Random Thoughts During Wild Wild Country

In the state of Haryana, in Rewari district, there is a town called Bawal. It is a small community which is unremarkable in a lot of ways. This place has a local legend. It is said that Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti had halted his travels here and had tried to spread his message. The people of the community, in their ignorance and fear of the unknown, could only put up with a handful of joyous malangs before their inherent bigotry started to rear its ugly head. All the dancing and singing and 'joy' was, according to them, amoral. Legend has it, that the locals uprooted the shrine the followers of Chishti built, and also chased them out of town limits. It is said that the town is cursed to never prosper because it was so blinded by bias that it couldn't see the divine when it was in their midst. Today Ajmer Sharif, his final resting place, is a pilgrimage made by thousands of people. Today he is revered as one of the most prominent Sufi saints.

While watching Netflix's Wild Wild Country, I couldn't help but see the parallels in this story and that of Osho. The show captures with perfection the ugliness that is bred by otherness. Someone once said that the most dangerous person in the world is a fool who is convinced of the superiority of his beliefs. You cannot reason with the fool, you can't make him see alternate perspectives, and you sure as hell cannot challenge him. The fool has certain triggers that are sure to set him off, often to dangerous consequences. Now the best kind of fool is a good fool- the good Christian, the good Hindu, the good [insert religion here]. In the show, one of the townspeople says that the people of the commune were 'too educated for their own understanding'. A good fool understands the value of education, only as long as it does not question his fundamental biases. 

To me, as horrifying as the allegations of terror and fraud are, the creepiest thing about the show is the casual disregard for a way of life which is different, the flippant dismissal of an ideology just because it is not an extension of one's own.

The irony of a bunch of white people getting hot and bothered because an Indian moved in next to them and started changing things is too amusing. Of course, they were uncomfortable. They are used to being on the other side. It is only okay if they do it to Indians, because they are 'good' and because their God is on their side.

In today's atmosphere of mistrust and hate, it is more important than ever to try and leave our phobias and bias and to try and rise above the stereotypes fed to us in unrelenting tsunamis of misinformation. 

PS- The legend I mention here is a story that is told often by the elders of the community. I have no idea if it is based on real events