Huge disconnect between philosophy & reality

The notion and definition of gender is not limited to a person's genitals, the Supreme Court on Tuesday remarked, while hearing petitions seeking the recognition of same-sex marriage in India. (Supriyo and anr v. Union of India). A Constitution Bench, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud and comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, S Ravindra Bhat, P S Narasimha and Hima Kohli, began hearing arguments in the batch of pleas seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriage.

But what came as a bolt from the blue to the conventional and status-quoist minds is the observation of the CJI who said during the course of the hearing: "The notion of biological man and biological woman is not absolute. There is no absolute concept of a man or an absolute concept of a woman at all. Man is not a definition of what your genitals are. It's far more complex. That's the point. So even when the Special Marriage Act says man and woman, the very notion of a man and a notion of a woman is not an absolute based on what genitals you have." Of course, the Solicitor General had an objection there when he disagreed with the observation. To this, Justice Kaul added, "We said it is not a mandatory thing that the whole society must accept something. Changes will always come in..." What was the Chief Justice Chandrachud referring to one might have been left wondering if one were not to be familiar with the Indian thought. Hinduism – be it a way of life or a practice of the people of Bharatvarsha and certainly not a religion – is so profound that one could look towards it for an answer to the above question. One of the most profound attributes of Hinduism is the recognition and worship of God as feminine. In fact, the ones living in this land always worshipped God in female form and continue to do so today. For this ancient civilization, God's energy is Shakti, through its personification in a Goddess. In fact, Shakti is placed above the Trinity.

While social practices have not lived up to the Hindu ideal of gender equality and mutual respect, Hindu way of life remains one of the few in which women have occupied and continue to occupy some of the most respected positions in spiritual leadership – Female and Male as Two Halves. Let us not bring in crimes against women etc., into this argument. Hindu scriptures extol the qualities of the feminine divine as well as the spiritual sameness of male and female deities, while highlighting their differences in nature. Female and male principles are described as two halves of a whole or two wheels of a cart. The oneness of male and female is also highlighted. Emphasis is placed on the gender neutrality of the divine as well as the ambiguity of distinctions between men and women. Hindu teachings state that every human is made up of varying degrees of both feminine and masculine traits. Many ritual texts also emphasize that there is no difference between man and woman as far as the right to perform Vedic rites is concerned, and they often use gender neutral language when describing God. Well, the Court was not wrong. There is a huge disconnect between philosophy and reality in every sphere in India and the notion of gender is just yet another.