We have grown accustomed to some things.One of those habits is ranting about corruption. Any leader who comes to the stage – is labeled corrupt.. The cops who run the show – are corrupt... Government employees who sit behind those creaky desks – are corrupt……..
There is no end to our speculation – even if we are proved wrong ; we show belligerence and say that they will be corrupt one day ; soon enough.. A few days ago I stumbled upon the world's most corrupt entity.
I was with my friends on a redemption trip long due ; since my secondary examination (which I had vowed to shave my hair if I aced; or rather mom made me) the Temple is quite famous(make your guesses ; I wish it remain anonymous for the greater good) .. We all have some sort of attendance in place in colleges , workplace , schools etc ; so I thought of the trip as something on the same lines. I’d say “R.Ajay Present” and climb down…….
I am no big-shot hence like all other nobodies (present tense , not future ; I have high hopes for myself ), I stood in line .. The same monotonous things were going on , the recurring topic of every post-pubescent guys’ group featured time and again.
When someone retorted inbetween to preserve the sanctum of the holy-holy place ; one from our group shot back about Krishna flirting with thousands of gopis ; analogies were drawn , things heated up and cooled down like the flip flop of a pendulum.
Half an hour later the peon arrived and proclaimed at the top of his lungs , “ things are damned in KALYUG , the Almighty requires a metal detector to save the jewels on himself and the lives of his devotees “, with an extra stress on the former point.
Then we stood in line for another 15 minutes .. It seemed people had come to vote but soon it became apparent that someone of influence was being expected. Otherwise the temple wouldn’t have been so crowded.
After all the seers have preached time and again that god resides within every soul. They do say that God is omnipresent and will come running when his devotees are devoid of hope. (Yadha yadha hi Dharmasyaa ; Glanirbhavati bharati ……..) ...But never has he once answered the calls of millions starving in the aftermath of some Raja/Kalmadi making a haystack.
Now the fact of the matter was that it was a complex of 3 temples and it was customary to visit all three. Its just that the chief minister gets a copter and we get Bata-chappals to scale the same.
Now for the time the minister took for his farce ; we were stuck in the crowd , with frequent chants of “Chalte raho”……God took a backseat as he patted about 10 people and pretended to hear them out for a second.
After the tempest calmed down , my friend inquired why I didn’t pray after coming all this way.
I said , “ Who was I supposed to pray to ? I didn’t even know where my feet were landing. When I looked around we were past the temple with no possible way of going back.
Now we entered the main complex (the central temple) ; the crowd had also migrated there. The priest was chanting and spraying holy water towards the masses. I noticed that he spent a lot of time spraying on a roped off region where about 20 people were standing; praying sincerely. Curious; I asked my friend for the reason.
He said - " They have the deluxe ticket, the counter at the entry has this facility of providing exclusive darshan to a few people who have a bunch of green to spare or are to donate heavily.”
Then I realised , when someone we based all our schools of thought in the ancient period and even now ; someone who is worshipped by children in schools everyday before they set down to read ; someone who is considered above all mortals doesn’t shy away from bribes , how do we expect select people to do so ?
There is no end to our speculation – even if we are proved wrong ; we show belligerence and say that they will be corrupt one day ; soon enough.. A few days ago I stumbled upon the world's most corrupt entity.
I was with my friends on a redemption trip long due ; since my secondary examination (which I had vowed to shave my hair if I aced; or rather mom made me) the Temple is quite famous(make your guesses ; I wish it remain anonymous for the greater good) .. We all have some sort of attendance in place in colleges , workplace , schools etc ; so I thought of the trip as something on the same lines. I’d say “R.Ajay Present” and climb down…….
I am no big-shot hence like all other nobodies (present tense , not future ; I have high hopes for myself ), I stood in line .. The same monotonous things were going on , the recurring topic of every post-pubescent guys’ group featured time and again.
When someone retorted inbetween to preserve the sanctum of the holy-holy place ; one from our group shot back about Krishna flirting with thousands of gopis ; analogies were drawn , things heated up and cooled down like the flip flop of a pendulum.
Half an hour later the peon arrived and proclaimed at the top of his lungs , “ things are damned in KALYUG , the Almighty requires a metal detector to save the jewels on himself and the lives of his devotees “, with an extra stress on the former point.
Then we stood in line for another 15 minutes .. It seemed people had come to vote but soon it became apparent that someone of influence was being expected. Otherwise the temple wouldn’t have been so crowded.
After all the seers have preached time and again that god resides within every soul. They do say that God is omnipresent and will come running when his devotees are devoid of hope. (Yadha yadha hi Dharmasyaa ; Glanirbhavati bharati ……..) ...But never has he once answered the calls of millions starving in the aftermath of some Raja/Kalmadi making a haystack.
Now the fact of the matter was that it was a complex of 3 temples and it was customary to visit all three. Its just that the chief minister gets a copter and we get Bata-chappals to scale the same.
Now for the time the minister took for his farce ; we were stuck in the crowd , with frequent chants of “Chalte raho”……God took a backseat as he patted about 10 people and pretended to hear them out for a second.
After the tempest calmed down , my friend inquired why I didn’t pray after coming all this way.
I said , “ Who was I supposed to pray to ? I didn’t even know where my feet were landing. When I looked around we were past the temple with no possible way of going back.
Now we entered the main complex (the central temple) ; the crowd had also migrated there. The priest was chanting and spraying holy water towards the masses. I noticed that he spent a lot of time spraying on a roped off region where about 20 people were standing; praying sincerely. Curious; I asked my friend for the reason.
He said - " They have the deluxe ticket, the counter at the entry has this facility of providing exclusive darshan to a few people who have a bunch of green to spare or are to donate heavily.”
Then I realised , when someone we based all our schools of thought in the ancient period and even now ; someone who is worshipped by children in schools everyday before they set down to read ; someone who is considered above all mortals doesn’t shy away from bribes , how do we expect select people to do so ?