Founders of every major religion of the world addressed themselves to the problems facing human societies of their time. They were clear in their priorities. Hebraic religions like Judaism, Christianity and Islam made one God the centre-piece of their codes of morality. Jainism and Buddhism questioned God’s existence and regarded Him dispensable. Hinduism did not put much stress on the oneness of God - a good Hindu would believe in one or a multiple of gods and goddesses but had to abide by dharma (social obligations). Bhakta saints influenced by Sufi Islam accepted the concept of one God and elevated the role of the human gurus to a godly status. Whatever their theological differences, their acceptability depended on how they tackled issues of primary importance to the people among whom they lived. There was, and is, nothing eternal about any religion. If it does not keep up with the times, it gets ritualised, institutionalised and confined to places of worship which provided comfortable living and status to those lucky enough to be regarded as the Guardians of Faith. We must learn a lesson from their history. First get our priorities right, then search for solutions and finally harness religious zeal which is inherent among people to solve them.
Our top priority today is to check reckless breeding which is outstripping those resources that the Earth and human effort can provide. Reckless breeding deprives the poor of food, clothing, shelter health cares and education; it increases educated unemployment and leads to civil strife. Our second priority is closely linked with the first. It is to protect the Earth on which we live. We have done enough damage to it; deprived the soil of nutrients, destroyed millions of acres of forest cover, polluted rivers and lakes and made their water undrinkable. We continue to immerse idols coated with poisonous stuff, killing fish by the millions. Ask yourself, “Do any of our religions deal with these problems?” No, they continue to talk about peace of mind and truth, love, etc, which though important enough in building character, are of limited social significance. That is why people of my way of thinking discard them as thoughts of marginal significance.
What about today’s preachers of ancient religions? Do they foresee the problems facing us today? I make it a point to listen to them regularly on TV channels. There are over a dozen men and women to be seen and heard every evening. Most of them have a way with words and know how to put them across. There are the two Bapus, Asa Ram and Murari. One speaks in confidential whispers, whistles and breaks into unmelodious songs. The other, a spiritual adviser to the Ambanis and sympathiser of the BJP, has a soulful voice. There are two powerful looking men of Osho Dhara who give me a refresher course on Indian religions. My favourite is Kripaluji who is knowledgable and a powerful orator. Quite a few others speak in English, mispronouncing every word as linguistic patriots do. I watch all of them in turns while I take my sundowner. I treat them as manoranjan (amusement), much funnier than the saas-bahu kinds of soaps which most TV channels beam with nauseating regularity. I prefer these pervachans because they don’t require me think of real problems; they are meant for the unthinking audience.
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Deifying Indira
Of all the men and women who worked with Indira Gandhi, the one who came closest to her for the longest period was Usha Bhagat. She joined her household staff when she was only Prime Minister Nehru’s daughter. She stayed on when she became Minister of Information and Broadcasting and then later, Prime Minister. Usha saw more of her as her social secretary than M O Mathai, P N Haksar, Seshan, P N Dhar, Sharda Prasad, Yashpal Kapoor or R K Dhawan. She was with her for 31 long years. Unlike some members of her secretarial staff, she did not cash in on her closeness to the boss. Mathai raised money in the name of his mother’s trust; Kapoor and Dhawan, who started off as steno-typists and ended up as MPs, acquired huge bungalows and farm houses. Usha Bhagat made nothing besides being the principal lady-in-waiting to her Imperial Majesty Indira Gandhi, the Empress of India.
Usha Bhagat’s memoirs of her years with Indira Gandhi could have been in the genre of exposes of the kind the butler saw through the keyhole, exposing her mistress’s strong points as well as frailties. However, she has chosen not to do so because of her attitude; that of the veneration of a devotee towards her human goddess. In Indiraji (Penguin Viking), she glosses over her heroine’s vindictiveness towards people who at any time crossed her path; for example, her aunt Vijayalakshmi Pandit, and her family, Tarakeshwari Sinha and Maneka Gandhi. She revelled in snubbing people who thought she owed something to them - Ramesh and Raj Thapar and her biographer Dom Moraes. The number of men she imperiously cut to size because they had been critical of the Emergency runs into dozens; for example Ambassador Kewal Singh Chaudhury, Ambassador Jagat Mohta and Dr Karan Singh. She made snubbing a fine art. None of this finds mention in Usha Bhagat’s memoirs. Nor does she have anything to say about Indira Gandhi’s indifference towards the alarming increase of corruption among Ministers of Cabinet and Chief Ministers of States. Instead, there is a lot of trivia about herself, including slips of paper on which Mrs Gandhi scribbled a few lines and the letters she received from her. All this makes Indiraji very tedious reading.
Saturday, October 8, 2005
English
for you
