. A railway accident on India’s century old creaking and unmaintained tracks must get the sacrifice of the railway minister who has been in office for merely a couple of years! After a certain brutal rape, one in many hundreds over years, protesters demand the resignation of the police commissioner. Do not mistake me to be dismissive of the lost lives or the sufferings of the victims of inhumanity. But do try to understand that a sick society that we have become can only produce a new railway minister and a new police commissioner who are as imperfect as those who resigned. People talk about surgical treatment of governing bodies and I fully agree that the faulty ones need to be surgically removed, but let us be gripped with removing the source, not only the manifestation of cancer. Symbolism only satisfies a momentary surge of sentiments.

The Raktabija Phenomenon. This leads from the symbolism argument. In Sanskrit, rakta stands for blood and bija for seed. Raktabija was a demon who had the ability of producing thousands of clones as soon as a drop of his blood, upon being wounded by an enemy, touched the ground. Thus his sinful excesses were endlessly perpetuated, much beyond the control of gods as any attempt to kill him would result in the drops of his blood producing many more Raktabijas. In the mythology of Indian cricket, BCCI is that Raktabija, out of control of its key stakeholders – the Indian cricket lovers, the Indian government and ICC. I include the Indian government here because BCCI’s cricketers wear the national cap. Srinivasan is just a clone of a system which is unregulated and all powerful. If we get rid of one Srinivasan, what we get is a Dalmiya. We either get a crony of this camp or that camp. By all means, do get rid of Srinivasan on the ground of conflict of interest as BCCI chief cum IPL team owner or for having an unindicted match fixer as son in law, but don’t be a sucker to believe that he will be replaced by a well-meaning leader. The BCCI environment has been designed to accept power brokers, not cricketing leaders, as its chief. If you want to rid the world of BCCI the demon, killing its clones like Srinivasan may not even be a temporary solution.

The Mahakali Paradigm. Finally the Raktabija was killed by the Goddess Mahakali. Since every drop of Raktabija’s blood was capable of producing his clone, someone had to change the paradigm of battling him with a sword. As the story goes, Mahakali raised him high in the air and tore him into two, drinking every spout, every drop of his blood until the last drop. (Sorry for the gory details!) Not a drop reached the ground and no clone was produced. We need to change the rules of BCCI’s game. I suggest the following schema for a new, potentially honest and efficient BCCI.

Corporate avatar : BCCI to be reformatted as a limited liability company under the Indian company law. It will therefore have articles and memorandum of association, with ethical development and regulation of cricket and well-being of cricketers and their audience as its main motto. It will be registered with the Registrar of Companies and accordingly its charter documents will be open to public scrutiny and capable of being changed for the better.

Public participation : BCCI to have equity shareholding like any other public company. No single shareholder to be allowed to hold more than 5% equity, just like it is for banks in most countries. The President of India to hold 5% shares and the rest to be sold – through an IPO – to general public investors and other sporting bodies resulting in a company with widely held public ownership. The company should be listed on the national stock exchanges. 

Tax-paying entity : BCCI, like any other corporate entity, shall be liable to income tax, service tax, VAT and so on. BCCI accounts to be audited and published every quarter the way it happens for all listed companies. Provisions relating to internal audit and statutory audit to apply under the company law.

Board of directors : The BCCI board could consist of a suitable number, say 9 directors. The President of India, acting through the Ministry of Sports, to nominate one director, the rest to be appointed by shareholder vote as in any other public company. At least 4 directors to be retired cricketers who played for India. In order to promote non- partisan and ethical development of the game of cricket, active politicians, persons defending lawsuits for financial fraud or criminal offence, employees of a state government or Central Government shall be disqualified from becoming board directors. (I might sound a bit like Arvind Kejriwal, so be it!) 

Corporate management : BCCI shall be managed by a regular corporate structure of a CEO reporting to the board, various function heads and staff supported by proper qualifications and experience.

Disclosures and transparency : Indian listed companies are governed by disclosure norms under extensive regulatory framework such as Securities and Exchange Board of India and its regulations, the National /Bombay Stock Exchange and their listing agreements, the Income Tax Act and rules, the Companies Act and so on. This framework is strong enough to materially improve BCCI’s workings from their current levels.

ICICI Bank and home loan company HDFC come to my mind as successful and mostly clean behemoths having started as government supported but private in nature institutions and BCCI could learn from them to replicate their clean management, nurturing of world class talent and profitable but ethical functioning.

I can imagine several arguments that can be raised against the framework I am suggesting. Such arguments are welcome. Such debates are much better than debating a resignation. All I want is to convince my friends that we indeed need to reinvent the BCCI – body, mind and spirit. We will all feel a lot less clownish if we can move from pulling down Srinivasan to razing down BCCI to rebuild it for the modern times. It has long outlived its life as a 1930s cosy club of princelings and petty officers with spare time.

My 14-year old international-school going daughter's campus ecology consists of mostly Western teachers, Western syllabus and books, Western outlook and students of truly global backgrounds. A few times in her few years at the school, her Arab and Pakistani classmates, who are often 'best friends' otherwise, have asked her with a smirk, “Do you worship cows?” They did not need an answer.

Finally she confided in me when it happened the last time. I spoke to her in detail about the relevance of animals and plants in the Eastern wisdom and culture, and how they connect with the modern ecology concepts like carbon footprint, global warming, and organizations like PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals).  She debated with me about the concept of God and religion in the Abrahamic traditions as compared to the Eastern traditions. I nudged her to accept only those parts of religion which appealed to her intellect, leaving nothing to faith or Dad says so. She was free to choose from God and no-God. She made her decision, with a right to update and revise it as her experiences grew.

However, this is not about my daughter. This is about how human beings have been trained to look at this varied universe through their narrow vision. The unspoken culture is that everything different from my way must be wrong! Everyone different from me must be ignorant!

The universe has been created and it is still growing with abundance of hues, features and visions. It was not meant to be monolithic, for if it was, then it would have been created so. There should not have been millions of species of life form, different skin colours and different molecules, planets and gases, different languages, food habits, arts and civilizations.

Why do not we accept that our interpretation of the universe is as narrow as the view of a mountain peak from one lowly corner? Why do not we try understanding what is foreign to us? Why do we presume foreign wisdom to be in the need of guidance of our own  preconceived right path? Why do not we challenge and energise our own wisdom and beliefs?

Why do not we approach the universe like a baby who is curious to crawl, walk, taste and touch everything with the benefit of prior ignorance rather than the burden of inherited belief? 

Why do not we start learning from zero base !