Being Spiritual

Spirituality, the S word in vogue, is defined as the quality of being spiritual. And the very fact that the little used dictionary on my PC gives nine different definitions of the word spiritual is an indication of how difficult it has been to come to terms with the notion of spirituality. Being the trendy word that it has become, ask anybody about their religious views and there's a good chance that the answer thrown at you would be, i'm more of a spiritual person. So much so that the word is tossed here and there by any and everybody without even comprehending the meaning. Start to scratch the surface and out comes the truth: its fashionable to say i'm spiritual, specially among the upper classes of the society. 

Perhaps the most important reason behind this charade is the struggle between tradition and modernity that the great Indian Middle Class has found itself in the middle of. The upward mobility that came with economic liberalization created a desire in the hearts of many individuals to be different from the rest, you know that desire to be zara hatke. And well, they set upon it with the characteristic determination that has for so long been synonymous with the Indian Middle Class: the determination that their next generation would be better off than themselves. They took all possible avenues that would separate them from the others. They starting wearing designer clothes, started drinking vodka and wine, but it wasn't enough. These were mere superficial changes. They wanted something more profound and well, what could have been more porfound than religious inclination in a country that has given birth to as many as three religions and provided sanctuary to many more.

Spirituality as a notion of religious inclination gained ground as the upper echelons of the society, in a bid to diffrentiate themselves, tried to distance themselves from the taboos and superstitions that have for so long plagued the Indian society. While it could have been done within the scope of their own religion, it would have meant going against the established norms. And while they wanted to be diffrentiated, they didn't want to be termed as outcasts either. Enter spirituality.

The notion of spirituality has provided the ones who wanted to seem trendy and cool an easy way out of their reilgious dilemma. They all can claim to be spiritual and distance themselves from the customs that they find incovenient. Or for that matter repackage their atheism as spirituality. And of course, spirituality makes for a great cocktail conversation.