Gambling in god's name

Those who have viewed the programme ‘Kaun Banega CrorepathI-2010’ anchored by Big B (Amitabh Bachchan)   cannot easily forget that particular episode in which a hot seat contestant threw away precious one crore rupees he had already won, in his vain bid to further multiply it 5 times! The contestant  had confidently given correct answers to all the 12 questions quizzed by big B to win the coveted one crore. The 13th question would reward him with Rs 5 crore if answered correctly and a wrong answer would reduce his total win to just 3.2 lakhs!  When big B explained the extent of risk involved at this stage and urged him to deliberate carefully before venturing further or quit, the contestant preferred to seek the guidance of Ganapati Bappa and after a brief silent prayer with closed eyes he confidently declared that Bappa has permitted him to venture further!

To his utter horror he failed to give correct answer to the crucial 13th question and lost heavily. It was obvious that he had absolutely no idea about the correct answer and chose to put the onus on the Lord and gambled. No doubt he would be holding Bappa solely responsible for the disastrous loss of that dream money of nearly a crore!

In contrast to this here is the case of my granddaughter who was to participate in an elocution competition when she was in the 2nd standard. Her father asked her to pray to her favourite Ganesha for success before leaving for school. The little one refused to do so explaining that she did not want to put her dear Lord in a dilemma since all the other participants too would have prayed to Him for their success! And she stood first in the competition proving that God helps those who help themselves.

Now look at our esteemed politicians who have vowed to devotedly serve the people (their own, of course!). They visit shrine after shrine seeking the protection of the Almighty to bail them out of the mega scams they are involved in. But when in power they conveniently forget the very God who has given them enough sense to distinguish between good and bad. They do not hesitate to commit heinous acts to acquire undue wealth by every possible means. And these are the ones who suddenly become God-fearing and rush to the deity to rescue them when caught and exposed.

What do they expect God to do? Appreciate their skill at performing those spectacular vanishing acts involving public wealth of astronomical magnitude and help them to get away unscathed?  ‘As you sow, so you reap,’ said the Lord in the Gita - so be it for ever!