Om My God!

RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE

I reside in a fairly large apartment complex. The residents are active and friendly, but keep mostly to themselves. Most of them are gym freaks and make good use of the gadgets in the fitness centre. The gym is so crowded in the morning that I have to wait for a chance to get on the treadmill.

My neighbour was not the gymming kind. He kept confined to his flat, quiet as a mouse. He must have been of a spiritual bent of mind, for I could hear the sound of tinkling bells chiming in his flat at puja time.

Omm… the neighbour’s chanting vibrates through the wall separating our flats and shakes me up. What happened to my quiet neighbour? His Om booms like a lion’s roar now.

The lockdown has changed everything. Yoga has overwhelmed our lives as a panacea for anxiety and instability. As the coronavirus spreads its tentacles across the world, more and more souls are resorting to Om for spiritual relief. Our complex is no exception and the profound resonance of Om is popping up in flat after flat like mushrooms. An Om here, an Om there, Om Om everywhere! The volume varies from person to person like a fan regulator—from frail squeaks to deep-throated rumbles.

As a mute onlooker, I plug my ears till the morning wave of chanting gets over. Some have started ‘Oming’ in the evening as well, giving me no chance to listen to my own voice!

The groundswell of Om is acquiring catastrophic proportions. Confined to their flats due to social distancing, chanting by groups of devotees only succeeds in disturbing the peace in their homes. While the pandemic rages outside, pandemonium prevails inside. Like the ohmmeter that measures electrical energy, there is a dire necessity to invent an Ommeter that will compute the intensity of Om and regulate the degree of its impact. What makes me uneasy is that Om will soar like the Concorde to break through the sound barrier and crack glass panes in our building.

I asked my neighbour, ‘Do you believe Om will really salvage the world from the ravages of the virus?” Folding his hands and closing his eyes reverently, he replied, "They believe it will save us from doom, and I believe in their belief."

It left me pondering. Scriptures talk about the world’s imminent doom, how from complete chaos will emerge peace, like Phoenix rising from the ashes. I better join the Om movement pronto and contribute my little might to cleansing the world instead of melting it. Who knows when Ommeters will flip over the edge and go flat? Long live Om...