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| The Messiah who appeared in my village today The pic was clicked on my mobile phone from a distance of more than 100 m. |
Narendra Modi incarnated as a
Messiah of the Hindus when Hinduism fell in danger [Hindu
Khatre Mein Hai]. I came across another Messiah today in the empty junction
near my home just an hour or so before noon. This Messiah intends to save the
whole mankind, not just Hindus or Christians or any particular sect though his
god is Jesus.
I had gone to
buy a few grocery items from a shop just a kilometre from home. I live in a
village and this shop is in the village too though the road and the junction as
seen in the pic will give you the feel of a highway or something. This is
Kerala, a state which the Yogi of UP loves to project as the antithesis of his
Vrindavan. As I stopped my vehicle in front of the grocery shop, the words that
boomed from a loudspeaker fell on my eardrums like a thunderclap. “The world is
going to end.” I did not get out of my car. What if the world ends just as I
step out?
I listened.
If Modi thought that the Hindus were in khatre, this Messiah in my
village’s empty junction thought that the whole mankind was in danger. But
unlike Modi, this guy did not present himself as the Messiah. He was presenting
a new version of Jesus as the Messiah.
He criticised
all other religions and sects, including the many versions and factions of
Christianity, for having gods that waited to condemn people. “Your god is
waiting to punish you when you die,” he said. “Your god will send you either to
heaven or to hell when you die. I bring to you a god who is all love, who is
waiting to forgive your transgressions, who will embrace you with both arms in
spite of all your shortcomings…”
The guy had a
truck that carried him and his accoutrements such as the loudspeakers. He
parked the truck in the shade of a tree and started his Mann Ki Baat. But who
was he addressing? I put the question to my shopkeeper.
“I don’t know
what the man is doing,” the shopkeeper said. “It’s quite some time he is saying
the world is going to end and there’s no one to hear it anyway. Must be a
cranky fellow.”
Jesus also
preached the end of the world, I recalled to myself. Was he cranky? Was he not?
Aren’t most religious preachers insane?
There are
always signs to prove that the world is going to end. Right now the summer in
Kerala is hotter and drier than ever. It has made me think many times that the
world is going to end. And I know it has already ended the way it was a few
years ago when Kerala had routine showers that cooled its summers. Even the
weeds in my garden have dried up. Something without a precedent. Yes, the world
I knew has ended already. And the world you knew must have ended too. Just look
around.
Look at
Ukraine if nothing else.
Religious
lunatics cash in on these endings. Instead of looking at the causes and
solutions of the problem, they try to gather fools around them as followers and
disciples. And they succeed too. There are too many religious leaders in Kerala
whose wealth is comparable to Ambani’s and Adani’s. They have the eloquence of
Modi too. Mann ki Baat is the same as Dhan ki Baat for them.
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| The junction where the Messiah is speaking |
What I loved
about this preacher in my village is that he didn’t need any listeners
apparently. He must be really driven by some divine zeal to be able to stand in
a village junction and address the glaring sun on the road before him.
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteAs we leave each minute behind, it becomes as if dead, ended, complete. So yes, the world as we perceive it is in a constant state of destruction. No 'messiah' can alter the facts of physics! YAM xx
But some messiahs are here only to make hay while the sun is sinking!
DeleteThere are people who believed the world will end in 2000, killed their cattle and ate!
ReplyDeleteYes. Our one of our known lives came to end as every second pass by. This is the offering of all Gods to their disciples!
Btw, there should be a life-rewind button, which I can use now - in my 40s - to get into my past world to see how my primary teacher boosted my confidence and to know how patiently my father replied to my futile arguments.
I too lived through the apocalyptic panic in 2000. I didn't believe in any of that and so enjoyed watching the fun.
DeleteLooking at the global scenario, the climate change etc, its not difficult to agree with this fellow. But I am also optimistic that humans will find a way to survive
ReplyDeleteEnd of world is an old trick used by many religious gurus. Mankind has survived them but only survived not outlived.
DeleteOh! the Kerala, about the developmental stories of which, yogi and piñarai got into a collision course recently. During my college days, these fellows making their apocalyptic predictions and warnings used to settle down in the corners of dingy market places, now present themselves in
ReplyDeletemodern vehicles--indeed is a testimony to development.
This is the best business nowadays. Even politics is losing its sheen, thanks to people like our PM and his gargantuan sidekick. Pinarayi is almost nothing before them. Yogi knows his business.
DeleteReligion is super business. Yogi has combined religion and politics in one yoke that falls neatly on the silly people, aam aadmi.
I fear about the world ending every now and then. Not likely in my lifetime but I fear the world my children are going to live in. Although we all learn to survive but... On another note, this Messiah made me think of us, the writers, who keep writing a lot of things about the world and only once in a while a certain Matheikal parks the car to listen to us. The others call us lunatics and what not!
ReplyDeleteWriters are also quite nutty people, Sonia. :)
DeleteThe world isn't going to be an easy place anymore for anyone. I too worry about the coming generations. What are they going to be like? Robotic people? When I see the behaviour of my students I am inclined to see a good future for robots.
Good blog that keeps a man thinking on various factors.
ReplyDeleteThis life is a beautiful gift given by God to mankind. Love, peace, brotherhood, unity are all natural qualities which every human should possess to live a happy and a peaceful life on this planet.
If man invites his own destruction by attacking people or a country for petty reasons, then he is inviting his own destruction.
Nature does not want this world to end because nature is all about love and sustainment.
It is upto man to decide what he wants. The ball is in his court now to decide his own future.
The ball has always been in man's hands and he has played the game wrongly. All fouls. Even now the required level of realisation hasn't arrived.
DeleteYour posts make me think and that is why I like to read them. The 'ending' that happens with every 'passing' minute, decade and ideology may be the beginning of a new way but looking at what's happening around us, it feels more like we're heading towards our darkest hour. The dawn, hopefully, will appear on the other side--for another generation. Or, perhaps, this is how it has always felt to all those you abstain from fanatic following and use reason/logic instead. Perhaps.
ReplyDeleteProbably this is how it has always been and will be. Darkness more than light. The law of entropy works in morality too.
DeleteMann ki Baat is the same as Dhan ki Baat for them. Very aptly put.
ReplyDeleteIt's good business. Little investment, big returns.
Delete