An article by TR Jawahar of Newstoday....
Oscar awardee, Resul Pookutty’s acceptance comment was quite telling: ‘I come from a civilisation that gave the world ‘Om’, the word before and after silence ....’ Indeed, it is quite heartening to hear India being referred to as a civilisation of yore than as a mere political and geographic nation-state born on August 15 1947. Also, that the primal sound ‘Om’ of vedic vintage has found resonance even with the whizkids of modern music is no mean matter either. But howsoever exalted and elated one may feel about Bharath’s civilisational moorings, the all too visible realities of present day India are by no means elevating. Really, this country though a millionaire in terms of inherited wisdom and spirituality remains a slumdog by many mortal and material standards.
A chance visit last weekend to Rishikesh at the foothills of the Himalayas was most revealing of this glaring dichotomy. Haridwar again seemed to enhance this divide. Kashi skipped my itenerary but visuals of it in a recent Tamil movie threw up ample evidence of the reigning trend. Indeed, the unholy state of many of our holy towns are ample proof of how spirituality and squalor reside cheek by jowl. And that is no comfort for a country laying claim to civilisational credentials of unmatched superiority. Really, whither divinity when desperation and depravity are what you see all around?
Truth, it is said, lies in the eyes of the beholder. An episode in Mahabharatha amplifies this, er, truism. Dhuryodhana and Yudhishtra who visit Krishna’s Dwaraka had different stories to tell their kin on return to their respective lairs. While the Kaurava king had only tales of woes to narrate, the son of Pandu overflowed with the glory of the same Dwaraka. Clearly, their eyes only saw what their minds wanted to which in turn was tuned to their own disposition to life. Indeed, every one of us has a D and Y within, but take a drive through Holy India, particularly in Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal, and you can bet the D’Yodhana in you to win hands down. Or for that matter, even on a boating ride downstream the holy Ganga which is fast turning into the holiest gutter in the world. But more on the holy G later.
India’s, and Hindus’, apathy towards their sacred towns is apalling. And this has nothing to do with secularism, or for that matter, pseudo-secularism. But it has got everything to do with pseudo-worship. Sure, a die-hard devotee should think of nothing other than the Shivalinga that he had set out to see in his pursuit of the divine. But that does not absolve him of the sin of despoiling god’s own vicinities with garbage. The easiest place to identify even in huge temples is the sanctum sanctorum. For, litter leads the way, that is, if you have not engaged one of those ubiquitous and prsistent touts, who claim exclusive rights to the passage to God. Vedic verses and rituals lay much store by hygiene, cleanliness and purification procedures of not just self and soul but the sorroundings too. There is however little to prove that the scriptures have been lived by. While we do not have video footages of these places, say during the reigns of Mauryas or Guptas, one can safely assume that the modern mess that these ancient towns have turned out to be are the handiwork of recent times when we are supposed to be more civilised. The helpless Gods would bear witness.
But the devotees’ disdain for the domains of their deities pales before official indifference. The Gods, it would seem, have been let down by the Governments too. The civic administration in most of these places appear to have taken off on heavenly sojourns and left the almighty to fend for Himself on the wretched earth. In fact, one can even bump into Him but there’s nary a sign of the government. These towns that house several shining shrines of spirituality are also shameful symbols of systemic failure. The land of Ganga is bereft of potable water. Public sanitation is virtually non-existent where people throng in millions. Dilapidated buildings and haywire traffic can beat the Gods in granting instant Moksha. Festivals like Mahasivarathri are actually mega nightmares. If despite all this, devotees and devotion survive, there must surely be a God doing daily duty! Incidentally most of these holy abodes are in Uttaranchal which is ruled by the BJP, the party that claims to champion the cause of Gods. Aah, if only gods can vote ...
Mayawati’s Uttar Pradesh through which much of my journey figured is a world apart. Having been let down by both Government and Gods, the gullible masses of this God forsaken land are a cursed lot. Even neighbouring Bihar seems to be making some headway, in the absence of Lalu, clan and cattle, but UP looks down and out. This State is truly the new benchmark of all things nasty, despite throwing up the most number of PMs, past and prospective, besides scores of MPs. As the highway meanders through dead towns, all you see is dirt, dust, deprivation and despair. But the critical D-word, development, is confined to Ambedkar statues and Mayawati’s cutouts. True to the Hindu scriptures, here everything is a maya. And Maya is everything too. Call the latter Devil’s scriptures!
A save-Ganga campaign is gaining momentum, but so do the silt and sewage in it. The great river, in all pristine glory, squeezes its way through the valleys of the Shivalik range and crawls on to the lap of Rishikesh, after passing under Ram and Lakshman Jhulas (hanging bridges). But once it hits the plains, the human havoc starts. At holy Haridwar, its waters are rationed by dams, sluices and canals to suit the various festival seasons and the attendent crowds. The bathing ghats that dot its banks are collection points of sins as well as sewage! But there is scope for the Yudhishthira in you to surface too. There are quite a few enchanting spots if you have the desire for real peace that the sages down the ages had sought. Swami Dayananda Saraswati’s ashram is one such oasis. The Ganga here is a sangfroid and serene spectacle as it rustles over the rocks and whispers to the winds. The ashram itself and the Swamiji’s satsang session a sort of Q &A ... no, not the gameshow of slumdog genre) were as soothing. Is not spirituality the default setting whenever the fatigued mind falls to the futilities, fears and frustrations of material pursuits?
There was much talk about Prarabdha Karma and how humans have to inevitably reckon with it. But what are we, when PK does not seem to spare even the Ganga and the Gods?
Source: http://newstodaynet.com/col.php?section=20&catid=30
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