REL 201

It was a long cherished dream for me to have a formal academic study of Religion as a subject and finally I got a chance this semester here in Greenville Tech. Not surprisingly at all, the textbook starts with Hinduism (well the the western authors can't get the difference between religion and dharma) followed by chapters on Jainism, Sikhism and Buddhism (another fallacy that they fail to see it that these 3 varied sects are somewhere a branch of Sanatana dharma i.e. Hinduism). The question arises why so? Because, the textbook authors for the book have all been western researchers with no Indian author being included on 2 chapters of Hinduism considered by the text as the oldest religion in the world!

As the class went on I felt like a proud Hindu as Hinduism had the origins of not just Secularism but also Democracy as it was so much more decentralized than any "ism" has been. At one stage in the class, there was reference to Bhagwad Gita and our Instructor asked all the students (read American) to read the Gita. Also, we were shown a documentary on Gita. It was a film done with Chinese actors. 

These experiences made me realize that in spite if being the oldest, richest civilzation we have hardly take pride in our rich heritage. Firstly under the excuse of secularism we do not have an academic study of the Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, Ramayan, Mahabharata and Gita which the American students of the class are doing and Secondly, I also felt pity on ourselves not doing enough documentation on our civilization. The Chinese Gita version was stupid and people were making fun of it. The costumes weren't ancient but medieval.

  I mean the whole thing was non sensical. It was then I went back to youtube and got the old B R Chopra's Mahabharat and showed to them but the nearly 2 deacde old one has to be repolished with today's technology and the film industry and the Govt of India along with the Indian inc. to come out with Mahabharat and Ramayan (not the Ekta Kapoor one, please!) which not only can be nurtured by the future generations but will also act as a window towards Indian civilization. 

This is our history, the history of the Great Bharat Varsha which has to be retold in today's context. And we, the youth of the today should resolve to take a step towards this goal.