Thinking Aloud

Rohit Dhankar
Some obscure Sadhu called Shobhan Sarkar dreamt of 1000 tons of gold buried in the ruins of a fort. He had confidence enough to write a letter to one of the ministers in the government of our secular country. The constitution of our secular country makes ‘inculcation of scientific temper’ one of the fundamental duties for all citizens. The government, guardian of the constitution, initiated a scientific process to ascertain the possibility of finding gold at the place identified by the Sadhu. The government science machinery came up with a report that confirms possibility of some kind of metal (gold or no gold) in some quality (a gram or 1000 tons) at the identified place. The government considers it scientific evidence enough to start digging with all fan-fare and in full glare of the media. But not before the Sadhu does bhumi pooja to appease the bhu-mata. The whole nation is abuzz—some with the excitement of possibility of gold, others at the superstition and stupidity of the government.
I wonder if one can find a bigger example of superstition and mindlessness provided by a national government any where in the history.
A tea vender called Asumal Sirumalani learns meditation from his mother and declares himself a guru; start preaching one supreme consciousness—a commonplace in Hinduism, declares yoga as path to unite with that consciousness—another common place; and lo and behold, becomes an icon and the god for lakhs. He discovers a potent medicine for longevity—sleeping with young virgins, and his Bhaktas and family support him in getting as many young virgins as his depraved quest for longevity requires. The public throngs in his bhashanas and poojas, the politicians fall over each other to touch his feet; be they secular or bigots. He encroaches on public land with impunity and there is no authority to challenge him.
Manifestation of the same mindlessness at a large scale, and one cunning deprave reaping the fruits.
A bunch of so called celebrities are collected together in the lordship of another celebrity and put in a house for three months (not sure of the duration). There they manifest their idiocy, total lack of any kind of moral thinking, wrapped in their own arrogance, on a daily basis. Watching one episode (I am not recommending) of the farce makes it absolutely clear that they—all of them—are empty-headed idiots. The term homo-sapiens does not apply to them; it was not invented for them. If humanity has anything to do with either moral-sensibility or capability to think, they all belong to some other species. Morality and ability to think are totally alien to them. Then the boss comes and cracks his jokes with fabulous intelligence of a 3 year old child; which would be sweet if he were not approaching fifty. The youth of the country watches this farce every evening and wants to emulate them. In the process each one of them gains lakhs, and some may be crores.
Celebration of mindlessness at a gigantic scale!!
These three examples—and there are sores of others with the same characteristics—prove beyond reasonable doubt that power and money resides with fools; Lakshmi, as we all know, flies on an owl. And that the large sections of Indian public either have no mind or are extremely lazy to use it. Which one, is a matter of investigation.
The connection between the three examples is obvious: corrupt, and better still, stop if possible, all thinking. Raise the future generations in an intellectual environment where they can be totally controlled by the media and gimmicks. Deprive them of all reason and common sense. Then they are in your hands, you can make whatever you want of them. It suits the politicians, the corporate bosses, and feudal lords, all. The media, religious superstitions (sants) and celebrities are new weapons of the powers that be. And they are lethal. What chances poor Dabholkars stand against them?