We,the Guilty:

 Aug 10/2015 : Raja Ravi Varma Coil Thampuran (29 April 1848 – 2 October 1906) was an Indian painter and artist (from the princely state of Travancore, Kerala) who shot to fame because he mostly painted Hindoo Gods and Goddesses. Dressed and semi undressed, these garish depictions of pinity captured the imagination of the devout Hindoo of South India. Other painters drew inspiration from Raja's calendar style paintings and changed the images to fit into the local folk art style every where else, even in North of the sub continent. The Ramas and Sitas and Krsnas that we see today all have their roots embedded in the same origin. In other words, till the end of 1800s, all that we imagined as Goddesses and Gods were what we saw in exquisitely carved sculptures of great temples as Khajuraho and Konark or some caves. Interestingly, all those images showed Hindoo pinity in their birthday suits--naked and nude.

How interesting, therefore, that now we condemn those very people we have put on pedestals of Godliness just because they have dressed up (or down) in an unGodly fashion.Sarathi Baba or Radhe Ma. Both have, nearly at parallel  time frames, been trashed because they were photographed in western apparel. They have not murdered or raped or committed any crime listed in our statute books. All that they have done is--they have made us look like asses. 

We, the people, are over burdened with our own sins or troubles. We want quick remedies, forgetting all the time that life may not be dealt with as instant coffee. In this our quest held in urgency, we stumble across people who we feel can provide us solace. These searches, more often than not, land us at the doorsteps of those whom the non believer or atheist would laughingly label as 'charlatans'. 

The blame for getting duped should not be on them, the religious fraudsters, but on us all who want immediate cures to our lifelong diseases. This is not an apology for any of these Godwomen or Godmen. But the truth be told! They are, almost all, from lower or middle economic level families. They invariably wish to have a lavish lifestyle. They have the ability for sleight of hand, learn a few Sanskrit sounding verses and then, lo and behold, they are made. We idiots flock to them. Shamelessly throw our families' womenfolk at them along with money and jewelry. Why wouldn't they take all that and more?

That is all that they do. Let us accept the truth sometime. I have watched videos of Asaram Bapu getting sexual favors from teenage girls while their parents look at his eyes with adulation! Astonishing but true. That is the level to which we Indians (and Oriyas) have sunk to in our desire to hurry and become rich and happy. We have conveniently forgotten that all these Matas, Babas and Gurus invariably lead us all to degradation and disillusionment in our faith. The Sikhs realized this early. That was probably why their 10th Guru ordained that after him there would be no living guru in Sikh tradition.

The anger and resultant violence noticed at Kendrapara recently was primarily fueled by the political ambitions of a media owner. This was further laced with frustrations of the local youth who became jealous of the riches and fun times enjoyed by Sarathi. The administration collapsed in front of the youths who committed cognizable offenses. Sarathi, instead, was arrested without any FIR being filed against him. Democracy should be the voice of the people getting heard. Today in India's democratic system, it is always the voice of a few organized goons which is holding sway. If we go on like this, clear and palpable dangers loom high over us all.