Holier than thou
Man is a highly insecure mammal
fraught with doubts about his own ability to see life through the rough edges
of everyday living and social implications. It is this questioning and insecure
attitude of ours that have led to the sprouting of God men in the country.
The people of India have been
highly religious and wear it on their sleeves. They believe, all that happens
is for a general good planned and executed by the almighty and therefore not to
be questioned nor changed. He does not have the courage to squarely take on his
inhibitions and failures through constructive work and refined knowledge.
Failure often leads to self-doubt and this creates a space for soothsayers and
fortune tellers. Here is where the self-styled god men walk in and claim their
space.
In course of time they gather
around them an army of lieutenants and foot soldiers through sleight of hand or
scientifically proven methods that the gullible and illiterate followers
eagerly gulp in their impatience to seek god’s divine blessings through the god
man. This army of followers will go to any length to protect the brand of their
guru, with blindfolded devotion and enviable zeal. This discourages the
non-believers and atheists to question their scope and region of activity. Very
often the believers of various sects and sub sects clash on religious and sect
lines portraying the underbelly of stark opportunism of the religious leaders
and what they prophesize.
Large gatherings often lead to
pockets of influence and the god man is at liberty to side politically even
while in doctoring his disciplines and followers through the use of the
scriptures and oratory skills. The common man in his want to decipher the various
colours of life while seeming to be pious scrambles for a place under the god
man’s tent even at a price. This makes the purportedly holy man invincible even
to the law of the land. In their unease to let go of the spoils they hoist
their sons and relatives as head of these sects.
How else can one explain Asaram Bapu’s
crisp reply to summons served on him by the Jodhpur police? He says he is so
darned busy with instilling morals into his followers and believers that he has
no time to join investigations into an alleged rape charge against him filed by
a 15 year old girl. Bolstered by his backers in political circles he is cocking
a snook at the law. He and his son further have the grumpiness to call this
complainant as mad and full of lies.
His spokesperson a lady indulges
in desecrating other religious leaders to maintain the claim to fame of her own
Guru. Religion is intoxicating in that
it sways the literate and the illiterate, the ones with logic and those who
defy all logic. There is no way of channelling a logical path to the mind once
intoxicated with religion.
The Bharatiya Janata Party the
main opposition party at the local level runs to the god man’s rescue by
blaming it as a conspiracy of the ruling Congress. The Congress leaders are
finding it hard to initiate proceedings after haven been photographed seeking
the god man’s blessings at some point in time. At a time when unquestionable followers of
faith are needed it is stupid to criticize religious god men especially the
ones professing the majority religion.
The truth is that these so called
God men indulge in nepotism, ungodly and unholy nexus with politicians and at
times immoral activities as has been seen in the past too. There are numerous
instances of their ilk indulging in outrageous behaviour with women devotees
and then applying all kinds of pressures to stifle stray voices of dissent. The
politicians kowtow to these crooked god men in the fond hope that the disciples
will automatically convert to willing vote bank when the occasion demands.
No point in blaming the
politicians for they will try every trick in the book to gather fish of all hue
and colour with their small and large fishing nets. No point blaming these God
men for making us unsuspecting followers of their practice. No point blaming
the system for siding with the high and the mighty and the influential even
through influences may be earned through covert and illegal means.
Blame yourself for not being
worth your salt and therefore feeling insecure. Blame yourself for not having
the conviction to stand up to your abilities. Blame yourself for chasing the
future to stabilize the present, Plainly put, blame yourself for being insecure
and biting your nails in anticipation, when the alternative would be to go out
and do a good days work, earn your wages, and sleep snoring into the night
without having to unnecessarily grapple with the unknown, the unknown that
comes with every rising of the sun.
Robin Varghese
29th August 2013
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