Have you read a remarkable book called "Baudolino" by Umberto Eco, the famous Italian author? The title is the name of the main character of the book. The story is based in the middle of the siege of Constantinople in the 13th century AD. It’s a remarkable book not only for the well researched erudite representation of History of but also for the clever characterization and superb meshing of fantasy, myth, science, psychology, not to mention cynical sprinkling of humor throughout.
It set me reading a bit about the people, culture and religious beliefs of the time. To our modern sensibilities, many of the actions of famous men and women of the times seem difficult to comprehend. I think there is one common theme running throughout the shaping and reshaping of Europe of those times. The theme is of intolerance and of brutality of punishment. Death by a hundred thousand methods of torture seems to be the favored method of discipline. The most powerful of the kings unabashedly and nonchalantly seem to promote such massacres. Intolerance specifically of religious beliefs was commonplace and wars were waged on the pretext of spreading "one true faith".
I read about another linked story of a Scholar of Mathematics and Philosophy, called "Hypatia". She was a Hellenic, Greek woman, considered in high esteem even by her detractors and was a teacher of Geometry, Algebra and Neoplatonistic philosophy to pupils of all faiths. She was killed in a hapless incident of mob violence, apparently incited out of jealousy of some of the Christian Jury in Alexandria. While this is not very unusual, I am deeply horrified and amazed at the brutality of the killing. According to various accounts of the incident, she was stopped on her way to work, dragged through the streets of Alexandria and stripped. Her flesh was scraped away with sharp tiles, dismembered and her still quivering body was set afire.
Nothing…nothing at all to my mind can explain such hatred for the life of a fellow human being, especially as the women had done nothing except lead a life of a brilliant scholar dedicated study and teaching. According to modern day scholars, her work on Apollonius’s "Conics" and higher order equations to bring about algebraic representation of Sections and Intersections of conics was invaluable. Her commentaries on Mathematics, Astronomy and Philosophy were destroyed by her detractors. The result of this mindless violence was that, 1600 years passed before any advancement could be made on the topics of her research – algebraic representation of conics, their sections and intersections. It set science and mankind behind by several centuries! Acts such as these were what plunged Europe into the “Dark Ages”.
When one researches a little on the most prosperous, the so called Golden Periods of the history of any nation, the opposite theme seems to emerge. The theme is of tolerance and respect. The hatred of women and learned people is conspicuous by absence. The greatest of kings are known for their promotion of religious harmony and treatment of all subjects with utmost respect. Even if there were incidents of the other kind, the perpetrators of these acts have been punished by History, by refusing to note their existence. Tolerance of variety, above everything else was the virtue displayed by the greatest rulers of those times.
It brings to my mind a story concerning the Maratha warrior King Chhatrapati Shivaji, the powerful ruler and founder of the Maratha Empire. This story is part of the folklore that has been sung ever since.
It says, after the siege of Kalyan, the King was offered the extremely beautiful daughter in law of the defeated Subedaar shah, by an uninformed captain. The king dazzled by her beauty addressed her thus "Had my mother been of such unparalleled beauty, I would have been a handsome man too". He sent the women back to her family unmolested and protected. The exact words uttered by the man are arguable, but the fact that the King respected and protected women is beyond doubt. Stories such as this, is what folklore in India is made of.
We may dismiss these tales today as being glorified, utopian or unpractical, but look closely, the age old wisdom and sheer practicality comes shining forth. Talking of Shivaji, one should note that about a third of his army consisted of non Hindus. Also a great many people’s livelihoods would be worsted in the continuous battles raged in the area potentially leading to unrest. His army was a fraction of the size of the powers he fought with. Unadulterated love and respect of all he commanded was crucial to his mission of nation building. Had he shown even slight disrespect to the holy places of other faiths or to any particular section of society, the nascent empire would have been aborted in the womb! No policy could have worked better than that of justice and high moral caliber.
It makes one appreciate how and why great men of the past protected and nourished diversity. But just one look around, and I feel the very fabric of our multicultural society coming apart.
From a people who passionately embraced every fresh thought, ideology, art, language, we are gradually turning into rigid communities; groups that seek to shut themselves in from the “others”. We are trying hard to believe that a monolithic society comprised of people “just like us” is the panacea for all that ails us today. We are at best indifferent to people who not “just like us”. But mostly we are not at our best! So we hate them… and hate them with a frenzy that would put the crusaders of the dark ages to shame. Not all of us take to the streets to kill and incinerate. We nevertheless secretly cheer the perpetrators as long as victims are from the other group. What has happened to us? How did such evil find its way among us? In spite of all our advancements and relative prosperity, have we lost practical wisdom?
We see four year olds rushing to our cars at every traffic signal, filthy and begging. We may throw a penny in their palms but we surely crinkle our noses at their approach as if they stink of poison. We won’t hesitate to slap our maid’s kid for stepping on a wet floor with his dirty feet. We hate the poor for “being there”, constant reminders of the reality that we are running away from.
We form regional groups at workplace, deride the others for their customs and make decisions favoring the ones from our caste, region, and religion. We hate them for being so different.
We biliously smell out nasty gossip about the rich and the famous, and gnaw on it, salivating…never for a minute thinking of the trauma we cause… We hate them for being so rich and famous… for not being just like us!
It scares me imagine how much resentment a billion people are building up in their hearts… each has his own favorite “hate group”. Yes, there is a lot to be unhappy about, lot of frustrations. But is a monolithic society the way out?
It is neither desirable nor possible to chisel out all from the same block. Hoping to achieve such an end can never bring a moment’s peace. Instead, if only we teach our minds to genuinely appreciate that there ARE other points of view, that there is no one “RIGHT” answers in life as there are in school, we would be full of wondrous discoveries every day. It is easy to hate when we don’t “know” those others… when we build walls around us to the high heavens. We need to open the doors and step out; not as wolves in a pack but as individuals. Then we can feel how we are like trees in a wood – all different in their own right, but all a part of the wood. The banyans and creepers are all there; each growing in their capacity, style, place… you can’t set fire to the wood and hope to burn out the creepers only…
We cannot wish those street children away… but it is possible to help them push the street life away. It is stupid to be in a global workplace and wish other cultures away, when there is so much to learn from each other…
It is possible to throw the filth and chaos around us away if we really want to… one act of faith at a time, one moment of consideration at a time, one “NO” to mindless violence at all times….our devices could be different, but the end must be common - dissolving those hate groups from our minds...
It set me reading a bit about the people, culture and religious beliefs of the time. To our modern sensibilities, many of the actions of famous men and women of the times seem difficult to comprehend. I think there is one common theme running throughout the shaping and reshaping of Europe of those times. The theme is of intolerance and of brutality of punishment. Death by a hundred thousand methods of torture seems to be the favored method of discipline. The most powerful of the kings unabashedly and nonchalantly seem to promote such massacres. Intolerance specifically of religious beliefs was commonplace and wars were waged on the pretext of spreading "one true faith".
I read about another linked story of a Scholar of Mathematics and Philosophy, called "Hypatia". She was a Hellenic, Greek woman, considered in high esteem even by her detractors and was a teacher of Geometry, Algebra and Neoplatonistic philosophy to pupils of all faiths. She was killed in a hapless incident of mob violence, apparently incited out of jealousy of some of the Christian Jury in Alexandria. While this is not very unusual, I am deeply horrified and amazed at the brutality of the killing. According to various accounts of the incident, she was stopped on her way to work, dragged through the streets of Alexandria and stripped. Her flesh was scraped away with sharp tiles, dismembered and her still quivering body was set afire.
Nothing…nothing at all to my mind can explain such hatred for the life of a fellow human being, especially as the women had done nothing except lead a life of a brilliant scholar dedicated study and teaching. According to modern day scholars, her work on Apollonius’s "Conics" and higher order equations to bring about algebraic representation of Sections and Intersections of conics was invaluable. Her commentaries on Mathematics, Astronomy and Philosophy were destroyed by her detractors. The result of this mindless violence was that, 1600 years passed before any advancement could be made on the topics of her research – algebraic representation of conics, their sections and intersections. It set science and mankind behind by several centuries! Acts such as these were what plunged Europe into the “Dark Ages”.
When one researches a little on the most prosperous, the so called Golden Periods of the history of any nation, the opposite theme seems to emerge. The theme is of tolerance and respect. The hatred of women and learned people is conspicuous by absence. The greatest of kings are known for their promotion of religious harmony and treatment of all subjects with utmost respect. Even if there were incidents of the other kind, the perpetrators of these acts have been punished by History, by refusing to note their existence. Tolerance of variety, above everything else was the virtue displayed by the greatest rulers of those times.
It brings to my mind a story concerning the Maratha warrior King Chhatrapati Shivaji, the powerful ruler and founder of the Maratha Empire. This story is part of the folklore that has been sung ever since.
It says, after the siege of Kalyan, the King was offered the extremely beautiful daughter in law of the defeated Subedaar shah, by an uninformed captain. The king dazzled by her beauty addressed her thus "Had my mother been of such unparalleled beauty, I would have been a handsome man too". He sent the women back to her family unmolested and protected. The exact words uttered by the man are arguable, but the fact that the King respected and protected women is beyond doubt. Stories such as this, is what folklore in India is made of.
We may dismiss these tales today as being glorified, utopian or unpractical, but look closely, the age old wisdom and sheer practicality comes shining forth. Talking of Shivaji, one should note that about a third of his army consisted of non Hindus. Also a great many people’s livelihoods would be worsted in the continuous battles raged in the area potentially leading to unrest. His army was a fraction of the size of the powers he fought with. Unadulterated love and respect of all he commanded was crucial to his mission of nation building. Had he shown even slight disrespect to the holy places of other faiths or to any particular section of society, the nascent empire would have been aborted in the womb! No policy could have worked better than that of justice and high moral caliber.
It makes one appreciate how and why great men of the past protected and nourished diversity. But just one look around, and I feel the very fabric of our multicultural society coming apart.
From a people who passionately embraced every fresh thought, ideology, art, language, we are gradually turning into rigid communities; groups that seek to shut themselves in from the “others”. We are trying hard to believe that a monolithic society comprised of people “just like us” is the panacea for all that ails us today. We are at best indifferent to people who not “just like us”. But mostly we are not at our best! So we hate them… and hate them with a frenzy that would put the crusaders of the dark ages to shame. Not all of us take to the streets to kill and incinerate. We nevertheless secretly cheer the perpetrators as long as victims are from the other group. What has happened to us? How did such evil find its way among us? In spite of all our advancements and relative prosperity, have we lost practical wisdom?
We see four year olds rushing to our cars at every traffic signal, filthy and begging. We may throw a penny in their palms but we surely crinkle our noses at their approach as if they stink of poison. We won’t hesitate to slap our maid’s kid for stepping on a wet floor with his dirty feet. We hate the poor for “being there”, constant reminders of the reality that we are running away from.
We form regional groups at workplace, deride the others for their customs and make decisions favoring the ones from our caste, region, and religion. We hate them for being so different.
We biliously smell out nasty gossip about the rich and the famous, and gnaw on it, salivating…never for a minute thinking of the trauma we cause… We hate them for being so rich and famous… for not being just like us!
It scares me imagine how much resentment a billion people are building up in their hearts… each has his own favorite “hate group”. Yes, there is a lot to be unhappy about, lot of frustrations. But is a monolithic society the way out?
It is neither desirable nor possible to chisel out all from the same block. Hoping to achieve such an end can never bring a moment’s peace. Instead, if only we teach our minds to genuinely appreciate that there ARE other points of view, that there is no one “RIGHT” answers in life as there are in school, we would be full of wondrous discoveries every day. It is easy to hate when we don’t “know” those others… when we build walls around us to the high heavens. We need to open the doors and step out; not as wolves in a pack but as individuals. Then we can feel how we are like trees in a wood – all different in their own right, but all a part of the wood. The banyans and creepers are all there; each growing in their capacity, style, place… you can’t set fire to the wood and hope to burn out the creepers only…
We cannot wish those street children away… but it is possible to help them push the street life away. It is stupid to be in a global workplace and wish other cultures away, when there is so much to learn from each other…
It is possible to throw the filth and chaos around us away if we really want to… one act of faith at a time, one moment of consideration at a time, one “NO” to mindless violence at all times….our devices could be different, but the end must be common - dissolving those hate groups from our minds...
