Centuries before Christ, Alexander stood on the banks of the Hindu, eyeing the Hindus' fabulous wealth. A Hindu then was anyone who lived beyond the Hindu (Sindhu in the Rig Veda) river. Alexander named it the Indus. Future invaders and conquerors turned the Hindus' land into Hindustan, which was the world's richest country even two thousand years after Alexander - with artisans, poets, spices, jewels and palaces galore.
The riches of Hindustan stunned and seduced English thieves out to steal colonies from Portugal and Spain. They soon ruled it completely, looting riches, idling craftsmen, destroying industry, gutting education, and keeping the renaissance and the industrial revolution at bay. Their paid agents (officers, cops, lawyers, judges), trained in their babu factories, ruled via the technology of oppression (e.g. railways). The term "Indian" did not yet exist, but "Hindu" meant a believer in a non-religion that had no single god, creed, scripture, church or pope.
The word "Hindu" as understood by Alexander has vanished. There is no corresponding word in any language. The word "Indian" was co-opted by Columbus five centuries before India was born, for natives of the New World. In the United States, if you say you are Indian, the response may be "what tribe?", or "Oh, I am one-quarter Indian on my mother's side. What kind of Indian are you?". You'll have to explain: No, I'm from India, or East Indian, or South Asian.
The new official term might be Persons of Indian Origin, for we don't all live in India. We live in practically every country in the world! Our hearts are still and forever close to India even if our passports are foreign. Surely all this confusion calls for a new word, to serve as a replacement for "Hindu"?
What do we call a person whom Alexander would have called a Hindu? I propose Hindian हिंदियन
A Hindian is anyone whose heart lies somewhere between the Indus and the Brahmaputra. A Hindian can have any religion, language, culture, citizenship or residence; s/he requires no documents or passport. A Hindian can be a Hare Krishna, an American guru, a Malaysian Muslim son of Indian origin, or a 5th generation Hindu girl from Fiji. If the latter two marry, their kids may also be Hindian -- provided their heart is in India.
On the other hand, if you never set foot outside India but you heart is in San Francisco and you'd rather be American, you would not be a Hindian. Someone born and brought up in San Francisco can be a Hindian if s/he loves the land we spoke of.
Are you a Hindian??
.
The riches of Hindustan stunned and seduced English thieves out to steal colonies from Portugal and Spain. They soon ruled it completely, looting riches, idling craftsmen, destroying industry, gutting education, and keeping the renaissance and the industrial revolution at bay. Their paid agents (officers, cops, lawyers, judges), trained in their babu factories, ruled via the technology of oppression (e.g. railways). The term "Indian" did not yet exist, but "Hindu" meant a believer in a non-religion that had no single god, creed, scripture, church or pope.
The word "Hindu" as understood by Alexander has vanished. There is no corresponding word in any language. The word "Indian" was co-opted by Columbus five centuries before India was born, for natives of the New World. In the United States, if you say you are Indian, the response may be "what tribe?", or "Oh, I am one-quarter Indian on my mother's side. What kind of Indian are you?". You'll have to explain: No, I'm from India, or East Indian, or South Asian.
The new official term might be Persons of Indian Origin, for we don't all live in India. We live in practically every country in the world! Our hearts are still and forever close to India even if our passports are foreign. Surely all this confusion calls for a new word, to serve as a replacement for "Hindu"?
What do we call a person whom Alexander would have called a Hindu? I propose Hindian हिंदियन
A Hindian is anyone whose heart lies somewhere between the Indus and the Brahmaputra. A Hindian can have any religion, language, culture, citizenship or residence; s/he requires no documents or passport. A Hindian can be a Hare Krishna, an American guru, a Malaysian Muslim son of Indian origin, or a 5th generation Hindu girl from Fiji. If the latter two marry, their kids may also be Hindian -- provided their heart is in India.
On the other hand, if you never set foot outside India but you heart is in San Francisco and you'd rather be American, you would not be a Hindian. Someone born and brought up in San Francisco can be a Hindian if s/he loves the land we spoke of.
Are you a Hindian??
.
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