Before he invents hustle culture
- Kabir asks God for money for his community.
- Kabir thinks being big is of little consequence.
- Kabir finds love ineffable.
- Kabir is trying to remain grounded.
- Kabir reminds himself to slow down and smell the flowers.
- Kabir suggests you manifest positivity in your words.
- Kabir realizes that he is just the worst.
- Kabir feels like he cannot stand the grind.
After he invents hustle culture
- Kabir wants to awaken the GOD within.
- Kabir decides that it is better to die than to beg.
- Anyways, Kabir says, only the body dies, nothing else.
- Kabir tells you not to procrastinate.
- Kabir does not believe in psycho-pharmacology.
- Kabir desires complete equanimity in the marketplace.
- Kabir has detoxed his mind. He sees that everyone likes him and wants to do as he did.
- Now, Kabir loves the grind.
I've been reading Kabir's Dohe (his two-line rhyming couplets) and rather than translating them, I've been writing out their dominant messages. Those of you familiar with the poet will know that for Kabir, the same debate rages amongst scholars that rages for many of these older, venerated poets, Shakespeare, Homer etc. Was he one person or many?
Based on my readings of Kabir, I want to help resolve this debate r by suggesting that the singular person, Kabir, underwent a dramatic personal transformation leading to the present confusion about his identity. Specifically, this transformation was precipitated by Kabir's invention of a particularly Indian form of hustle culture which continues to this day. It is possible that this coincides with his notable departure from the Ramananda Ashram, when he relinquished his life of devotion to work hard and earn money for his family. As Tagore himself notes, “He never adopted the life of the professional ascetic,” but instead set to work as a weaver.
For what it is worth, as a young Indian student, I myself was subjected to the grind through these Dohe about hard work and tenacity, which I was forced to memorize by the dozen and recite liltingly in my overcrowded Hindi classroom without understanding a single word. For me, Kabir was the prophet of boredom. This is why I feel secure blaming him for inventing hustle culture or at least translating its proto-ethics into words.
Perhaps this thesis flies in the face of his followers’ belief that he was a simple man. However, I would remind those people that hustle culture in the West, as has been noted, is a simple extension of the Protestant ethic that Weber showed is just another way to apply ascetic ideals to material concerns. It should be easy to imagine hustle culture in pre-capitalist societies minus the opulence.
Nevertheless, I understand if you find my reading of Kabir to be tendentious. In the absence of a strict chronology of the poems or an authoritative biography of the man, we will have to use our literary prowess and a certain amount of creativity to establish the required differences between early Kabir and late Kabir. So far, this aspect of Kabir has been left undertheorized, but I am delighted to share my findings with you, the group. I will also resolve to keep everyone updated on any new discoveries, revisions or counter-histories. I appreciate any suggestions for improvement.