Francois Gautier is a French writer, who has been living in India for the past 33 years. He has a deep passion for India, and has written extensively about contemporary Hindu issues. His columns for the popular Indian news portal Rediff have made him well known amongst Hindus across the world. He currently works for Ouest-France, the largest circulation daily (I million copies) in France and LCI, France's 24 hour TV news channel. He has authored several books in French and English.

You first encountered India through the teachings of Sri Aurobindo. Please tell us a bit more about how this happened?

It happened by chance. There was a large caravan party of people who were travelling from Paris to Pondicherry to visit the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. A friend of mine told me about this. At that time I had just finished my studies and thought it would be a good idea to spend a year in India and other Asian countries as a sabbatical.

Did you enjoy your first trip to India?

As soon as I landed I felt a strong affinity with the country, and felt a great peace. I spent a long time at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, and also met the Mother, who was still alive at that time.

At the Ashram, I studied a great deal about India, but it was just theoretical knowledge. It was only later, when I started working as a freelance journalist that I saw India at the ground level - and really experienced India. I met many Indian people, and was enchanted by their tolerance, gentleness and hospitality.

Despite being an ardent admirer and lover of India, do you still find yourself feeling relieved when you step into the relative material comfort of France?

No. India is now my true home. Of course, I remain a white Frenchmen - there is nothing much I can do about that, and I don't go to extremes and reject my western side. But still, India is where I feel most comfortable and fulfilled. I have a deep sense of gratitude towards India, for having learnt and benefited so much here.

What is it that makes India so special to you?

India is the last place in the world where a living spirituality exists, a wisdom that once existed in many lands - but is now alive only in India. Even today, ordinary Indians have much of this knowledge ingrained into them. There is a warmness and tolerance of cultural diversity that is unparalleled anywhere else in the world.

Are there certain things you dislike about India?

What I dislike about India is the disunity of Hindus. I see Hindu culture being encroached upon and eroded, and the Hindus are selfish and individualistic in so many ways that they care little about their collective future. There are many good qualities of Hindus, but this is one very bad thing. There is also a lack of respect for the material surroundings. People leave the environment - hills, rivers and mountains in a very bad shape.

What role does spirituality play in your personal life?

I have practiced many forms of spirituality. These days I meditate regularly, and practice pranayama (yogic breathing techniques) on a daily basis. I am a teacher of pranayama as taught by Sri Sri Ravishankar of Art of Living.

It is important to practice spirituality rather than just read, learn and talk about it. There are in fact many knowledgeable scholars in India who could write volumes about Hindu spirituality, but in fact don't practice any of it. This is not the way spirituality should be. It has to be lived and experienced. The genius is in living, in participating in the great festivals, in visiting the temples, in meditating, and bringing the power of the teachings into your everyday life.

It is interesting you should say that. I have talked to and interviewed several Hindu leaders and teachers who say that they don't get time to practice spirituality themselves because they are too busy defending it.

Exactly, I've seen many people like that too. This is the case with much of the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) and the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party). In fact it is one of their worst failures and one of the reasons why they proved so ineffective in their time in power. Most of them don't actually practice Hinduism. To them India is a mental idea, not a living experience. Many of them are quite learned. They praise and quote Swami Vivekananda and other great Hindu teachers, but they haven't experienced any of the teachings in their own lives. As a result they can't understand the true pulse of India. When Sri Sri Ravishanker has spoken at RSS gatherings he has repeatedly told them this, but they don't seem to listen.

Do you think the Rama Mandir in Ayodhya will ever be built?

Whether or not the temple will it be built is an open question. The matter was handled very badly by the Hindu leadership at that time.

It certainly should be built. It is close to the heart of millions of Hindus, many of them simple rural folk who have an intense belief and love of Lord Rama. The mosque that was destroyed wasn't even used as a mosque for several decades, unlike for example mosques in neighbouring areas, which actually functioned as a mosque with regular prayers etc. The mosque in Ayodhya was simply a symbol of Islamic Imperialism and Hindu defeat.

What are your favourite pass-times?

Delhi is where my work is based, but I also have a house in Auroville in Pondicherry. When I go there, I play quite a lot of basketball, as well as jog and play tennis. I'm aging a bit now, so I'm not quite as fast or fit as I used to be, but I still love sports.

If you weren't a journalist, what other profession would you have chosen?

I don't know what else I would do. Jouralism was a natural choice of profession for me as I always liked at writing. In fact I became a journalist by accident, but if I could choose again, I wouldn't choose any differently. It has given me a chance to give something back to India.

Many Hindus shy away from journalism partly because it is perceived as an extremely difficult career to get a foot into. Do you think this perception is justified?

No, I don't think so. Any intelligent young Hindu could make a good career in journalism. It is a negative aspect of the modern Hindu mentality that is afraid of risk taking and being active. So many Hindus complain about the media, as well as about politicians, but few are willing to provide an alternative by changing these fields from the inside. Jouralism is a great career.

I have heard that you have initiated a project to set up a 'Hindu Holocaust Museum' in Delhi. Can you tell us a bit more about this project?

Actually, the 'Hindu holocaust' section is just one aspect of it the project. It is intended to be a museum of India's past and present, showing the entire span of Indian civilisation. This includes India's achievements in the past, as well as a section on modern day India. It is quite an ambitious project, but I am determined that it will come into being.

The 'Hindu holocaust' section will be dedicated to highlighting the many atrocities that genocides that Hindus have underwent in the past, which are often glossed over or ignored in history books.

India's history has never been written properly. Of course the British and Muslims had an obvious bias in the way they wrote India's history. But most of modern India's historians have been no better. The result is that the teaching of Indian history is a shambles, and that most Hindus have a very distorted view of their own past.

I have done a lot of research and was looking for a simple and appealing way to bring it to people, and this is how I came up with the idea of a museum.

Do you see a bright future for Hinduism?

I don't know. Sometimes I see things that really discourage me, and get disheartened. Especially when I see the apathy of Hindus. Sometimes endless efforts seem to bear little fruit.

In the end, as Sri Aurobindo, Swami Vivekananda and many other great figures have affirmed, I believe that a great dharmic triumph will take place.