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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