Monday, October 12, 2015
Indiasyncrasy
Catholic community’s sudden hue
and cry to the play ‘Agnes of God’ is strange. This play was staged in Bombay
decades ago, and no one had an issue. Has no Catholic Nun ever got pregnant?
Has there never been Popes who fathered children and some of their kids who
went on to become priests and even a Bishop? Pedophile priests’ cases received
public attention and uproar throughout the world, especially in Canada,
Ireland, and the United States. Apparently in India we have never heard or will
hear of it rarely, as it swept under the altar.
If the Catholic community is, was
or ever will be serious about their ‘religion not being insulted’ then it
should avoid looking at defamatory material only from overseas and have a look
at stuff happening within India. The latest movie ‘Talvar’ which has received excellent
reviews, shows a sex case being probed in an angle of ‘missionary position’ as
the investigator gets inspired of the sex position, when he sees the crucifix.
An ad on used cars, shows Dogs with one of them named ‘Bosco’. Don Bosco is one
of the most revered and popular saints in the Catholic faith. In India many
educational institutes are built by the Salesians, a congregation formed by Don
Bosco. Many of the Alumni from Salesian Institutes are the ‘who’s who’ in a
wide spectrum of Industries, including a Minister in the current BJP
government. ‘Brothers’ another movie has an ‘item song’ with a popular heroine
who grooves to a raunchy song where she says her name is Mary. Now if the name
of the ‘Mother of God’ of the Catholic faith could be so shabbily used, why
this drama over a drama titled ‘Agnes of God’……….sheer making a ‘Madness of
God’.
Cow is sacred and it cannot be now
eaten, and cow slaughter is banned. If humans cannot eat something as it
represents a God, then what about food offered to Gods? Tons of liters of milk
are poured on God, makes one wonder does God need a health spa cleaning ritual.
Tons of rice kicked when a newly wedded couple enters a home and other rituals.
Tons of coconuts broken and thrown into the sea. The list of idiosyncrasy of
religion in India is endless, and can be coined as Indiasyncrasy; meaning
religious rituals which waste food by offering it to Gods. So Cow slaughter is
banned but human slaughter is not. The Dadri mob lynching of a 52 year old
Muslim, was rumored to have eaten beef, when he did not. This means a ‘human
slaughter’ is a lesser crime than a cow slaughter. A man has lost his life for
a crime he has not committed. Even if he did it, means a price he paid for
‘eating one man’s food which is another man’s God’. Cow slaughter is banned and
other animals like goat, water buffalo, chicken, etc. is legal, so similarly is
slaughter of particular ‘communities of people’, in India legal; in the garb of
religious extremism and beliefs?
Indiasyncrasy metaphor, can be
stretched even beyond religion, where culture and arts are banned if the
artists are from Pakistan. At the same time if we have a shortage of onions we
can import it from Pakistan. The reason behind artists being banned, is our
soldiers being killed at the borders. Our soldiers being killed, is the
impotency of our government(s) to wage war with Pakistan after so many
atrocities. So political parties who ban artists from Pakistan should have the
courage to speak against the government. Then these same parties ‘are in bed’
with the governing party to be in power. How can banning a singer from Pakistan
make any difference to Indo Pak relationship, or the no. of our soldiers killed?
If you look at it realistically
these parties have India’s and Indians safety and interest in mind, as always.
A singer named Tansen in India, could
bring down rains with ‘Raga Megh
Malhar’ and lit lamps with the
legendary ‘Raga Deepak’. So in all probability Ghulam Ali from
Pakistan could rain missiles on India with his ‘Ghazals’. It was a great
military strategy in banning Ghulam Ali, as had he to sing in Bombay, it would
have been a ‘Bombed Bay’.
Even naming Bombay to Mumbai could be political military intelligence, to deflect bombs aimed from Pakistan to Bombay……I mean Mumbai.
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]