12 October 2012

GOD AT WRONG PLACES


GOD AT WRONG PLACE:
A wrong system has crept in to the cultural, literary and scientific society of India, out of which only the Odisha scenario will be discussed here. In most of the meetings of any nature of importance, a politician or film star or a cricket player or  any permutation &combinations ,are invited  as chief guest or guest of honour so that there will be  a good media coverage and public gathering. The beginning is colorful to keep the public and the chief guests entertained out of which one event pops out like a sore thumb.
Yes your guess is right—it’s the lamp lighting ceremony. Long long back there was no such formality. Later days it was a single brass lamp but with two too many to ignite the oil socked cotton roll, now we have two or three Decker lamp stands. A beautiful lady with nicely groomed hair, wearing a silk saree,well pefumed, with ear to ear smile will hand over a lighted candle to the chief guest. Behind this lamp stand will be the Lord Jaganath kept on a stool or chair. Why in a scientific seminar or a drama or book release or inaugural function the lord Jaganath should be humiliated on the dais? His place is in the temple not in a 5* hotel or an auditorium. The VIPs will be served soft drinks with chicken or fish fry in the same hall where the helpless Lord would be watching it with his wide open eyes. Can anyone do the same to the God of other religions in the same way?
Why in first place Lord Jaganath will be put on the dais? The real god whoever he may be (may or may not be from the list of 33crores of Hindu gods or from other religions) is omnipresent, omniscient, eternal, unseen& indescribable.
 Then one should not complain if some lady puts of a cloth, anywhere in the body with photos of deities of worship? No one has the guts not to follow this pseudo religious method of keeping a God’s idol or photo on the dais in any type of meeting. If someone objects then the fundamentalist are there to make hell out of this issue.
Let this practice be abandoned at least by the educational and scientific institutions and we should follow simple informal ethics of meeting &cultural functions on time without these irritating trailers.

SANJOY KUMAR SATPATHY
Bhubaneswar


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