Recently, I read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth book in the series, and incidentally found out that the Constitution of India is less than half of the length of the fantasy novel.
This piqued my curiosity and I wondered why more people do not read the Indian Constitution; why is it such a feared document and left only for the evil group of people who academically study law.
Of course Indian people were never fond of reading and the times of literary dominance in Indian culture dates back to days when not much was really written and all literary works were composed orally and passed through spoken words. But even the tiny reading community of India shies away from the document defining and describing the rights of the citizens. I tried to look into the reasons why it is not a readable book for Indians.
The Indian Constitution is accepted to be the longest constitution in the world. That might seem a daunting fact but the document is nowhere a tome, standing at just 117,369 words. For a little context, take a look at the word counts of various Harry Potter books.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: 76,944 words.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: 85,141 words.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: 107,253 words.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: 190,637 words.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: 257,045 words.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: 168,923 words.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: 198,227 words.
I compare Harry Potter books simply for the reason that these books were written for a younger audience and were wildly successful despite their size. So clearly, the length of the constitution is not the reason for Indian readers not grabbing it.
If we look at the reading patterns of the Indian readers, we find that most readers are not really into reading contemporary literature. Most Indians read just one or two books in their entire life and those few are mainly religious texts.
Interestingly, the writing style in the constitution is exactly like religious texts with 448 different articles grouped in 22 different parts. In comparison, Bhagavad Gita has 700 slokas divided in 18 chapters, and the Baalkand of Ramcharitmanas, which is the first episode the book, has 361 chaupai. These two are the most read books of Hinduism in north India. The Holy Qur’an, meanwhile, has over 6000 verses written in 77,449 words.
So reading the constitution religiously, one can finish the book in less than a month or two. But the constitution is not as popular among the masses as Bhagavad Gita or Holy Qur’an simply because there is absolutely no benefit of reading it. The religious texts, at least, ‘promises’ a moral benefit to the followers and the language does improve through reading it. The constitution doesn’t make any such promises and on top of that you are guaranteed to lose all your communication skills you acquired throughout your life if you choose to speak or write in the language as in the constitution.
If you think you might become a knowledgeable bloke or you would understand your rights better, you are mistaken. Reading the constitution can not do any of that. The maximum it will do is win you some online arguments with strangers.
The little that I read of the constitution (specifically, article 19), told me that Indian citizens are free folks with various rights defined and described in detail, but all the rights are subject to some reasonable restrictions. But these reasonable restrictions are never explained. They are left for the people in power at the time and place of conflict to decide. And if our leaders are to be believed, anything can incite violence; anything might endanger the unity and integrity of the country; and absolutely everything poses a threat to the national security.
So even though you are free to think, express, belief, have faith and worship by your choice, your political parents still have the right to correct you and knowledge of the constitution counts for nothing. Go to the courts, and fight. If that is not quick enough, which it isn’t, vote for a new parent.
#india #loksabhaelections #constitutionofindia
This piqued my curiosity and I wondered why more people do not read the Indian Constitution; why is it such a feared document and left only for the evil group of people who academically study law.
Of course Indian people were never fond of reading and the times of literary dominance in Indian culture dates back to days when not much was really written and all literary works were composed orally and passed through spoken words. But even the tiny reading community of India shies away from the document defining and describing the rights of the citizens. I tried to look into the reasons why it is not a readable book for Indians.
The Indian Constitution is accepted to be the longest constitution in the world. That might seem a daunting fact but the document is nowhere a tome, standing at just 117,369 words. For a little context, take a look at the word counts of various Harry Potter books.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: 76,944 words.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: 85,141 words.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: 107,253 words.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: 190,637 words.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: 257,045 words.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: 168,923 words.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: 198,227 words.
I compare Harry Potter books simply for the reason that these books were written for a younger audience and were wildly successful despite their size. So clearly, the length of the constitution is not the reason for Indian readers not grabbing it.
If we look at the reading patterns of the Indian readers, we find that most readers are not really into reading contemporary literature. Most Indians read just one or two books in their entire life and those few are mainly religious texts.
Interestingly, the writing style in the constitution is exactly like religious texts with 448 different articles grouped in 22 different parts. In comparison, Bhagavad Gita has 700 slokas divided in 18 chapters, and the Baalkand of Ramcharitmanas, which is the first episode the book, has 361 chaupai. These two are the most read books of Hinduism in north India. The Holy Qur’an, meanwhile, has over 6000 verses written in 77,449 words.
So reading the constitution religiously, one can finish the book in less than a month or two. But the constitution is not as popular among the masses as Bhagavad Gita or Holy Qur’an simply because there is absolutely no benefit of reading it. The religious texts, at least, ‘promises’ a moral benefit to the followers and the language does improve through reading it. The constitution doesn’t make any such promises and on top of that you are guaranteed to lose all your communication skills you acquired throughout your life if you choose to speak or write in the language as in the constitution.
If you think you might become a knowledgeable bloke or you would understand your rights better, you are mistaken. Reading the constitution can not do any of that. The maximum it will do is win you some online arguments with strangers.
The little that I read of the constitution (specifically, article 19), told me that Indian citizens are free folks with various rights defined and described in detail, but all the rights are subject to some reasonable restrictions. But these reasonable restrictions are never explained. They are left for the people in power at the time and place of conflict to decide. And if our leaders are to be believed, anything can incite violence; anything might endanger the unity and integrity of the country; and absolutely everything poses a threat to the national security.
So even though you are free to think, express, belief, have faith and worship by your choice, your political parents still have the right to correct you and knowledge of the constitution counts for nothing. Go to the courts, and fight. If that is not quick enough, which it isn’t, vote for a new parent.
#india #loksabhaelections #constitutionofindia
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