Skip to main content

Messing up Messiahs


Interfering with other people’s affairs seems to be a very common feature of the Indian culture.  The Sharmas cannot survive without finding out what is cooking in the Varmas’ kitchen and vice versa.  Worse, the Sharmas will not rest contented with poking their noses into the Varma tastes and flavours but insist on altering some of them.

Meddling with other people’s affairs, imposing our truths and notions on them, chipping away at others’ preferences and proclivities, moulding them according to our fancies is the most sickening aspect of existence in my country.  I have been a victim of this for most part of my life.  There was a dedicated group of people who wished to reshape my personality.  They took an inordinate interest in my affairs and started the chipping.  I must have looked like a gargoyle to them and they insisted on converting the gargoyle into a Galatea.  Nothing good came of it.  My life became a protracted agony which I endured – that’s all and nothing more.  I repeat, absolutely nothing good came of all the chipping they did. 

Wanting to be the Messiah in somebody’s life may be a noble wish in religions.  In actual life the cross is the best place for the Messiah.  If you are not happy with others save yourself from them by embracing your own cross.  Let others be.  There are thousands of religions in the world.  Millions of religious preachers.  Billions of prayers rise to the heavens every moment.  But the world has not become any better a place.  And it’s not going to be any better with all the gods and their chipping Messiahs. 

You can at best be an example by living your life as well as you please.  One good deed from you may inspire a gargoyle to smile instead of smirk. One good word can do far more than a thousand chisels when it comes to walking gargoyles. 

PS. Written for Indispire Edition 154. #LessonOfLife

 

Comments

  1. Amit AgarwalJanuary 27, 2017 at 11:48 AM

    Exactly my feelings..thank you Tom sir for giving words to MY thoughts:)
    I couldn't have said it this beautifully!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rekha'sJanuary 27, 2017 at 2:52 PM

    Very true Tomichand Ji. I guess, this is a past time of no of people. Specially negative and sick people love doing this. I really loved your sentence - "a dedicated group of people who wished to reshape my personality."
    Actually, They try to do this with everyone except them self.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJanuary 27, 2017 at 3:24 PM

      They are self-righteous. Others are wrong, according to them. Most such people have their pet gods too.

      Delete
  3. sunaina sharmaJanuary 27, 2017 at 5:17 PM

    Will they ever realize they are 'meddlesome'? No - they will always think that they are our well-wishers....!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Roohi BhatnagarJanuary 28, 2017 at 12:53 AM

    So true. If there is one story that is to be recited every morning, it should be about that man, boy, donkey and the villagers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJanuary 28, 2017 at 7:07 AM

      Gossiping is understandable. Self- anointed Messiahs go beyond that and ruin people...

      Delete
  5. Murthy K v v sJanuary 29, 2017 at 1:39 PM

    Sir. my review on your book. http://www.manabhadradri.com/2017/01/the-nomad-learns-morality-review.html#links

    ReplyDelete
  6. MansiJanuary 30, 2017 at 9:20 PM

    Wenever I m juggling with something in my life.. Your blogs always give me clarity. Also it's a great prompt

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJanuary 30, 2017 at 9:34 PM

      Glad to hear that Mansi.Juggling is unavoidable to a great extent anyway.

      Delete
  7. negiFebruary 5, 2017 at 9:59 PM

    to create the interest of kid in study visit http://www.kidsfront.com/

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Adventures of Toto as a comic strip

  'The Adventures of Toto' is an amusing story by Ruskin Bond. It is prescribed as a lesson in CBSE's English course for class 9. Maggie asked her students to do a project on some of the lessons and Femi George's work is what I would like to present here. Femi converted the story into a beautiful comic strip. Her work will speak for itself and let me present it below.  Femi George Student of Carmel Public School, Vazhakulam, Kerala Similar post: The Little Girl
44 comments
Read more

Nishagandhi – Queen of the Night

Disclaimer: A friend tells me this flower is Kalyana Saugandhikam (garland lily) and not Nishagandhi.  Finally one of my Nishagandhis has bloomed. Here’s the picture.  I have four pots of this plant which is quite exotic as its very name implies. Belonging to the Cactaceae family, this flower goes by different names. The Indian name ‘Nishagandhi’ comes from two Sanskrit words: nisha = night & gandh: fragrance. This flower blooms in the night and wilts as dawn breaks. I took the above pic just before sunrise this morning. I have waited for nearly half a year now for this blossoming. It’s not easy to get these flowers which have a divine touch. It is known as Brahma Kamala, Bethlehem Lily, and the flower of healing. The Chinese consider the Nishagandhi flower to be lucky. I consider it as cosmic flower. The Nishagandhi has many medicinal properties. Ayurveda uses it for treating diabetes, breathing disorders, throat infections, digestive problems, and so on. Of course, I don’t
8 comments
Read more

Octlantis

I was reading an essay on octopuses when friend John walked in. When he is bored of his usual activities – babysitting and gardening – he would come over. Politics was the favourite concern of our conversations. We discussed politics so earnestly that any observer might think that we were running the world through the politicians quite like the gods running it through their devotees. “Octopuses are quite queer creatures,” I said. The essay I was reading had got all my attention. Moreover, I was getting bored of politics which is irredeemable anyway. “They have too many brains and a lot of hearts.” “That’s queer indeed,” John agreed. “Each arm has a mind of its own. Two-thirds of an octopus’s neurons are found in their arms. The arms can taste, touch, feel and act on their own without any input from the brain.” “They are quite like our politicians,” John observed. Everything is linked to politics in John’s mind. I was impressed with his analogy, however. “Perhaps, you’re r
34 comments
Read more

The Ugly Duckling

Source: Acting Company A. A. Milne’s one-act play, The Ugly Duckling , acquired a classical status because of the hearty humour used to present a profound theme. The King and the Queen are worried because their daughter Camilla is too ugly to get a suitor. In spite of all the devious strategies employed by the King and his Chancellor, the princess remained unmarried. Camilla was blessed with a unique beauty by her two godmothers but no one could see any beauty in her physical appearance. She has an exquisitely beautiful character. What use is character? The King asks. The play is an answer to that question. Character plays the most crucial role in our moral science books and traditional rhetoric, religious scriptures and homilies. When it comes to practical life, we look for other things such as wealth, social rank, physical looks, and so on. As the King says in this play, “If a girl is beautiful, it is easy to assume that she has, tucked away inside her, an equally beauti
31 comments
Read more

Why do you fear my way so much?

Book Review Title: Why do you fear my way so much? Author: G N Saibaba Publisher: Speaking Tiger, New Delhi, 2022 Pages: 216 G N Saibaba breathed his last on 12 Oct 2024 at the age of 57. It may be more correct to say that he was killed by the government of his country just as Rev Stan Swamy and a lot many others were. Stan Swamy was an octogenarian, suffering from severe Parkinson’s disease and other ailments, when he was arrested under the draconian UAPA. He died in prison at the age of 84 labelled by his government as a traitor. G N Saibaba was a professor of English in Delhi University when he was arrested in 2014 under UAPA for alleged links with treasonous Maoist groups. Polio had rendered him absolutely incapable of free movement right from childhood. The prison authorities deprived him even of his wheelchair, making life incredibly brutal for him in the Anda cell of Nagpur Central Prison. The egg-shaped cell (‘anda’ means egg in India’s putative national language) i
5 comments
Read more