All in the name of God

Of all the headlines that literally gives us insomnia or indigestion day in and day out, this one grabbed my attention. Not only this drew my attention, it made me lose my peace of mind. This is not about the security of the nation; it is not about the border struggle between two states, not about film celebrities or cricketers but about God.

Thus goes the Headline: “Shirdi is the 2nd richest temple”. No prices of guessing the 1st richest temple – of course, it is the Tirumla Tirupati Temple famously known as Balaji Mandir. My initial reaction to this headline was, “Kya zamaana aa gaya – We have started classifying temples also as rich and poor”.

As I started reading the details, there is much more into it that kept me thinking for the whole of last week. While the TTD (Tirupati) grossed over Rs 700 crore, Shirdi Sansthan recorded a collection of Rs 81 crore in cash, 920kg of Gold, 440Kg of silver in its hundi. Besides this, donations worth Rs 42 crore were also made. Some devotee donated a Golden throne and another offered to cover the sanctum sanctorum with a gold sheet!

Saibaba, through out his life lived like a fakir. Instead of following him by adhering to his principles, we made him a God and are offering him a Golden Throne. Does not it sound ridiculous? Did Sai Baba ask us to provide Him one? For a great soul who spent his life under the shades of a tree, we are providing a roof of golden sheets! Of late, it is observed that every temple is planning to build a golden chariot for the Almighty. Why? What does this imply? Is it not an action of vulgar demonstration of wealth? Are we offered to have such an extravaganza?

These donors are cheaters of Government. They evade tax and the black money generated is offered as donation to these temples. They think that by bribing God, they can get rid of the sins they accumulate. These donors are termed as philanthropists. I can’t accept it. There is no dearth of temples in India but there is a huge shortfall in number of toilets, hospitals, primary health centers, schools etc., Will these so called philanthropists donate similar amount to build these toilets or schools or hospitals? The best charitable deed is not to build a temple not to feed a beggar but to educate someone. Why these donors have not thought of this?

In olden days, temple building provided employment to sculptors, artists, builders, and craftsmen etc., Temples were used as shelter in case of natural calamities. The wealth of temples were utilized in case of calamities, war etc., Also when there were no banks, the kings decided to have the wealth in form of temples and deities so that the wealth will not be stolen (as a respect to the Lord) by the invaders., In olden days, we had everything in abundance. So, instead of wasting the material like milk, curd, honey down the drain, it was offered to Lord in the form of abhisheka. Why to follow the same even now when people created by Him are starving of the same?

I am aware that TTD has been doing a great service to the society but they can always avoid such extravaganza. In Palani temple, Tamilnadu the wealth was literally looted by the politicians. The idol of Muruga is made of medicinal herbs. So whenever we consume the material that is applied on the idol in form of abhisheka, it had the medicinal effects on us curing certain problems. But what happened. The authorities literally scrapped the herbs and sold it in the open market for financial gains and the idol has become too weak that abhisheka cannot be performed on it or else the idol would break.

I am not aware of the practices of worshipping centers of other religion so I cannot comment on it. I am not against the agama rules of the temple. I believe in God but I can’t digest the extravaganza we practice. When the needs of the people created by Him are not met, practicing such extravaganza in temples seems a demonstration of vulgar display of wealth.

What's wrong with that?

“What’s wrong in it?” – It is this simple question that was asked in the Parliament of India exposes the audacity of our politicians, the unabashed manner in which they perform the atrocities, flexing the muscles of the public sector and Government norms in the name of coalition, and above all it proves that our politicians are indeed worried about their personal interests than the interest of the nation. One wonders whether someone answered him or not for this question.

It all started with the 7 letters that were sent from the PMO questioning why the task (read favor) is not accomplished to Petroleum Ministry. Mr T R Baalu was hell-bent behind this task being accomplished. One might wonder, why Mr. Baalu, whose ministry is irrelevant to this is taking such a care, however as the saying goes, Blood is thicker than water, it is the parental care in Mr. Baalu had driven him to go for a overkill in this issue.

He is maneuvering the systems as to get cheaper gas for King Power Corporation and King Chemicals both are run by his sons. The worst part in this is one company does not exist at all while one is declared as a sick unit by BIFR. While the market rate is around $16 per mBtu, Mr. Baalu wants this gas to be supplied at $2 per mBtu to these companies.

ONGC and GAIL are in the picture and Mr. Baalu is flexing all his muscles to get the gas at such a rock-bottom price for his sons’ companies. For this, he has written to our Prime Minister many times (read threatened) and also paid visits to Mr Deora’s office. He had summoned Chairmen of both the companies and directed to work out a way as to supply the gas at cheaper rate.

The gas supply agreement was made when DMK was a part of coalition govt run by BJP and the agreement was made only with King Chemicals. The company, however, delayed getting transport contract and the agreement date elapsed. The company went to High Court of Madras reinstating gas link that went in company’s favor. Fearing a cut in the supply of gas (as to provide these companies), APM gas consumers approached the court that said the issue be resolved by Petroleum ministry. While BJP was blamed for taking revenge in cutting the gas-link, the papers showed that it is difficult to restore the link to a defaulter. As to supply gas at cheaper rate they worked on options that said, “Introduce a pro-rata cut on all consumers in that area” for which the ministry opposed. The other option was to relocate the power plant.

All these incidents indicate how the politicians in our country play with the systems. The rich is becoming richer at the cost of tax payers’ money. If the gas is to be supplied to the minister’s son at 8 times lower the market price and give them a business advantage, how to compensate the loss of the company? Why the tax-payer has to bear the burden for the mis-handling of affairs by these green-eyed monsters?

Adding insult to injury is the words Mr. Baalu uttered in the parliament. He said, “These shareholders (of King Chemicals) asked me to do something about them. A BIFR company has to be saved by the management. Accordingly, I put a word to my friend, the Petroleum Minister. What is wrong with that?”

Why can’t Mr. Baalu ask these shareholders to buy the gas at market price and do business on ethical standards?
Why can’t he simply tell the shareholders to resolve the issue with Ministry of Petroleum without involving much into it?
Will Mr. Baalu involve himself so personally if whoever goes to him with a problem?

Such incidents expose why the politicians do not want the public sector companies to be made public. They can’t get favors extended to them as they wanted even if it meant a loss to the company. They are interested in filling their pockets and draining the country out.

The irony is such scoundrels are ruling us and we are tolerating it. We claim we are the largest democracy but we could not remove such ministers from the cabinet despite knowing the fact that they are doing wrong at the cost of nation’s interest. There is nothing wrong with these politicians. The wrong lies with us, we do not protest, we elect such people, and we keep allowing such things happen. Mr. Baalu, I have an answer for your question, “We, the people of India are wrong”. You guys mint money as long as we are wrong!