She was my class teacher in class
V, an Anglo Indian and a no nonsense person as far as her Christian faith goes.
Though Catechism was meant only for Catholic students, I being the lone
protestant and adhering to a broader scope of the word ‘Christian’ used to be
herded into the otherwise all catholic group of students who were prescribed a
dose of Christian faith while the non Catholics went through their moral
science classes.
Our Catechism book had a lot of
stories and we were given to mugging up a lot of verses. Mrs. Louis took a fond
interest in seeing that her limited Christian flock would very diligently mug
up the verses. As an incentive she would announce an occasional boost in the
form of prizes like story books (more of the religious kind). The inscription
in plain Mrs. Louis’s handwriting with the words “First prize awarded
to……………………………” made us glue our minds to these sometimes long winding verses as
we would be able to show our trophies all around and market our achievements
while lending these books for others to read.
Whenever we erred or were unable
to recite the verses we had so laboriously mugged we were given a remembrance
of the kind of Christians we were in her Anglo Indian Hindi accent- “you are
all naam ka vaasta Christians”. Looking at the poll results in Nagaland a
predominantly Christian state with a 90% majority Christian population and
where the church is reformist in nature and substance, I remembered my old
class teacher.
Only yesterday an old melodious
Malayalam number reached my ears most beautifully sung by ‘His Masters Voice’
Dr. K J Yesudas. The lyrics of the song, penned by Mr. Vayalar Ravi aptly describes
the mess we find ourselves in and brings out the journey of religion through
times innumerable.
The lyrics translated goes
something like this:
‘Man created religion,
Religions created Gods
Now man, religion and Gods together divide land and
peoples mind spaces unto themselves…………....’
The election results in Nagaland
prove the lyricist right? Because it showed that the BJP which is lowly ranked
amongst the majority of Christians was able to muster a majority along with its
pre poll alliance partner the Nagaland People’s Party (NPP).
Now it could be a matter of sheer
analysis on how a pro hard line Hindu party was voted to power by a predominantly
Christian population. Having heard about the romping and stomping of right wing
affiliates and eating dictates of the saffron brigade, how could people vote
for a party considered a pariah in Christian circles even after the church
silently lent its support?
This is baffling, some reports state
that money changed hands in huge piles thereby buying into people’s faith;
others say that they were taken in by the lure of development. Whatever may the
reason the crux is that no religion is infallible to the lure or inducement of
a better tomorrow. Christians can also turn around if given the lure of better
things for the morrow.
I once met a Christian gentleman
in the staircase of my building who during the course of discussions professed
his astute love for Christ and how he was willing to die for Jesus. Today I
look at his brothers in Christ in a place called Nagaland and think of how they
could have betrayed their emotions and conscience when voting for the BJP. When
did their undying love and steadfast following turn to wavering?
Which brings us to the question
was the lyrist right in penning those lines and isn’t the prophecy of the song
writer telling in today’s environment. I can envisage Mrs. Louis standing
upright with a cane in her hand stoutly defending her faith. How I wish the
gentleman I met on the stairs would be a sample representation of the voting
Christian majority in Nagaland.
Alas! This isn’t reality, the reality
is that everyone is looking for a better tomorrow, everyone is looking for a
satisfactory day end, everyone is bothered only unto himself, it doesn’t matter
what Mrs. Louis taught him or what till the other day he had himself professed
like the man I met on the stairs.
Is religion man made and are gods up for sale?
Think deeper and arrive at your own understanding.
Robin Varghese
7th March 2018
