Connecting the dots… the question of Indic identity
~Avatans Kumar (@avatans) Life is all about connecting the dots, making sense out of the webs of complexities. This making sense is an eternal journey of the human race, a journey that makes a Adi Shankara leave the comfort of his Kerala house at a tender age of 8. From Gautam the Buddha to Swami Vivekananda, there are numerous similar examples in the Indic Tradition as ‘Self’-exploration is the ultimate goal of human existence. But what happens when dots don’t connect and the path one has been made to follow turns out to be a hoax, not a ‘satvik’ one? Connecting the dots may not be child’s play, especially when it comes to navigating Indic/Hindu identity. Identity is usually how individuals or groups in question chose to define themselves. However, in case of Indic/Hindu identity, others defining them takes precedence. This phenomenon, what Arvind Sharma calls “outsider to outsider” view in the academic world, has reached to a level where a Hindu scholar’s vi...