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.

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