Akshaya Tritiya

Monica, a distant acquaintance of mine, was waiting for a bus at the junction as I happened to drive by. I stopped the car and she accepted the lift.

“Today is Akshaya Tritiya,” she said when I asked her something to start a conversation.  She was going to buy a little gold, “just a few grams”, to ensure prosperity for her family at least for the coming year.

“This is like Modi ji making the quadratic equation or the Fermi problem the main theme of his election campaign,” I said.

“What’s the connection?” She wondered aloud. “I know that you are an inveterate Modi-baiter. But what’s the connection with Akshaya Tritiya?”

“What’s the connection between Akshaya Tritiya and your family’s prosperity?” I threw a counter-question.

“Don’t tell me you don’t watch the TV,” she said. “Haven’t you seen at least some of those ads about Akshaya Tritiya?”

Just then a huge billboard appeared round the corner.

“This prosperity is like the fifteen lakhs promised by Modi ji five years ago,” I smiled.

“You are an atheist, that’s the problem. You don’t believe and you don’t respect other people’s beliefs,” she was visibly annoyed.

“I try my best to respect people’s beliefs, Monica ji,” I said. “But even beliefs need to have some basis, you know.”

“What’s wrong with people believing that prosperity will come to them?”

“When they buy gold on a particular day?”

“Why not?”

“Because it won’t come.”

“So sure?”

“Absolutely,” I paused. “Prosperity will come if you work for it. Of course, there’s nothing wrong in buying gold and keeping it for your future use. Gold is an investment. You can invest in gold on any day; the best day would be when its price comes down rather than on a day like this when the price is pushed up by the traders who have put up all those advertisements all over.”

“But there’s a religious belief about this day which you are not willing to respect.”

“Should I respect ignorance, Monica ji? The simple truth is that there’s no such connection between Akshaya Tritiya and prosperity. Akshaya Tritiya is the annual spring festival of the Jains and Hindus, particularly in North India and Nepal. For the Jains, who observe it more religiously than anyone else, it is a day of austerity. They observe fasting and focus on charity. The day is also considered auspicious and hence certain investments are made too. The wily businesspeople chose to focus on that theme of auspiciousness in order to hoodwink gullible people, Monica ji.” I was tempted to add “like you” but resisted.

“Please drop me there,” Monica said pointing at a three-storey jewellery in the town.

“All the best,” I said as I slowed the car. “May you have a lot of prosperity in your days to come.”

I raised the volume of the FM radio in the car. “How can the Congress be forgiven for insulting the Hindus in front of the world?” Modi ji’s voice boomed. He was speaking at a rally in Wardha, according to the newsreader. “Weren’t you hurt when you heard the word ‘Hindu terror’?”

“Ah, Modi ji,” I muttered to myself, “you should have been in the advertising business.”