Opinion In the age of Kalyug, it is time to leverage the power of the collective

The “Kolis” or fisherfolk are the first inhabitants of Mumbai city. They inhabit various coastal belts of the city in Worli, Versova and Madh Island to name a few. Walk through the Worli Koliwada, a four-sq km radius, and you see Hindus, Muslims and Christians who have been cohabiting for centuries together without any issues. They identify as a unit. They celebrate each other’s festivals with equal fervour and even have unique Koli names and traditions for them. For example, “Narali Purnima” is the day when the moon is worshipped with a coconut to mark the end of the monsoon and the start of the fishing season. This happens to be on the same day as Raksha Bandhan and is celebrated by all Kolis as a unit. Another progressive and distinctive trait of the Kolis is that they put women first. All the religious idols that they worship are female. The main Hindu deity is Golfa Devi, who they pray to with an offering of two laddoos and ask a “yes/no” question like: Will it be safe to go out to sea today? The goddess graciously answers by dropping one or the other side of the offering that is placed on her shoulder, this has led her to become popular as the “yes or no goddess”. The Christians pray to Mother Mary as Velankanni Mata and the Muslims to Peer Dargah, which honours two female relatives of the Prophet Mohammed. The respect that they have for the feminine force is evident in the deities they worship.

The Kolis respect every individual as an equal within their Koli unit, making them an unstoppable force. As a unit, they have managed to ward off real-estate sharks, who would love to get a hand on the prime real estate lands they possess in the heart of Mumbai. They have even managed to move the government to extend the pillars of the Coastal Road Project, facing the Worli Koliwada, to ensure fair access of their boats, to and fro from the pier. An extension that caused a considerable delay in time and an increase in the cost of the project. Such is the might of the collective.

In our history, we have been ruled by Hindu, Muslim and Christian rulers at various points. But we are Indians, just like the Kolis. We all started as apes. Over time, we have become divided along borders. We are all essentially one unit. It took Covid, a common enemy, for us to realise this.

War hurts everyone. We know this. Yet, over the past year, we continue to witness two large ongoing wars. Russia attacked Ukraine and recently, Hamas attacked Israel. During World War II, Hitler’s attack on Poland in 1939 spurred the world to take sides and the two blocs were formed. Every country was pressured to pick a side. We were divided as humans. With the current wars, we are heading down the same route, only now we are dealing with nuclear-armed nations and a more connected world due to technology.

The internet is a prime example of the power of unity. You could be using an application on it that is created in India, the device used to access it could be made in Vietnam, the microprocessor inside from Taiwan, the content from Japan and it could be stored on a cloud in the US. In so many ways, we are learning to understand the power of the collective and using it to help humanity. Yet, we take decisions to go to war to divide and undermine each other.

Divide and rule is an infamous tactic. The British used it to conquer India. Between the first and 17th centuries, India was the richest country in the world. The British came in with the East India Company to trade, and quickly wanted more. They knew that purely on strength of arms, they would not be able to conquer the country. So, they pitted us against each other, and they won. Our history reveals that when you divide us, you weaken us. We are not Hindus or Muslims or x caste or y caste. We are Indian.

Gautam Buddha, a visionary who came out of India, understood the power of the collective and unified a large portion of the East, beyond India. In fact, he is worshipped far more in Southeast Asia today than in India. Mahatma Gandhi worked tirelessly to erase the fault lines of caste in our country. Parmhansa Yogananda speaks of one universal higher power, that we manifest as different god forms. When we didn’t understand that the world was round and there was a solar system, we prayed to the sun and moon as gods, believing that the only way they rise is by our collective prayers. Wisdom of how the world moves changed we worshipped. Worship of God is a way for us to make sense of our world. We should accept that each of us has a different relationship with God like we have different relations with our parents or children. We cannot judge each other based on that. Whether it is the divisions we create within our country at the religious or caste level or as a world between countries — why are we reversing the work of so many wise leaders that came before us?

In Hinduism, we believe that the current epoch is the Kalyug — the dark age. This is a time when the worst of mankind is on display, leading to destruction and unhappiness. During these dark ages, an avatar of god, in the form of Kalki — like Ram, Krishna and many others before them — comes to the Earth to save us from ourselves. We need to unite as a world. One world. One religion. One race. The human race. We need Kalki now more than ever. Where are you, Kalki?

The writer is the Director at RPG Foundation and Founder of Pehlay Akshar, The Heritage Project