 If you believe in God, then God will believe in you

One of my favorite sentiments from my trip came from our Guide at Mysore Palace. A big part of his tour was to point out the multiculturalism, diversity and intentional integration of arts, crafts, thoughts and beliefs from around the world. Even the architecture of the palace was designed to incorporate traditional Hindu, Muslim and Christian designs, which made for an interesting look. Also on the palace grounds are Hindu temples, Muslim mosques, and a Christian cathedral. The palace incorporated bronze tiger statues and stained glass from Scotland, traditional India carvings in wood and stone (everything was hand-carved, incredibly intricate down to the smallest detail, and patterns were consistent across entire walls and rooms) as well as technology imported from Britain and the US. Apparently Mysore palace was the first location in Asia to use electric lights from General Electric, and they had 100 year old fans in place that still work to this day.

The message was clear: the best (only?) way to overcome diversity was to celebrate it as a strength rather than a liability. Only through diversity can we synthesize new ideas and move forward to create our own history in the future. Traditionalists here (everywhere really) tend to see this as a threat to a pristine culture; I don’t see this as the case and many here seem to agree with me. Learn your history and culture, and celebrate it. Learn the history and culture of others, and celebrate that, too. Take the best parts of all, and make it your own. As the young Indians that are involved in a cultural struggle with fundamentalists here have asserted, no one person is the guardian of culture. They are Indians too, and the culture is THEIRS to do with as they collectively see fit.

Our guide at one point quoted the last reigning king of Mysore, who said to people of different faiths who questioned him about Hinduism: If you believe in God, then God will believe in you. This was what I was thinking when I had a chance to enter and pray in the Hindu temple; it’s a pretty powerful statement, when you really think about it. Makes you wonder, who is doing the pushing around of things in the universe, if the pushee becomes the pusher...