Land of contradiction!

Today, two articles from the mainstream newspapers fascinated my simple mind. In the earlier pages of the Star, flashed in his saffron coloured robe and trade mark Afro hair was Sai Baba, the God-reincarnate and the story of his demise at the age of 86 (there is confusion,some say 84). And on his weekly column, a guest writer was writing about the octopus-like tentacles of corruption permeating into every strata of society of India and its prevalence of mammoth proportions there. I think that this two stories coming from the same land is a contradiction of sorts. 

On one hand, we have the land with the most number of holy sages in the world and on the other end we have corruption, the main reason of collapse of most Empires and civilizations!

At one time (1950 to 1980), all UFO sightings were exclusively in USA. Just like all, most holy men come from India; it is also seem to be a fertile ground for proliferation of religions - Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Jainism, Bahai, Judaism (yeah, that to), Buddhism, Zoroastrian, Sikhsm among others.

No, I am not going to ridicule this charismatic Holy man revered by sportmen (Tendulkar) and movie stars (Goldie Hawn) and have touched the hearts of millions, young and old, rich and destitute irrespective of their respective religious faiths. 

A Synagogue in Cochin, India.

One should not belittle things that one does not know. Just like a doctor who treats 'mysterious' diseases in an aboriginal community. Of all you know, it could be a communicable disease like malaria which is easily treated with oral medications. To the under-developed society, he is a demi-God or God-sent and will be put on a pedestal and be worshiped. Like our ancestors, the cavemen, who thought that natural phenomena  like thunder, lighting and typhoon were the wrath of the Gods, we are awed by individuals who have mastered certain knowledge beyond our comprehension. In the same way, we are flabbergasted by the antics of David Copperfield and Houdini. We easily associate them with association with the Dark Forces. (selling their soul to the Satan).

People in the limelight are never free from brickbats. Hence, in spite of the many good teachings advocating love and prayers in dealing with daily calamities as well as the many free health facilities and colleges , the cyberspace is rife with accusation of anything from tax evasion to paedophilia against this Guru. We will have to wait till 2023 for another God incarnate to manifest as Sai Baba had a premature expiry before his shelf life of 96 years! (As his followers say). In order to continue his legacy (and generate more income?), his physical remains are not to be cremated but buried instead. At least there will be a physical representation of him on earth. We do not want a case of 'out of sight, out of mind', do we?

In this religious land too, every now and then, especially of late, corruption has been in the limelight everywhere. I remember there was an undercover TV reporter who exposed a big time scandal involving politicians and brothels with hidden cameras recently. An excellent article written by Commi Kapoor can be read here. 

And life goes on! Religion is an important foreign exchange earner for India. Many industries directly or indirectly depend on it - airlines, tourism, temples, cabmen and related to these!
The land of contradiction is not exclusively the domain of India alone. Even Malaysia, a country which claims to be an progressive Islamic nation where droves of devotees throng the mosque on Friday noons after their lunch with so much piety and dedication have no qualms publishing and describing their foes' pervertious sexual activities in a full Monty on national TV and papers. This, happening in a self proclaimed conservative country where their sneak police snooping around to sniff out diners in the fasting month and couples involved adulterous extramarital bedroom antics is difficult  to fathom!