The ruler is here

The day before the vote were counted, I was travelling through the city. The candidates who were made to look handsome and beautiful before the elections had started to fade and were peeling off the walls. We are having these exercise every 2-3 years at different levels and we have been spending a fortune everytime. What a paradox

In the evening I was out with my old buddy. We got into a hotel which seduced us with the 'Borotta and Beef fry' board. As we got in, he said we might never know if we will get to eat these from tomorrow.

The night when results were declared : Tonight I am not sure of what to feel. The vast millions have written their destiny for the next couple of decades.The mandate was so unanimous that it seemed that opponents were washed off in a tsunami
Personally I went through a roller coaster ride. On one hand I am happy that there was a regime change. On the other hand we are not very sure of what's coming up. But, without any doubt, we might have writen our destiny for the next two decades

At this juncture, the wisest thing is to have an emotionally detached viewpoint on the whole exercise- the trends and results

1. Social media impact
In this election, for the first time, social networks were used extensively. I woul say the trends are not very good . The reason being, negativity can be spread so easily and with such a vast and direct coverage, impact is the maximum

Added to that traditional news media also have started to adopt the maximum impactt journalism. To my surprise even the conservative media houses preferred the same

As a result we had terms like- weak ruler, terrorism, insurgency, threat, foreigner, Madam, minority appeasment dominating  the mindspace. I am positive there was no serious discussion on the real failure of the incumbent government.
Besides the opponents didn't commit anything other than 'good days', 'strong leader' , 'revenge ' and 'temple'.

2. The idea of corruption
I don't think ever before we had such a serious discussion on corruption. The figures grew obsinately high. There were allegations and counter allegations.. Rather than the idea of corruption, the feeling of a foreigner family taking off with our wealth must have hit the right chords in the electoral minds.
The high level of inequities would've positively started an anti incumbency feeling. But was there a discussion on the inequity ? I wouldn't think so

3. Religion and Nationalism
Is India a Hindu state? We may have to answer the question in near future. BJP , traditionally party for the upper caste , stood silent as the lower castes started identifying themseleves as 'Hindus'.
Not so long ago, the same population was thown off into the fringes. Now realizing the importance of numbers, they were lovingly brought into the wider 'Hindu family' .

The feeling of religion and nationalism has dangerously mingled with each other. There is a popular school of thought which says everything not-Hindu is not-Indian. There was a very visible religious polarization even among the educated Indian.
The country has been compared to a Hindu Goddess who should be worshipped. Why the need for this blatant and visible show of patriotism. To me the country is a collection of people and nothing more.

Even more disturbing is the fact that hate merchants were deployed to propagate the message. These people were officially detached from the mainstream party, but they brought in votes and the votes came in huge numbers. Over the national level Dr Samy, who has done extensive survey on 'Gandhi' family is one. Years ago when he started spewing venom, he attracted huge negativism. But down the years he has converted that negative energy into a considerable fan base.

4. Third alternative
India lost any chance for a third front. None of the leaders had a pan India image and everyone wanted to be the prime minister
One such party , SP, literally played into the BJP trap with a poorly mismanaged communal riot. This fetched BJP some 80 seats and more

The left has been completely decimated. In kerala, they failed to present a strong candidate for the race.

Like it or not, Kejriwal seems to be the only option for a third alternative. He is known over the country and his only weak point is the tendency to self destruct.

The White Smoke

The abdication of Pope Benedict was a shock as well as a mystery. The rumor mills failed to take off in India. The Mallu papers even went on to the extent of glorifying ‘the sacrifice’. The western media weren’t that kind though. The hushed talks about the pope failing in his fight against financial & accounting malpractices came up. Moreover his zealous stand against the liberation theology failed to find him many fans.

Pope John Paul left behind a pious & sagely image. He was not well known for his hardline stance against the dilution of ‘core values’. Still western corridors of power were ever grateful to him for his positive approach to the solidarity movement in Poland. He was seen off with much fanfare. Sadly Pope Benedict had to take the reins when the church was hitting the bottom with so many allegations & abuse around the world. It wasn’t the medieval period & brushing it under the carpet only helped the issues stink more.

From the way I see it, the success of a pope depends on how well you are sellable to the media. Simplicity is a good USP. You will have to have a few photos & stories to make the point’ Slow movements , gentle voice, portly figure are added flavours. It’s better if you make the right sounds & stay out of politics & economics of the globe.

The church of today is so different from the one long ago. The election of the popes were itself mired with controversy and rumors of huge money going to & fro before the white smoke piped out. The popes themselves were ruthless, had army of their own & waged wars against the landlords/kings who defied them. The popes lived in luxury & begat illegitimate children too. There was also an infamous period of papal schism, when two popes ruled the church simultaneously. But today the flock prefer their priests to stay in church, do social services & conduct masses. Running the country is best left to professionals.

One convenient truth everyone tends to forget is- no religion was created for the sake of creating a religion. The prime objective- be it Hinduism, Islam or Judaism- was running & managing the well being of a society. The argument that religion should stay away from politics is lame & is of crooked interests. The church should pro actively involve with matters of the world even if it has to shed the meekness factor.

The common man cannot align his minds with the modern intricacies of democracy , socialism or communism. But he would be comfortable to understand the scriptures he have been hearing from his childhood.  He would have set his living standards from the scriptures.

Is it the right thing to keep him out of decision making process that pertains to his life? On the pretext of him being too illiterate is it fair to allow the businessmen, aristocrats & oligarchs to make his decision. All the so called ‘phobias’ & animosities is a part of a bigger game to keep the common man from governance.

I call for our churches & mosques to be power centers!!

Hangman

I’m on the train making my weekly sojourn home. After 5 ½ days of intense boredom& loneliness, the 1 ½ day with friends and family is a sort of redemption. Usually the train would have been crowded. But strangely that day was an exception and I sat peacefully reading & dozing off. The guy sitting opposite to me fishes out the evening paper. I glance at the front page & am stunned-

‘Afzal Guru Hanged’

 GoI is on a come back mode. After hanging on to the ropes for past few years, they are coming out with all guns. The offensive is so much so that even the opposition are forced to applaud the ‘achievements’. One such achievement was hanging the ‘deadly terrorist’ Kasab in secret. The whole of India rose up to celebrate the vengeance. And we pretended not to have seen that mo one wanted the deadly terrorist- neither the evil government on the other side nor any evil organizations not even his family members. The poor guy was celebrated only in India.

Now the GoI realized that hanging in secret and sending a speed post is not a bad idea & they hang the second guy- Afzal Guru. This news should’ve gladdened the collective conscience of the nation. At this rate it wouldn’t be difficult for Rahul to beat his archrival in the next elections.

Despite wavering network connectivity, I managed to login to Twitter. The collective conscience of the nation was on another celebratory mood. Apparently the law, order, peace & justice have triumphed over the evil guy with a long beard. Tactfully the spokepersons of political parties were Muslims, giving the impression that secularism is of the country is still intact.

By evening the liberals shook themselves out of inertia and came into offensive. Predictably it was A.Roy who led the gang with her half concealed rhetoric. The arguments & counter arguments flew back and forth. Soon it became apparent that it was not entirely a black & white picture. The Indian demography hasn’t taken kindly to the hanging.

The next day I was planning to pay a visit to Bheemappalli. Although it housed a shrine of some saint, the place was more known for the trading of pirated DVDs and similar black marketed goods with the blessings of the Masjid council. Sadly the morning newspapers were splashed with a strange news. The police tried to raid the place. The traders tore the search warrant off as the raid didn’t have the ‘permissions’ of Masjid council. I was amused. Going there would be a risk. But still i decided to make the call and see how it would go. To my surprise everything was quite normal. People went about doing their ‘illegal’ business with calm and poise. I went to the tea shop. As usual the guy served me with callous indifference. Soon two hefty guys in long beards came in. The attitude of the tea vendor changed. Love and respects flew back and forth.

I stood back and wondered- globalization, liberalism, religious extremism & exclusivity – we are heading for a dangerous mix.

Institutionalization of finer elements of life

Institutionalization of finer elements of life

If the word ‘institutionalization’ is synonymous with a movie it’s ‘Shawshank Redemption’ . The pitiful Tim Burton plotting methods to escape the gradual death, sentenced by the society standing on a higher moral ground.

We have a family tradition of meeting up for lunch during festival seasons. This Onam we had our luncheon get together at our uncle’s. They invited in their parish Vicar to grace the occasion. He was young, smart and witty. After the sumptuous lunch he sat down with a deep sigh and out of nowhere started a religious discourse. To me this sounded as a fee for the free lunch. He started with every Vicar’s favourite topic. The moral degradation of youth, lack of piety in the family, lowering attendance in churches. 

My dad being a fervent anti church  guy seized the occasion and blamed the entire evil on the bishops. He pointed out at the bishops being invited to inaugurate rich man’s textile shops, boutiques, jewellery. Is it a bishop’s duty? The Vicar being the soldier of the church had to defend his bosses. The vicar came up with an interesting observation. The bishop after the inauguration asks the owner to donate some money for the charitable organisation. The big hearted owner willingly does so. At the end of the day the rich man is happy, bishop is happy and some unfortunate being is also happy. What other example is needed for the ideal Christian harmony: The peaceful redistribution of wealth. 

Even with a highly literate population, Kerala is well known for the number of demi gods it creates. At the blink of an eye, they amass huge wealth and at the same time ‘untouchable’ status in media and power circles. Ofcourse, the favourite topic to thrive on is love and ‘the same God theory’. One such ‘Godess’ is Amrithananda Mai. Her orgins were very ordinary. Predictable she had some vision, got a few spirituality-starved Americans around and the rest was history. The prime time ritual is hugging and kissing everyone around. Then came Engineering colleges, Medical colleges and Nursing colleges along with vast acreage of land in European countries

She went on preaching and hugging for world peace and love, while a bunch of poor nurses were forced to do bonded labour without pay at her hospitals. When this was questioned goons were sent in to tame the rogue nurses. A few broken bones & a little prime time bad publicity  were the inevitable bitter wine. Soon she filled the hoarding. Apparently the country was getting ready to celebrate the 60^th birth anniversary of love incarnate. Everything seemed to be forgiven mutually and she was back to loving and hugging ritual.

The very institutions that are supposed to protect and preserve the precious traits of life like love, justice is getting itself busy in manipulating and exploiting them. Is it some form of religious corruption?

Right from 

our childhood we have been taught and programmed to believe that ‘A’, ‘B’ , ‘C’ are good qualities of life and life enhancing. While the ones like ‘D’, ‘E’ ,’F’ are abominable. Whoever exhibits d,e or f ought to be punished or castrated from daily walk of life. The real problem is we fail to see that the so called good qualities are defined so as to sustain the institutions. Hence the traits that ought to sustain human life simply becomes traits that sustains the privileged few.

I am not trying to single out any individual. But its a collection of individuals themselves who set up an institution and manipulate mindset of masses. And institutions are devoid of any race, religion or colour. So here are a few so called ‘good’ qualities that are subjected to subtle manipulation.

You are taught to ‘work hard’ for your success. So you slog your ass off believing that some day you will be able to earn just enough to overcome the hardships of life and save some money left over from the legal looting. As you are so meek and peace loving, you can never question the gross injustice you suffer. Besides you are taught that the almighty would take it upon himself to punish the wicked and justice is none of your business,  The good news is since corruption is being renamed as charity and donation, it will soon climb into good qualities of life category. The only corrupt left in the country would be auto-wallahs who charge you more.

So here’s a handful of institutions monopolising people’s ability to choose between right and wrong. Justice is served only to a few and in the way they choose. Even when a few swindle money, kill, loot and rape, they are untouchable as they stand on the other side of line. 

But i have hope on the swarming millions who stand on the wrong side. I hope they will stand up to question.

Jesus who?

I am kind of regularized in my exercises nowadays. The motivation being the buckle hole progressing more and more out. Besides I discovered a cute and rough ground here around where are a few old men running for their lives. I do a few rounds of jogging and move on for my warm ups. The secret pleasure being listening to the conversations discreetly. I try to make out their names, beliefs, occupation, fantasies and even their vulgar jokes.

It's then I heard about the protest march from the church to the town square. I was interested to see how many would dare to attend under a scorching sun. I was surprised to see rows after rows of people, priests, bishops and rest of the gang through the streets under burning sun protesting human rights violations meted out to Mr. Jesus. I looked at all these dumbos and felt my blood boil. Jasmone, the bitch, is responsible for fanning my anti-establishment passions.

Here’s what happened in a nutshell. The communist party of Kerala, were too eager to showcase their new found affinity for religion and put a portrait of Jesus with Karl Marx. They classified St.Sebastian as a revolutionary. Then they further went to make fun of capitalists by doing a caricature on last supper. The issue wouldn’t have ballooned if the biggest Mallu newspaper, Malayala Manja Manorama, hadn’t invoked the passions of ignorant Christians. Thankfully I was posted in the nerve centre of Christian soldiers and hence saw how the battalion went to battle.

I wanted to put down my thoughts but couldn’t come out with a clear idea. I realized how difficult it is to define the man, Jesus. Well here goes what I feel about him.

Was Jesus a revolutionary?

I guess it’s a stupid question this age. ‘Revolutionary’ is no longer the fashion now. It was the hip word a few decades ago. We may use the word ‘global’ instead. Was Jesus global? Nine out of ten for yes. Every body loves him- one end of earth to the other. But Jesus wasn’t so popular back then. Jewish hierarchy hated him and he didn’t have a good PR team to chill out with Romans. He preferred to party out with the miserables. They just ran away when it mattered to him the most. So will anyone disagree when I say:

No, Jesus wasn’t popular.

Was he a God?

I repeat I used ‘was’ and not ‘is’. Jesus never claimed he IS a god while he was in his human form and he never demanded worship. All the miracles he did, he said it could be done by a man with even the smallest iota of faith. The church saw encroachment of certain amount of Greek philosophies into Christianity and cut off the argument there. Jesus was raised from among the human race into heaven. Then they consecrated a special category to stand in between him and men- clergy. As far as I see his sole purpose was to bring Yehovah down to humans. Why are we driving him away?

Thanks to the world getting smaller and apple getting blacker- Jesus is getting popular. So the question comes up like- Was he a conservative? Was he liberal? Is he ok with gay marriages? No clue dude.

Was Jesus a peace lover?

Everyone loves peace. Gone are the days of war mongering barbarians. No one likes a good fight anymore. Right from the pope to the rock fan every one will flash the bull horns of peace. Jesus did say a few words on peace. Wait what’s peace by the way.

If he was a peace lover why did he have to die so cruelly. He said he came to preach the good news. But many of them was pissed off with the news. If he came for peace, peace wasn’t through Peace. He ruffled quite a few feathers, did some very atrocious things, said some unpleasant words. Even he couldn’t unite the disciple gang. While we say he was a man of Peace lets not belittle his times and purpose.

It gets a bit murky when the Church claims a legacy to Peace. The history of church never had been smooth. It was always dotted with trials, tribulations, power struggles, treachery, lust, crusades. I doubt if the Peace concept is equated to inactivity. The church has graduated from the bottom rungs to powerful circles. When there is no scope for Struggle lets better be peace lovers. Lets better stay out of all the bad things and leave the world for the evil men to run.

Was Jesus a Christian?

He was a Jew for sure. I don’t think he was much interested in being a Christian.

Guys, he was beyond all human imagination. Lets not try too hard to equate him with miserable imageries or men (Gandhi, Martin Luther). Lets not crucify him and say ‘U better stay there’

China v/s Home Churches

China today is one of the world’s fastest developing economies, challenging the western financial models. All these years Communist China had to go through many challenges- both internal and external. Today they face a new challenge- fast growing ‘home’ churches. Chinese authorities who had closed its eye towards the outlawed religious groups to allow more freedom of expression, is now trying to clamp them down. The underground movement which has gained strength will be tough to crackdown. The government will be at risk of facing bad blood, international criticism and even inspired protests.

I am a Christian and am fairly good at that. I don’t go around with loud noises but try to practice a little of what I preach (do not take it literally). I am not alien to the communist ideology too. I have read the basics and believe they are for the collective betterment of human race. I don’t try to mix my religion and politics. But if I am asked to choose the better between the two, I am confused.

Looking back into the initial history of Israel, they had a different power structure compared to its neighbors. They were ruled/guided by the judges. These judges were drawn from different tribes of Israel. We see people from leading families to commoner becoming the judges. These effected a classless society. But the people were fascinated by the monarchies around them. The glamour and insecurity prompted them to demand for a king to rule over them. A decision which indirectly affected the world’s largest religion, Christianity, years later.

Jesus’ apostles, barring a few, hailed from very ordinary origins. The early church was a persecuted lot but the church had this amazing ability to thrive in persecution. The word ‘Christian’ itself was coined to poke fun at the followers of Christ. Devoid of power or money early church and its teachings were more people centric.

All these changed when the Roman emperor embraced Christianity. He saw the potential in using a single official religion to unify his vast empire. Thus ‘Christianity’ was adopted as the religion of the Roman empire. The persecuted and underground religion came into public and soon assumed power and position throughout the world. The religious propagation assumed a different dimension and thus crusades happened.

Monarchies around the world realized that when it comes to religion people used heart more than their head. So religion was the easiest key to unlock their heart. Church and church leaders moved from the lower echelons of society and identified with the ruling class. At most places common man failed to identify with the church.

When Karl Marx revealed to the world the new ideology of ‘Communism’, he saw religion as a tool for division. Religion and politics was so deeply intermingled that it was impossible to see one separated from the other. So for communism religion stood along with capitalists and monarchists on the enemy side.

At the same time the communism gained popularity and power around the world, a new form of Christian movement budded in USA. A movement that supposedly sprung from materialism and individualism. It was drastically different from the collective Christianity advocated until then. The centralized power was done away with and in that place one leader for one church came up. He was not well versed in theology, but he knew how to preach to masses. His fervor and faith alone were good enough to attract people to him. In turn the leader had final word in all aspects of life of his followers- marriage, family, political, financial etc. This movement filled a spiritual vacuum in the Christian society at that time.

The home churches grew numerically as well as financially across USA and, later, around the globe. The term ‘home’ churches was derived from the times when Christians had to worship secretly at their homes fearing persecutions. The best part of such a gathering was due to the small size and huge fervor the members developed an inter-personal relationships which grew into strong bonds. Thus compared to a huge cathedral, people could relate to each other more easily.

The absence of a centralized leadership was fertile enough to raise many arguments and doubts on ideological perspectives. This ultimately led to splitting of ‘home churches’. I could give a somewhat vivid description because our place witnessed some of the biggest transformation thanks to the development half a globe away in USA. Development of the charismatic movement lured many people to it, which in turn gave many in Kerala to migrate to USA. Thanks to the American dollars, bigger ‘home’ churches, schools, businesses and homes came up in Kerala in less than quarter of a century.

The prosperity gospel was more in line with the Western ideals of private ownerships, materialism and capitalism. Thus political equations shook in many places over decades.

Who will prevail over the other? It’s difficult to say. But one thing is for sure- Humans are happy not to bother of long term consequences. Bigger and better life never happens for man. He looks for even bigger and better life.

A travel to Maramon

Speaking about Maramon convention, it’s the biggest yearly Christian gathering happening in Asia. It happens every February at Thiruvalla, Kerala, India. The traditional venue has been the banks of Pamba and 2011 was the 16th version of it.

116 years ago, when it started off, the Marthoma Church(the Christian denomination responsible for the convention) didn’t have the strong financial background. The leaders then gathered together and saw a need of missionary workers and started the MC (Maramon convention) as a ground to attract more youth to gospel work.

116 years ago if the assets were the will-power, penury and zeal, today the Church has a very wealthy backing. It would not be appropriate to single out Marthoma denomination in terms of wealth. The Christian community as a whole has been very well refurbished thanks to the immigrant money flowing in from the Gulf and America.

So with changing times the MC has changed too. The convention is a 7 day long event happening in the second week of February. We, a group of four friends, decided to make to the MC for a day. It was not because of the piety. We wanted to experience what was happening there. For most of us it was the beginner’s pilgrimage.

The climate was hot and humid, which is quite unlikely. The climatic variation is being prominently experienced in Kerala. The irony is the Marthoma Church has been fighting a battle on environmental degradation. But the MC has drawn flak for the unscientific waste disposal on the river banks. The sandy river beds have given way to muddy grounds, thanks to the sand mafia.

By the time we reached there, the crowd was heavy. The either side of the grounds were lined with stalls- a place to attract in donations. The ground was filled with people. Unlike a gathering of faithful, the place resembled a carnival ground. It was tough to make out what happened at the front. So there were LCD TVs to help us out with that.

We went around brought a couple of CDs, books, heard some sermons and came back home. Did it influence me? I leave it to the time to answer that question. But I am pained at once meaningful activities turning into pomp.

Here are more pics

Let us Lent

The period of crucifixion and resurrection is around the corner. This is that time of year when Christians would prefer to go glum faced. I am not pious and, least of all, want to show my faith around. That puts me in the uncoolest category where you have the ‘faithful’ on one side and atheists on the other.

I read from the blogs that my blogger friend, Jane is observing her lent too. That prompted me to write a few words on what I feel about lent.

It would be hypocritical to say that the physical & spiritual element of a human being is independent of one another. All the religions firmly understood that spiritual quest can only be fulfilled through physical hardships. Hence they have ascertained certain practices to help us not to go astray. They may be pilgrimages, fasting, lashings and even piercings.

So lent comes under that. The direct impact on lent in Kerala is that the prices of broiler chicken goes down as Christians form a considerable amount of population and they form a good percentage that consume meat. But for the present generation meat has become a part of staple diet that it’s tough to forego it. So it’s very rare to see a Christian who practices lent with absolute resolute.

From another perspective lent provides a window for a healthy diet free of the cholesterol and hormone laden meat. But then reports of dangerous chemicals used in farming has again cast a confusion of which is healthy- vegetables or meat?

But these physical exhibitions have to reflect in our spiritual life, which is not happening at all. The Bible says to the Jews to release all their slaves. Since we may not have any, it would be difficult to free them. But I hope the lent becomes an opportunity to develop some clear and positive feelings for your poor neighbor.

We had formed a two-day-a-week football team. The good part is that people from all the age group and from various strata of the society comes into play. One day I came up with a photo session in my digital camera. The digital copies were sent to all. But one guy among us didn’t have a computer. Then one good Samaritan volunteered to take the hard copy print out. The situation may look trivial. But the care you give to the smallest has the scope to make a big change. The bottom line is you needn’t go searching for orphanages to pour out your love.
Personally,

I am a partial observer of lent. By the end of it I am planning to regulate a few bad habits!

Torn Apart

I grew up reading books on the common good of the almighty one. All Gods were one and the ultimate aim of any religion was the goodness of man.

After 9/11 an anti-Muslim feeling swept across the globe. I sympathized with the plight of Muslim brethren. I argued with my dad who is a vehement anti-Muslim. I protested loudly against his clichéd attitudes. I took sides with liberals against the hypocrisy and double standards of the western media.

But today I am having serious doubts on my stand.

A teacher from Kerala faced severe ire from the Muslim community because he put a question paper that offended Prophet Mohammad. Kerala never had to experience senseless communal violence. Not many expected the incidents to take an ugly turn.

Prof. T.J. Joseph was stopped on his way home from church last Sunday. The attackers used an axe to hack off his hand. Kerala woke up to the shocking news on Monday. The comparatively moderately religious people of Kerala are opening their eyes to the neo-Taliban.

I happened to get the offensive question paper. The extract was from the novel of a Muslim writer. The extract had a conversation between a mad man and God. The Professor gave the mad man the name Mohammad, a common name in Kerala.

The mad man asks God, ‘How much pieces do I get when I hack a fish?’

‘Three, stupid’. How does this Insult religion?

The sickening part is the crime was carried out by a religious party with good number of followers. NDF or Popular Front is not a sidelined party. I knew my class mates who worked for it.

If such a divisive act is carried out by a populist party, we have something to be concerned about. Anti national activities is no longer confined to ghettos. It has spread to all strata of society and poverty is no longer the reason.

Liberals are no longer needed to prove this as an isolated incident. The Muslim community of India has to do a serious introspection on the reason why Islam is fast deteriorating to a terror religion.

There was a time when Sufism preached about the great sacrifice of love. But thanks to the oil money from Saudi, Wahabbism has spread its tentacles all around the world. Any other version of Islam is ungodly today.

We Indians prided ourselves to the point of arrogance on ‘Unity’. How much longer will we use the word ‘India’?