We in INDIA are supposed to be a nation of god-fearing and religious people where the glorification and decoration of our deities are more important than being actually human. Totally hypocritical I feel. The little anecdotes that I experience during my morning walks across the bylanes of my city have compelled me to share my views with all.
As I walked through the small streets of my locality towards the open construction sites, which in itself is another sad story of the increasing concrete jungle around us I saw some peeing on the walls of the sidewalks. That’s not an unusual site but what offended me was that the wall was painted with the picture of goddess Lakshmi a logo of some company displaying its advertisement. Wedding cards with gods and goddesses are strewn everywhere entangled with sanitary pads and diapers too, it’s a gory site.
Another instance was after Diwali when the streets are fully littered with packaging papers of fireworks and other tidbits. I happened to trip over something and I then I saw that it was a decorative earthen lamp with the figure of lord Ganesha carved on it, something we purchase so enthusiastically before the festivities begin and now discarded carelessly. How insensitive and ignorant we become once our purpose is met.
We don’t waste time in supporting trifle issues and making them big political agendas which dishearteningly divides us, and here we fail to even respect the very deities whom we worship and fight for.They are rendered homeless.
Mr. J.B. Magranti (70) of Siliguri(W.B) a retired government serviceman and a horticulturist by hobby is one such good Samaritan who has opened an orphanage for such gods. On his travel to different places and visits to public places, he picks up these abandoned gods and gives them a home in his nursery, rightfully decorated there.
To see his work of art and labour is a feast to the eye, beautiful orchids growing from broken earthenware, cards coated with wax used as nameplates and so on. His nursery is almost a collection of gods, a temple in true sense where nature and divinity are together for us to pay homage to. I salute such men and their endeavours.
Religion is not only about godly devotion.As long as a person is sincere towards his work and relations and respects his environment at a whole and doesn’t harm others he’s religious to me. Being human and sensitive towards humanity is RELIGION TO ME.
