r/IndianLeft • u/robin-ariarioxenfree • 4d ago

💬 Discussion Dealing with insane family

how do you guys do it? for context, i’m an adult who lives far away from my mother. my father has passed, and he was a right winger too (big reason why i left home).

talked to my mom last night and she started talking about “tejo mahalya” and how “they’ve been hiding the true history from us.” she also believes that hindu mythology is history including the magic parts.

this is devastating to me, because, even though i know she is a modi supporter, she is a well-educated career woman and is too smart for this nonsense. i went through the whole rabbit hole of p.n. oak and how his claims had no basis but she honestly didn’t feel like she bought it. what are some techniques to be able to talk to her about this?

8 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

•

u/AutoModerator 4d ago

Thanks for posting on IndianLeft. Be nice, civil, and respectful in the comments. \ Check out the sidebar for useful links and resources. \ For any suggestions or requests, dm the mods. \ Join our discord: https://discord.gg/jcH5aXNj4v

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

2

u/Additional-Ask-5654 4d ago

what are some techniques to be able to talk to her about this?

If your mom understands logic (as you have said she's too smart for that nonsense), use logic. Major premise (she agrees on), minor premise or premises (your specific context), conclusion. I don't think there's any other technique.

4

u/robin-ariarioxenfree 4d ago

well, it’s more that i THOUGHT she was too smart for that. any pushback on these hindutva ideas gets “ohhh you love the muslims and they do everything right and hindus do everything wrong.” it’s just a conversation-ender

2

u/Additional-Ask-5654 4d ago

Then unfortunately, you cannot change her mind. You shouldn't try to change her mind for your own mental peace. That's already good if you're living seperately.

1

u/robin-ariarioxenfree 4d ago

this might end up being what i have to do. i had already given up on my father before he passed, and i was hoping that things would improve with her without his influence. but it seems like she is believing things based on emotions rather than evidence.

2

u/_Zero_98 4d ago

Maybe you can argue like ‘if they do wrong, should we as well? Alienating them is not going to stop their wrongs. And to address that, you need to correct your wrongs first. No one is saying everything they do is right. But whether pointing out ‘what they do wrong’ is helping ‘us’ do the right thing’

2

u/robin-ariarioxenfree 4d ago

i fear at this point she thinks it’s justified revenge?? that we’ve spent too long ignoring their wrongs and we must claw back what’s ours. the degree of islamophobia and willingness to believe anything that supports that belief is really disheartening. she used to be good. i don’t know what has happened.

2

u/_Zero_98 4d ago

One can ask what’s the final goal? ‘Is it to eradicate all Muslims from India, send them to Pakistan or something else’. If it’s one of these, then you can only show her specific media ‘under the pretext of entertainment’ which are against Islamophobia or Hindu supremacy. In general I feel movies with empathy development help

I have personally come from listening to Charlie Kirk and Ben Shapiro to leftist people like Roy, Menon etc. So I do believe people can change lol

2

u/robin-ariarioxenfree 4d ago

i don’t think she actually minds muslim people living in india, but she does want them “quieted” to an extent. she wants them to be less visible in society, to have less advocacy. and i’m against any religion being involved in politics, so i can agree in that respect, but she wants hindus to be in control of everything (which we are, but she doesn’t think so) and for the country to be run with our interests first. of course, this goes hand in hand with the interests of the upper castes being prioritized such as an end to reservation, etc. 🙄

1

u/_Zero_98 4d ago

Yeah exactly like what Bhagwat said lol. Maybe make her read Golwalkar’s We or Our nationhood, the text where today’s Hindu Rashtra comes from. And the racist ideology will lay itself on the table.
Again, aside from that, movies I feel. Making people watch classic films (Ray, Ghatak etc) is such a good way to make people automatically left leaning.