Of Godmen and Media

A couple of days ago, around prime time, the majority of TV sets in Tamil Nadu were all tuned to one particular channel. The channel had just won hands down the race to the top in no time. If you are wondering what they got right; simple logic, guys! The unbeatable formula: sex + religion + voyeurism! And all this couched in the delectable concoction called social responsibility and scientific enquiry! My foot!

Basically, a very famous godman was caught with his pants down and the entire episode was aired to the general public on prime time! And, in no time, his ashram has been ravaged, people have taken to the streets, and what not. It almost seems like the people in TN have woken up from a deep slumber and now are crying for justice and burning with the flame of propriety! A desire to correct the wrong. A desire to uphold the moral ‘Tamil values.’ A desire to bring to book all erring godmen! And leading this fight for reinstating of justice and morality is the TV channel that makes its living out of airing serials that uphold women oppression, caste structure, and, in general, help in tying the middle class to dreams of house loans and car loans at the cost of the sweat and blood of the working class.

Firstly, let’s deal with the godmen. Is this a new phenomenon or the idea of a guru per household always existed? Anyway, after the age of 20, the very idea of listening to another human being only sounds repugnant, leave alone listening to an enlightened guy! And, you have 40, 50, 60 year olds queuing up to some so-called enlightened souls! What’s with this enlightenment business anyway? Let me narrate here a small incident.

Once, I had visited a friend’s place for lunch. After a sumptuous lunch, I rested (read slept heavily) and woke up around 5ish, craving for my cup of tea. And, trying to be a well-brought-up-homely girl, I offered to even make tea for the entire household, but only to be quietened down with saccharin smiles. So, I waited thinking they were playing the good hosts, but nobody even moved for another 5 minutes (which is like really looong when my tea pangs start!). This time nobody could stop me; I started walking towards the kitchen, when they finally let the cat out of the bag: their guru’s advised them against ‘consumption’ of anything during twilight! My jaws just dropped, and of course, there was no looking back; I swore never to be around that house during twilight! Jokes aside, more than religion, the godmen seem have tightened their noose around unsuspecting and stupid people (which seems to be the majority).

So, back to this enlightenment business. I mean from where on earth do these fellows get the time to sit somewhere and mediate and attain the so-called bliss? The hippies of the 60s tell us that there are far easier ways of attaining ‘bliss.’ And, even if one did attain this bliss, what do you do? Everyone becomes blissful, smoke ganga, and dance? Who’s gonna plough the field? Who’s gonna sow the seeds? Who’s gonna harvest the grain? People, get real…you wanna see real people, real humanity, real pain, and everything that is even remotely real, simply shed off your ‘comforts’ and take a walk in the sun. Just that will teach you the pain that the vast number of mass humanity goes through each day! And my friends, enlightenment is not yet here! It’s yet to come, and believe me, it can happen only when all of us are together (as one humanity) in it. And, in our march towards that enlightenment, the first thing to be shot down should be religion; of the kind that makes you accept things the way they are and makes you blind to the existence of an enormous mass of humanity that is relentlessly struggling or is made to struggle for the rest. How on earth can there be bliss, if at all, in such a state of chaos? And, the godmen add their bit!

Secondly, the media. The less said the better? With this episode, this particular ‘progressive’ channel prides itself for exposing the ‘atrocities’ committed in the name of religion! But, the same channel shies away from exposing the brahminical practices that rule the roost in most of the temples in TN and has no compunctions about airing devotional serials! So, it all boils down to just a quick buck, eh? And bucks flow only when you encourage voyeurism! This entire episode just shows how we as a society have failed utterly! How even ‘protests’ can happen only when you voyeuristically see two people having sex! Our low-lying values just dropped further below any humanly detectable standards!