The Human Cohesion Project — 24 April 2020

#TheHumanCohesionProject
There have been questions galore, from ones that care, and ones that are curious. And as we continue in solidarity with celebrating Ramadan, and share reflections, I’ll seek to respond to some of them here.
One of the questions that I received multiple times between yesterday and today was about why am I, whose name shouts out my inherited identity, seeking to connect with Islam. For those not familiar with the Indian caste system, my name identifies me as Hindu Brahmin. Given the India I live in, it is perhaps the second highest privilege one could have in this country (you know, a male Hindu Brahmin is supposed to outrank me ;) ). And if an Indian Muslim, or a Dalit were to initiate this project, the backlash they would meet with makes me shudder. With privilege, comes responsibility. I do this because this needs to be done, and know that I am perhaps relatively safer than others who may wish to hold such a conversation.
Another question was about some people being curious about how I connect with the Shahada. I connect with the heart of its message: that there is one ideal, one mystery we all seek (for the sake of a name and language-based species, the words use a proper noun that has come to be associated with a particular religion). The name of the messenger in it, I relate to, as the metaphor of the human, who seeks the ideal, just like I do. I do not perceive the Shahada as a religious chant. I connect with it as a commitment to seek that which is my highest potential. I interpret the meaning much the same way as I would interpret ‘Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh’ from Judaism or ‘Ahaṁ Brahmāsmi’ from the Hindu philosophy. And of course, it was merely an example of how I choose to anchor my Ramadan practice. You can choose any other way to do it too.
Coming to the core of today’s sharing, I experienced the value of fraternity through multiple conversations today, through me reaching out to some people for support, and some others reaching out to me. And I hope we were all touched by the generosity of life in the process.
- How did you celebrate Ramadan today?
- How did you experience fraternity?
- How is your relationship with Islam budding?
I know a lot of you prefer to share responses with me privately, and I understand if you feel concerned for your security in voicing out on a public platform. At the same time, I do invite you to care enough for your own voice, to strive to put it out here. I completely honour whatever choice you make.
Ramadan Kareem.

(Please follow me on Facebook for this project if you’d like to participate. It’s easier to engage in conversations there.)

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