Gods' have not forsaken GOD's own country - If you may

I have been in Kerala this past fortnight. After leaving active Army service in 2004 this is the longest time at a stretch I have spent in my childhood environs. Oh! Then these are not the times to rejoice or to reminisce. Nature’s fury, force majeure’ as it is known in insurance documents, has wreaked havoc in the state as, maybe, never before. Lakhs of people of various dispositions have lost all. The infrastructure has crumbled to nothingness in many palaces. The only solace is that the tragedy has proved the continued existence of humaneness, empathy, compassion and love. They helped in the deluge of the tragedy. Yet they can only do so much in the process of rebuilding lives, homes, panchayats, districts and the state. State needs, I am told, more than Rs. 40,000 crores to rebuild the infrastructure. Personal losses are in addition. No country can produce such large sums in a jiffy…except INDIA.

All this in God’s own country. At this juncture allow me to interpose a piece I had published in this forum more than five years back.

The piece starts……

“I was in Kerala yesterday. They call it God’s own country.   It was raining when I landed there in the morning. It continued to rain while I was with the Gods in their country – isn't it actually my country? It was the same rain as in my pre-preteen and teen years. I remember the very same smell, even in my dreams.  A sudden desire to do nothing – nothing productive that is – engulfed me.  That is how Gods want Kerala to be. Those who want to work have to get out of that ‘country’. Those Gods there just do not like anybody working. Well aware of these feelings I do not carry my lap top to Kerala. That would be an affront to my Gods there. Statistics are rolled out to prove that Kerala consumes more alcohol than any other state in India. Well, I suppose tippling falls in the category of doing nothing.

Even during my sojourn amidst coconut groves, soaking in the monsoon and savouring ‘karimeen varuthate’ (A special fish fry) and kallu (toddy), further south in the Capital of the state, on the premises of the Padmanabhaswamy temple (famous for the new found treasure) priests and astrologers were closeted with the Gods as only they can to get Gods' mind on the treasure (the process is known a devaprasnam wherein these interlocutors of the sacred and heavenly bodies can converse directly with the Gods!). In the ‘press conference’ that followed it was revealed by these self style 'spokespersons'  that the Gods do not want the ‘treasure’ to leave the temple and the sixth vault (gold, silver et al worth over 1 lakh crore rupees were found in vaults 1 to 5 a few weeks earlier) was not to be opened! They claim that the treasures discovered at the temple must not be moved, or the wrath of the gods will be unleashed.

 It is sad that some of us still live in the past (dark ages) and wait for a modern day Timur, Ghazni, Ghori or Clive to come and take it all away and watch history repeat itself.

 "The wealth should not be displaced. The lord is not pleased with intrusion into the chambers that has already taken place. And none of the valuables should be exhibited within the temple or outside. If you do so you will go against the lord's will," said Padmnabha Sharma, Temple Astrologer.

I swear that was not what the Gods told me when we were sharing karimeen and kallu in the rain! Alas! nobody listens to me or MY Gods."  

……. the piece ends.

Fast forward to the present….

In Kerala, Devaswom is a socio-religious trust with government or society/community nominated members as trustees to manage temples and its assets and ensure smooth functioning of temples as per traditional rituals and customs. In Kerala, almost all, temples are either managed by Government controlled Devaswoms as a cluster for temples falling under its direct administration or , a few of smaller ones, overseen by private bodies/families.

The combine wealth of the temples and churches in Kerala will add to tens of thousands of crores.

The paradox of wealth and dearth playing out in Kerala would not have been lost on the Government. All this wealth in the temple and churches (from published sources) have been horded for centuries for what purpose? I am not aware of the wealth available in other religious institutions, if any.

If it was not ‘GOD’ who facilitated the availability of all this wealth close at hand, what IS ‘GOD’?

Forward Ho!
Kelly

This and that – Recognise change.

This and that – Recognise change.

“Divisive politics…”, “dividing the country” ; I hear this parroted too often by various commentators,  authors and sundry arm chair critics in recent times in reference to current events. I am not a student of history as it is not a science. History is often distorted and dictated, knowingly or unwittingly, by those who record it.  History is one narration that has to constantly change while the historical events are the truth and constants.

In the recent times authors like Amish Tripathi, Devdutt Pattnaik and others are giving varied perceptions to epics like the Mahabharata and Ramayana among others, (recommended reads if you have not already a fan…). It is obvious that the Gita could not have been ‘taught’ to Arjun by Krishna in a day or two and not even in the eighteen days of the duration of the great battle at Kurukshetra. All scriptures of all religions have been composed and written by human beings with various capacities of intelligence and prejudices. Just believing them blindly without an understanding of the whys, when and where these were composed is utter foolishness to say the least. To that extent authors like Amish give different perspectives to historical and mystical events.

The recent comments from certain individuals regarding the Taj Mahal or RSS involvement in the Mahatma’s killing, nor similar comments from anybody on any event of the past, are certainly not a crisis situation as made our by some sections of the press. In a democracy advocating free speech such comments are only to be expected. The 4000 odd legislators are also citizens of the democracy. They too have their views…and some of their views need not conform to the views of the party. That is democracy.

To illustrate a point, let me state that even as a school going kid I have always believed that Gandhiji and his movement are not the sole reason for India’s Independence. I have always argued my point as such in my circles and not for a moment I have considered myself less of an Indian than the other.

The only permanence is change. We have to learn to adapt to change. Change in religious “beliefs”, societal behavior, politics, governance, way cricket is played and everything. Culture is not wearing a Sari, a bindi, a burqua or a hijab, it is all about relationships between humans. Culture is about embracing change and adapting.

If the mind is pure and unprejudiced and we as citizens have our priorities right, no force can be divisive or divide the country.

Recognise change and adapt.