I
just received a query from a friend on WhatsApp.
Have you received an invitation to visit the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha?
I
responded with a lot of laughing emoticons.
Then
I thought
Is
it a matter for laughter?
I
am a citizen of India whose Prime Minister is going to inaugurate the temple.
As a citizen, I deserve an invitation. Otherwise, the inauguration (whatever
name one may give to it in local languages) should be carried out by anyone
other than a government official. What has the government got to do with a
place of worship without involving the citizens?
I’m
grateful to my friend for provoking me to write this.
I’m
reminded of a parable I read in a cynical novel a few years ago.
Some crows were sitting on an electricity cable as they always do in
India as if they were mocking our entire systems. Even our electric power can
do them no harm, let alone the semiliterate politicians.
Then came a dove, pure white dove, from somewhere and sat a few feet away
on the same electricity cable.
One crow said to the next one pointing out the white colour of the different
one, “Saala, convert kar liya.” [The bastard has been converted.]
Anyone
who doesn’t look like us is a traitor in India today.
Religious
conversions are the worst crimes.
You
can rape in India. You can plunder. Kill. You can do whatever you wish. As long
as you belong to a particular religion, a particular political party. Wear a
particular robe of a particular colour. Worship a particular god - not the heavenly
one, you know.
Even
if you do all that, you won’t get the invitation to the inauguration [Pran
whatever] of the Mandir. Because the god there suffers from an acute sense of
insecurity.
I
have no problem about not being invited though I do feel let down as a citizen
of India. But my friend who sent me the WhatsApp message seems to have a
serious problem somewhere. He is a diehard fan of the god who suffers from the
most terrible feelings of insecurity in the world of ordinary mortals.
Agree. Thoughtful post
ReplyDeleteYou wrote:
ReplyDelete"One crow said to the next one pointing out the white colour of the different one, “Saala, convert kar liya.” [The bastard has been converted.]"
The translation of text within the square brackets, honestly is:
[The brother-in-law has been converted.]
Now Sir, never ever call bastard to anybody's brother-in-law, even if he is a convert or pervert or whatever and/or has not been invited to go to Ayodhaya or Vadodara etcetera, because this may lead to a mini Mahabharat war.! 😂
I was going to say I hate to say, but I'm clueless what an "Whats-app is. I really don't hate to say. But I don't know.
ReplyDeleteHari OM
ReplyDeleteYeah, there's a reason I don't app, what... YAM xx
You probably don't want to be there, anyway. Sure, you should have a right to go. But it sounds like it'll be filled with people you'd only argue with.
ReplyDeleteThe wedge digs deep.
ReplyDeleteThe growth of Hindu fanaticism is the product of Islamic threat - cruelty.
ReplyDeleteTHE TEMPLE WILL BE DESTROYED
ReplyDelete100% ! NO MATTER WHAT ?
WHETHER BEFORE OR AFTER CONSTRUCTION IS DONE - IS THE QUESTION !
THE WORLD HAS TO NOTE THIS VERSE IN THE GRANTH ! WHO IS REFERRED TO HERE ? dindooohindoo
Bhai Gurdas Ji Vaaran - Pannaa 33
ਦੁਹ ਵਿਚਿ ਦੁਖੀ ਦੁਬਾਜਰੇ ਖਰਬੜ ਹੋਏ ਖੁਦੀ ਖੁਆਰਾ।
Out of these two, the mongrels-apparently sadhus but internally thieves--are always in wavering state and, suffering for their ego, go astray.
ਵਾਰਾਂ ਭਾਈ ਗੁਰਦਾਸ : ਵਾਰ ੩੩ ਪਉੜੀ ੧ ਪੰ. ੨
ਦੁਹੀਂ ਸਰਾਈਂ ਜਰਦਰੂ ਦਗੇ ਦੁਰਾਹੇ ਚੋਰ ਚੁਗਾਰਾ।
Such double-faced thieves, backbiters and cheats remain pale-faced due to their bewilderment in both the worlds.