Hindutva And Its Steadfast Ninda Stuti

When I was a kid, my father told me about an intriguing concept in Hindu theology called "ninda stuti" (worship through insult).

The idea of "ninda stuti" is that abusing God is also a form of prayer

Apparently, there was a man who hated God so much that he spent every single moment of his waking life cursing Him. When he died, he was surprised to find himself in Heaven with a beaming Almighty. He enquired as to why he was in Heaven when all he had done was curse, and God replied, "Yeah, but you were thinking of me all the time, and that's what counts."

Eyeroll.

Why do I bring this up?

I'm astounded at the devotion that some of my friends display towards Hindutva. This is the only religion-based ideology, as far as I know, that demands a fierce, unwavering obsession with *another* religion. From the moment they open their eyes in the morning to when they drift off to sleep at night, all they can think about are Muslims and Islam. Hinduism itself is just an afterthought.

"Jai Shri Ram! %@#^^$ the Muslims! Jai Bajrang Bali! ##$@$* the Muslims!"

I think when they die, Allah will take them straight to Jannat and give them 72 Houris each. Surely He must be pleased with this special kind of Kafir. Not even devout Muslims think about Islam so steadfastly. They're something special.

(I don't think they will mind being in a Muslim paradise either. A lot of them already work for petrodollars in the Middle East without blushing.)

[Afterword: I have read a hilarious short story by Vilas Sarang called "A Revolt of the Gods", in which images of gods come to life and start attacking people (mild whacks and thumps, nothing more). One of the characters thinks he may be responsible.

Excerpt below:

Kini paused and stared at the foot of my bed. I remained silent.

"In our family we worship Lord Ganesh," Kini continued without raising his head. "I've known the hymn to Ganesh by heart since childhood. Yet, instead of hymns and prayers, what comes into my mind are curses. Unspeakable, abominable curses. I was brought up well, as a matter of fact. Never learnt bad words as a child. Even today I wouldn't say  something like "damn". And yet when I think of God my mind literally spews out curses. At first I was shocked to discover that I knew so many."

[...]

"So that's my story. Usually, the cursing goes on silently in my mind.  Often, when I'm at home, I mutter to myself. On a few occasions, when my wife and Sushma have gone out. I've shut the doors and windows and, standing in front of the images of the gods, shouted curses until I was hoarse. I found it nauseating to my own ears, but my mouth wouldn't stop."

]