I was raised on bedtime stories of the Ramayana and Kannappa. But by the time I was old enough to ask why, the answers were already waiting, convenient, pre-packaged, and non-negotiable.
Then there was the faith. An unbreakable belief that kept my family afloat through endless hardships, softly forced upon me. I was told to question everything, except that. But to a ten-year-old, if God's main job was to make us happy, God looked like Sachin Tendulkar. His poster went right next to the weapon-wielding deities. Add ARR for music and Aamir Khan for cinema, and my fanaticism was complete. It comes naturally when you are raised Indian.
Stories became truth, heroes became gods, and gods became reality. But the deeper I swam into alternate philosophies, the more I was shut down. So I learned to keep quiet. Life became comfortable, convenient, and safe.
Years later, I opened the box where I had locked away my doubts. The questions were still there, restless, raw, and waiting.
This culture raised me. Its stories, its faith, its contradictions, and its quiet heroism are in my bones. I didn't walk away when I started questioning it. If anything, questioning made me love it more honestly.
The Indic View is my way of giving that back. Not as an outsider looking in, but as someone shaped by every piece of it, finally asking the questions it deserves to be asked.