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#Bollywood often represents Hindu Gurus, the Stewards of our sacred knowledge tradition, as untrustworthy charlatans who are out to rob the poor unsuspecting masses. This is an Orientalist trope that goes back to the early British Era #BhoolBhulaiyaa2
After reading Inden's Imagining India and Sharma's Ruler's Gaze the tropes that persist in Bwood are shocking
It's not that some Gurus, Tantrics, and Aghoris are infallible
But when you see the same trope over and over again there is an agenda to create mistrust and fear
It's not that some Gurus, Tantrics, and Aghoris are infallible
But when you see the same trope over and over again there is an agenda to create mistrust and fear
It hurts to see this trope persist knowing the history of how Tantric lineages were criminalized and dispossessed of their rightful place in society by the Criminal Tribes acts BECAUSE they protected and resisted the Colonization while stewarding Yoga and Santana Dharma
The same tropes are evident in Padmavat, Bajirao Mastani, Laxmi, and now BhoolBhulaiya2
It has become so normalized that many Hindus don't see it
Or see it as a mere critique rather than a concerted effort to create mistrust in Hindus towards the people who steward Dharma
It has become so normalized that many Hindus don't see it
Or see it as a mere critique rather than a concerted effort to create mistrust in Hindus towards the people who steward Dharma
If we ever hope to decolonize we will need to denormalize these tropes that we have learnt to either ignore or accept
Restoring the bond between Guru and Shishya is critical to the process of decolonizing our minds as much as getting our temples back
Restoring the bond between Guru and Shishya is critical to the process of decolonizing our minds as much as getting our temples back
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