Why I Am a Hindu: Shashi Tharoor's Views on Hinduism

In Why I Am a Hindu by Shashi Tharoor, the author sort of answers the question in the title in the first chapter itself. In other words, if you are looking for a brief answer to the question 'Why I Am a Hindu' posed in the title, you only need to read this part of the book. The remainder of the book constitutes a comprehensive commentary on Hinduism, which may also be considered an elaboration of his abovementioned answer in the initial chapter. His answer could be summarized in the below words which appear in a later part of the book.

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“I too, as a Hindu, can say, when people tell me ‘Garv se kaho ki tum Hindu ho’, that I am proud to be a Hindu, but in what is it that we are to take pride? I take pride in the openness, the diversity, the range, the lofty metaphysical aspirations of the Vedanta; of the various ways in which Hinduism is practised, eclectically, and of its extraordinary acceptance of differences. Unfortunately, as I have noted, the votaries of Hindutva seem to take pride in Hinduism the way in which one might support a football team as a badge of identity, rather than as a set of values, principles and beliefs, and so Hinduism becomes reduced in their retelling to little more than a label on a T-shirt, a badge of allegiance rather than a way of relating to the cosmos.”

It says what Hinduism is to him as opposed to what many others who lay claim to it interpret it to be.

There are different sections in the book divided into multipe chapters discussing various aspects of Hinduism, such as its origin, history, different schools of thought, the Hindu culture and its diversity across the states of India as manifested in its rituals, ways of worship, deities, festivals, customs, and lifestyle.

The book seeks to find clarity of the terms ‘Hinduism’ and ‘Hindutva’ by examining how they relate to each other. It summarizes the thoughts of major Hindu philosophers, saints, and ideologues, right from its ancient sages to Hindu leaders of contemporary politics. He alludes to Swami Vivekananda so profusely throughout the book that one can easily conclude that it is Vivekananda’s views or version of Hinduism that he endorses. Another name he frequently mentions is that of S Radhakrishnan, the learned philosopher and the second President of India. While talking about ideas of Hindu nationality, the book describes the views of Savarkar, Golwalkar, and Deen Dayal Upadhyay in some detail.

The book scrutinizes the question of who could be considered a Hindu and the position of 'non-Hindus' in a 'Hindu nation' as proposed by various Hindu nationalist thinkers. It analyzes varying views of such ideologues, from finding some way for 'Hindus' and 'non-Hindus' to coexist to converting 'non-Hindus' to the fold of Hinduism or even expelling them from the 'Hindu nation'. Their classification of 'non-Hindus' into two groups - one including the people a section of whose ‘ancestors’ came to India through some invasion, like Muslims and Christians, and the other who arrived in India for shelter, like the Jews and the Zoroastrians (Parsis) - is also touched upon. Shashi Tharoor’s own stand regarding the matter of Hindu nationalism is explicitly stated in these words:

"I consider myself a Hindu and a nationalist, but I am not a Hindu nationalist."

I found the author's advice to those who resort to violence against conversion interesting:

"Staines himself had devoted his life to the care of leprosy patients; his widow continued this work after his murder, and was awarded a Padma Shri, a major national honour, by the previous government of India. But let us assume, for the purposes of argument, that Christian missionaries are indeed using a variety of inducements (development assistance, healthcare, education, sanitation, even chicanery—though there is only anecdotal evidence of missionary ‘trickery’) to win converts for their faith. So what? If a citizen of India feels that his faith has not helped him to find peace of mind and material fulfilment, why should he not have the option of trying a different item on the spiritual menu? Surely freedom of belief is any Indian’s fundamental right under our democratic constitution, however ill-founded his belief might be. And if Hindu zealots suspect that his conversion was fraudulently obtained, why do they not offer counter-inducements rather than violence? Instead of destroying churches, perhaps a Hindu-financed sewage system or pathshala (village school) might reopen the blinkered eyes of the credulous."

In the last few chapters of the book, you find the author vehemently denouncing the fanatics that mix the Hindu religion with politics and use it for their selfish ends. He fiercely criticizes BJP and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in these pages.

I didn't read the book but listened to it as an audiobook on 'Audible'. The audio is in the voice of Andrew Hoffland whose accent somewhat matches that of Tharoor and hence most of the time you feel as if the author himself is speaking to you. Andrew Hoffland has similarities with Tharoor in that he was also born in London and lives in India. His voice is crisp and clear and it’s a pleasure listening to it. However, he mispronounces many Indian words and always pronounces Savarkar as 'Sarvarkar'.

The book can be considered a comprehensive guide or handbook of Hinduism, especially for a non-Hindu person, as it touches upon everything Hinduism, including its early days, different schools of thought, scriptures, sages, philosophers, and the Hindu culture and its diversity across India, and what transformation it currently undergoes in today’s world that’s politically dense. It serves as a handy introduction to anything Hinduism.