Vietnam Diaries (Day 3): The Pitfalls of Reverence

I woke up today to an overcast morning. It was a welcome break from the heat of Hanoi. Being a Mumbaikar at heart, the rains were never a deterrent for the travel. And thus, packing my raincoat, umbrella, backpack rain cover and some courage, I sat on Vu's two-wheeler as he drove me on a quick tour of all the important sites towards the west of the Hoan Kiem Lake.

All said and done, rains make everything look 10x more beautiful and fresh

Before getting to the destination, I wanted to pause and look back at the journey. I do think Vietnamese two-wheelers are unstoppable for the most part. I rarely see them pause during their rides, crisscrossing junctions with absolute confidence. They couldn't care less whether it was sunshine or the rain. Everyone from the age 14-80 seems to be comfortable on a two-wheeler on these streets. It seems like a force-field protects them from any mortal harm. My courage was less needed for the rains as it was for facing the Hanoi traffic. The good news is that the force-field actually worked and I survived to tell the tale. Or maybe, Vu just understood the method behind this madness and I didn't.

I don't know what they will do without their two-wheelers

I spent most of today visiting a few Buddhist Temples and Pagodas as well as Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum. Like all other days, I walked a lot to cover ground and in the process, had more and more time to ruminate about what I was seeing and doing.

Tran Quoc Pagoda: Where one Buddha is not enough.

Uncle Ho (Ho Chi Minh is lovingly called by this name in the country) and Buddha both had one thing in common, which was their belief of impermanence. Uncle Ho wanted his ashes to be scattered across the country. Buddha, of course, was the founder of the impermanence philosophy in many ways. However, the grandeur with which these sites are set up was exactly the opposite of what both of them wanted. It seemed like their world was unwilling to let go of their footprint.

A Mausoleum that is imposing and in no means not-standing-out

I do not mean to take any credit away from the impact that these men have had on Vietnamese living. However, I feel when you idolize or revere people, you run the risk of following without questioning. Many of our problems today are a result of us not willing to let go habits of yesterday, just because someone we revere says so.

Moreover, you may apply these philosophies conveniently, implementing them when it is easy. For example, you may expect someone at work to show patience to you when you don't show it to your family member.  You may externalize the conduct to the person's being rather than his or her actions. For instance, you may say Buddha can manage anger because he is Buddha instead of following the path he showed to control it. What is the point of such blind reverence when it leads to no internalization of philosophies? Eventually, it is the practice that builds the strength in people to question and evolve the approach to present times.

While I say all this, I must also add that this is not a judgment on the people of Vietnam. Like with all cultures, there is bound to be a mix of people who preach, who practice or who both preach and practice. I also don't have a deep enough understanding of Uncle Ho's or Buddha's teaching to comment on what I see or don't see. 

I am just thinking of the worst-case scenario. When the person that is revered has values that are not inclusive, that are unjust or that are not considerate of our planet, there is just a huge price that whole populations end up paying. 

We have seen what happened when the colonialists preached racial superiority or when the Nazi's preached anti-semitism. More recently, I am thinking of the rise of fascists in many countries, arguably even my own. In many cases, they are being put on a pedestal and their words are being followed without much thought and debate. I fear for where blind reverence may take us.

At the same time, I met this young Vietnamese girl called Dee at a Banh Mi stall that doubled up as her home. She made me question my cynicism about the world. She was a nine-year-old with strong views on protecting the environment and veganism. She shared how she likes talking to people from diverse countries to practice her English, share her thoughts and learn from them. To do this, she learned spoken English from an app on her mom's phone (classes apparently are beyond her family's means). She also uses the English language skill to further improve the customer experience at the store (she asked me questions like "Where did you find out about our store?", "Was it easy to find on Google Maps?").

The reminded me that the answer to our perils is always within us. It is in every individual's willingness and ownership to continuously and holistically learn. Transforming oneself maybe the first step to transforming the world.