Sense of Power and Powerlessness

                                                                                                *Saumitra Mohan

            During one’s interactions with members from different walks of life, one comes across different kinds of people with different kinds of mindset and attitude. Naturally, all these people have varying conceptions of life. But there definitely is a predominant idea about what makes a good life and this invariably subsumes possession of power and pelf. Most of us have this constricted vision about what constitutes a good and fulfilling life. However, the same is far from the truth.

            Most of us, holding one or the other positions of power, suffer from a gross delusion which completely detaches them from the true worth of an ephemeral human life. Firstly, the so-called situations of power are always relative depending upon our place in the societal pecking order. In heteronormative patriarchal societies, a husband may be powerful against his wife, a monarch or autocrat in a monarchy or autocracy, a company head in his company, an elected head of the state in a democracy or any person holding such position of importance.

            Thus, any and every person holds some position of influence vis a vis others. The power exercised could be spatiotemporal. After all, head of a company would only be important in his own company or till the time he is the head. A celebrity today may lose her status and charm with time to be replaced by another as is usually seen in the tinsel world of glamour. A very powerful politico could soon be rubbing shoulders with the hoi polloi. How people treat him in such situations depends completely upon one’s conduct while one wielded a position of influence.

            However, whether we continue to command influence or public adulation even after exiting power positions depends completely on our conduct when on the high pedestals. Often, we forget that we are only a visitor to such situations of power which may change anytime. Time has been the biggest graveyard of all the bumptious and supercilious people who rubbed people very wrongly while in situations of power. We forget the eternal truth that everything which belongs to us today belonged to someone else yesterday and would be in possession of someone else tomorrow. So, any arrogance for passing prominence or influence may do us in.

            Many among such people, however, servile and obsequious to those high in the hierarchy. As they say, the real character of a person could only be known by his conduct towards the weak and underprivileged, and not towards the high and mighty. They are forced to be at the best of their behaviour in front of the more powerful, but are vile and vicious to those down the ladder including subordinates, colleagues, family and friends.

            While there, some of us think that our positions give us the right to mistreat or humiliate people in weaker power situations without appreciating that, sooner or later, we would cross over to the other side. When out of power positions, such people face real crises in life, adjusting to the emergent hard realities when they suddenly feel unimportant and sulk heavily in solitude. They may have hoarded money or other means of material comforts, but lead a pitiable life without many friends or sympathizers.

            We conveniently forget the eternal truth that no one has gone out of this world alive and none of us shall remain in our respective power situations forever. The wise ones, ergo, work hard to make hay while the sun shines. They leverage the fleeting power situations to earn goodwill of their friends, relatives and everyone around them. Such people consciously expand their circle of goodwill to positively touch the lives of as many people as possible. Each one of us could all be useful and helpful to those around us if we so want. If anything, our positive and helping attitude towards others itself could earn us immense goodwill, thereby making our lives meaningful.

            Most of the megalomaniac people with convoluted sense of power and self-importance usually get so engrossed and attached to the impermanent vocations, positions or situations that they stop adding value to their own life. Immersed in mundane affairs, they get so alienated that they end up dehumanising themselves as often reflected in their conduct towards their immediate family members, friends, colleagues and others coming into their contact. Like a taskmaster, they keep inventing ways to piss, pester and hassle others around them.

            Moved by negative outlooks and orientations, these people hardly find any time for indulging in positive and constructive tasks. With suppressed muses and stressed mind, they are often the reasons for all the pain and mess in the lives of those they directly or indirectly influence. Doing this, they spoil their Karma by generating negative vibrations for themselves. That’s why, we should all add and earn as much goodwill and virtues as possible while on Spaceship Earth, using our momentary power situations. But most of us remain unconscious to this.

            More often than not, most of us keep running in a maze trying to earn and possess way beyond our needs. By doing so, we actually spoil our Karma for the sake of our deemed offspring who come with their own destiny and conduct as per requirements of their own spiritual growth. As such, we should not be overly exercised over the fripperies of human life. Actually, we are guarding the wealth or possessions for others while we are here, often at a huge loss of hurting our own metaphysical growth.

            If these power positions were so important or useful, we would remain here forever to enjoy them. But they are nothing but a means to the ultimate end of uplifting our eternal consciousness. All value additions to our eternal consciousness in this life help us see through bigger challenges of spiritual growth during our next rebirths. Hence, we ought to conduct ourselves with discretion and judgement so as to guard the eternal interests of our enlightened Self. We should give only as much importance to the objective possessions as is warranted for the growth of our timeless Self.

            We often get the impression of our invincibility or omnipotence through the adulation and eulogies of those around us. All these people, who have one or the other axe to grind, treat us like demigods and praise us to the skies. Taking their words to be true, we actually end up transporting ourselves to the ethereal world. Many refuse to come down to the earth, with disastrous consequences. How futile is this misplaced sense of power could be gauged from the fact that we are often confronted with the hard realities even while in power. After all, a company or a political head would never be treated with the same importance in other company or State. Even in one’s own company or State, one may not be recognized unless one reveals one’s identity or has usual fripperies of power to mark him out as such.

            Against 100 million celestial bodies in our galaxy and there being billions of such galaxies in the entire cosmos, we are not even a speck in this vast Creation. Our body itself is nothing but a heap of food and a loan from the Mother Earth. We can’t take even a speck of dust from this earth after we die. That being so, why should we not focus on guarding our eternal interests of spiritual learning and evolution for a better comeback through reincarnation? So, let’s conduct ourselves with discretion and dignity while we are here.

Managing Our Religious Institutions

                                                                                                *Saumitra Mohan

            According to a recent study, some of the Hindu temples like Tirumala Venkateswara Temple at Tirupati, Siddhi Vinayak Temple at Mumbai, Sai Baba Shrine at Shirdi and Kashi Vishwanath Temple at Varanasi together have combined assets of more than 1.32 lakh crores, much more than the asset value of India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani. These four temples together are said to receive more than 3000 crore rupees every year. The Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Kerala with a wealth of more than 20 billion dollars is India’s richest temple. These few temples together have the capacity to tame India’s developmental deficits.

            It has been suggested by the critics that only two percent of the total earnings go to the upkeep of temple and the deity. Around 40 percent of the temple revenue is alleged to go to the priestly classes and the Governing Board members. The story is not very different for the donations and charity received by the famous religious institutions of other religions including the Golden Temple at Amritsar or the Azmer Sharif Dargah. The latter is said to receive Rs 200 crores every year as donations which is allegedly shared by the 5000 khadims who are said to provide voluntary service to the Shrine.

            As most of these religious institutions have no system of financial and social audit, people like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Swami Agnivesh and Baba Ramdev recently appealed to people against donating any money to the religious institutions. After all, one who could create such a mind-bogglingly humongous cosmos is definitely capable enough to take care of Himself and not require any charity from the people He Himself created. If we are all children of one Almighty, why would he demand money or material from His children to grant their wishes? Are we not trying to bribe our way through our problems or spiritual evolution?

            The critics have also been screaming blue murder about the gods and deities taking thousand and thousand acres of prime land when still billions don’t have a decent shelter for themselves. While problems of the homeless relate more to the realms of poor policy execution and administration, it’s also true that many of the temple trusts utilise the donations received towards the benefit and welfare of the underprivileged including making provisions for shelters, food and health for the disadvantaged. Generally, none remains hungry at such places because of the unceasing flow of compassion from the devotees. As such, these places have huge functional value for being centres of care and welfare for the poor and deprived.

            The temples, shrines, places of pilgrimage or religious institutions in themselves may not be useful as mere buildings and structures, but most of them are important as the carriers of our architectural and cultural heritage. They are also important as centres which attract devotees from all corners and strata of our society, thereby affording an opportunity for strengthening of societal bonding, consolidation of collective consciousness and inculcation of nationalist feeling. The places of worship, thus, have functional value for the human society by rendering socially relevant functions. The many charitable works and welfare activities some of these religious Trusts carry out also underline their social relevance.

            More than the inherent miraculous powers of these religious places, it is the positive feelings and emotions that the devotees carry to these places which are more important. The positive vibrations at all these places are very powerful because almost everyone who visits leaves his/her negative thoughts behind. Usually, all are charged with positive and uplifting thoughts. That’s why, one experiences inner peace and elevating human behaviour while visiting such places. However, devotees have often recounted depressing experiences of very disgusting demeanour from the authorities and priests at some of these religious places.

            The human wish to share and care is greatly fulfilled by such places as people don’t feel any qualms to donate to the Gods and Deities rather than to some shady and unscrupulous NGOs whose credentials remain ever questionable. Common people’s craving for a creditable channel to show compassion to fellow humans or to wash away their sins is greatly served by such places. Tapping on the same, the religious places attract huge donations in cash and kind. As such, the religious places come across as socially institutionalised arrangement for compassion and care for one another.

            Moreover, all the religious places and institutions are important parts of our economic system. They, because of different related activities and functions as religious tourism, are huge source of employment not only in the multifarious works associated with the management of these institutions, but also in the ancillary activities of provisioning and supplying required materials and manpower. Lots of manufacturing and services as well as related economic multiplier effects shall suffer if people were to stop visiting and donating to these places.

            So, it could be no one’s argument to dissuade people from indulging in donations and charities to the religious institutions. The question is how to make the functioning and management of the same more transparent and accountable. All the donations including cash and kind should be duly accounted and audited, as done for many of the bigger temples including Tirumala Tirupati. Some of these religious institutions have become so gigantic to require direct Government control and management as already done for temples like Triumala Tirupati or Guruvayur Devaswom. Coming from people, the donations and charities should go back to the people. So, there must be clearly laid out policies to productively utilise the funds of these places on public welfare. Recent Supreme Court direction to all religious institutions for giving annual account of their income and expenditure is a milestone in this regard.

            There have been Supreme Court interventions in recent times to ensure that article 14 and 15 of the Indian Constitution relating to Right to Equality and Non-Discrimination are also extended to places of religious worship as in case of Haji Pir Shrine in Mumbai or the Sabarimala Temple in Kerala. But, there are still many places where such direct or indirect discriminations are noticed. The Temple Entry Movement, as launched during India’s freedom movement, needs to be taken to its logical conclusion through further such interventions. The hereditary dominance of certain communities and castes over the affairs of these religious places should also go, with specific attempts to induct and recruit priests from all classes and castes depending on the fulfilment of the required qualifications specified for the purpose. A uniform Govt policy framed in wider consultation with all stakeholders should ensure the same.

            If utilised properly, these religious places could become an instrument for promoting harmony and concord in the country. As the society evolves and humans go beyond their primary needs of survival, they start looking for nourishment to their mind and heart. So, with the societal affluence growing, people turn to become more religious as is happening in this country. The rise of so many religious cults and sects under the leadership of different religious leaders is an index to the same.

            If all such well-meaning leaders were to come together and all such places of worship were to become centres for facilitating societal dialogue with the people of the same and other communities, the insidious societal discord, as noticed these days, could be reasonably resolved and fixed. The same would also take care of the human alienation and stress which have become the cause of all the discord and friction in our society today. With the policymakers and societal leaders coming together, one is sure that these places of religious worship could actually turn into places of societal harmony than discord.

           

Knowing Our Self to Know the Supreme

                                                                                                *Saumitra Mohan

            As we can’t feel a touch without the skin, can’t taste without the tongue, can’t think without our mind or can’t communicate without the intermediation of written or spoken words, similarly there can’t be any expression of Divine Creation without the existence of a Supreme Self. The Supreme Self created the cosmos in the beginning of time and is said to have entered and permeated everything therein. There is, thus, nothing that does not come from Him.

            The individual Self itself is Brahman or Supreme Consciousness dwelling in every expression of God’s Creation. Anything and everything in this world emanate from this Supreme Self. All physical and objectified expressions confuse us when we regard them as something separate from the Supreme Self which is bright, wise, immanent in every dimension of Creation, transcendent and untouched by sin. Often we see only the milk, but fail to see the curd, butter, cream, yoghurt, cheese and many other things hidden therein. Similarly, the Almighty pervades each and every aspect of Creation whether we see the same or not.

            The bees suck the nectar from numerous flowers and make their honey such that no drop thereof could trace its origin with certainty to this or that flower. Each drop of nectar, sucked from different flowers, gets so assimilated in honey that they lose their distinctiveness. Same is the case with us all. As long as different expressions of the Divine Creation don’t identify themselves with the Supreme Self and remain tied to their individual identities, they shall remain mired in pain and problems as seen all around us.

            Different parts of a tree keep growing or withering when the Self enters or departs these parts. As we feel the salinity in every drop of water after dissolving a lump of salt in it, similarly we can feel the presence of the Supreme Self everywhere. The salt is there everywhere in the saline water but we don’t see it though we know the same. Likewise, the Supreme Self pervades all aspects of Creation, thereby attesting to a unified existence of all expressions including living and non-living beings. It is really surprising to notice that despite there being infinite expressions of Divine Creativity, many of us continue to dispute the same.

            In fact, most of our problems come from the misplaced identification of the Self with the body because of which we don’t see the truth behind God’s Creation. The subtle Self (read supreme consciousness or spirit), being abstract and non-existent, may be imperceptible, but its creative genius is actually much bigger and vaster than the entire cosmos. Notwithstanding the fact that every individual Self also comes from one Supreme Self, we keep identifying ourselves with the physical body, something separate and alienated from other expressions of His Creation. Most of the Hindu scriptures have very beautifully delineated the same.    

            As per these scriptures, most of the physical realities are constituted of five basic elements as is the human body. The basic building blocks behind every expression of the Creation are the same. When we know one clump of clay, we get to know all the other materials made of clay. They may differ in name and form, but the basic nature behind them remains the same. Similarly, by fathoming and imbibing the spiritual wisdom, we get to realise the basic oneness behind entire creation. We all come from the same source and eventually merge into the same. This is akin to all the rivers losing their individual identities after merging into one all-subsuming Ocean. Thus, all the expressions of objective reality spring from the same source.

            After death, our mortal remains are either cremated or buried. Either way, both the methods convert our mortal remains into a clump of earth which further sustains other forms of life including plants and animals. These plants and animals are, thus, made of the building blocks constituted of the biodegraded remains of other living or non-living dimensions of Creation. So, beyond doubt, we provide life-sustaining materials for plants and animals by becoming raw materials for their food in the same fashion they provide life sustaining provisions for us.    

            When we eat animals or plants, they become humans as our remains are utilized for confection of their food. The whole phenomenon of food cycle is something we have long known, but still refuse to believe to accept the basic oneness of nature immanent behind the same. At the end of its life, the individual Self of each creature without a physical body loses its separateness and unites with the all-encompassing Supreme Self. Those who see all creatures in themselves and themselves in all creatures know no fear or grief.

            This being the teachings and inherent messages of most of the Hindu scriptures, it also means that the one born into a particular religion, caste, community or nationality shall not necessarily be born into the same during his/her rebirth. This means that a Hindu can become a Muslim or a Muslim could become a Hindu or an Indian could be reborn as a Pakistani and vice versa. This being the spiritual reality, one fails to see the reason behind all the communal discords or ethnic conflicts. We as a race would never make upward progress if we fail to see and understand this basic truth behind the Divine Drama.

            At another remove, we as social animals subsist because of support and sustenance from others. As Aristotle said, “He who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a God”. As humans, we got to depend on other members of society for all our needs including economic and psychological. We exist only as long as others notice and acknowledge us as we do to others. Without our notice and attention, they don’t exist. Howsoever may we fret and fume at the ontological inconveniences, we are nothing without others’ acceptance which we continue craving throughout our life.

            Our physical body is nothing, but a tool to facilitate mutual sentient experiences of the world to know the Supreme Self. It is our attachment and identification with the physical body which causes us pain and anguish. All our pain comes because we identify ourselves with the body which is a falsity. As the wind or thunder rise from space without a physical shape and reach the transcendent light, similarly those who rise above body consciousness ascend to the transcendent in their true form. They know that the Self is not the body, but only tied to it for the time being as an ox is tied to its cart.

            The enlightened individual ‘Selves’ live in freedom and are at home wherever they go. But those who pursue the finite world of material pleasures remain blind and live in thraldom. The Self is to be known through continuous meditation which means that we ought not to forget the Almighty in all our thoughts and actions. The meditational practices afford us the opportunity to identify ourselves with the Supreme Self while also gradually getting over our varied attachments with carnal pleasures. Through meditation, we remain connected with other living and non-living beings. One who meditates upon the Self and realises it, sees it everywhere in everything and rejoices in the eternal bliss.

*Dr. Saumitra Mohan is an IAS officer, presently working as the Commissioner of School Education, Govt of West Bengal. The views expressed here are personal and don’t reflect those of the Government.

                                               

The Homely Chemical Warfare

                                                                                                *Saumitra Mohan

            On 5^th December, 2006, a Dallas-bound American airline was forced to make an emergency landing at Nashville after a passenger lit a match to disguise the smell of her flatulence. Later, inquiry revealed that the feared embarrassment likely to ensue from an innocuous physiological function had led the Milady to undertake an ingenuous rescue mission which turned abortive.

            As we know, during digestion, the undigested food particles on their way from stomach to small intestines pass into the large intestine and the colon, where bacteria break the rest of it down. This bacterial fermentation ultimately releases the main components of excess intestinal gases, also known as flatus, through the anus, often accompanied by sound and stench. Flatulence, thus, is body’s way of purging the colon of unwanted gases to relieve pressure on the intestines. It is also an indication that our digestive track is returning to the normal and it was advisable for us to emergently head to the john before we start giving it away.

            The fetid odour actually comes from a combination of sulphur compounds which comprise less than one percent of the gas’s composition. The all too familiar reverberation is a result of the gas passing through the rectum, causing vibrations in the anal opening. The dreaded auditory pitch depends on the tautness of the sphincter, the annular muscle, as well as the velocity of the gas being expelled. The Average episode of flatulence per person is 13.6 per day while the average release of gas per episode is 35-90 millimetre, averaging 500-2000 millimetre per day.

            According to the gastroenterologists, carbohydrates such as sugars, starches and fibres produce the most gas in the colon as they do not get absorbed as completely in the small intestine. This is why vegans and vegetarians tend to be more flatulent than their meat eating counterparts though the vegetative flatulence is said to be most benevolent of the lot. The expulsion of oxygen by the leaves of a plant could be considered a plant’s flatus, for it is gas escaping into the atmosphere. As there are no muscles to control this expulsion, emission of gas is gradual and goes unnoticed.

            Hushed or strident, expulsion of intestinal gases usually indicates a healthy digestive system. Composed of carbon dioxide, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and methane, 99 percent of flatulence is odourless and colourless. However, it is the puny one percent which has been the raison d'être for all the humour and embarrassment. As someone said, ‘if fart is an art, the fartist is an artist’. After all, have not all of us experienced a mind-boggling assortments, types and fashions of human flatus.

            What is surprising is the fact that while we all pucker up our nose in disapproval of others’ flatulent habits, we seemingly feel conceited of our own productions. Often, we glow with a mischievous smirk at others’ discomfort as a result of our so-called ‘unbecoming act’. A pungent anthropogenic aroma during a serious meeting makes the boss’ eyes survey for the potential culprit for the putative attempt to sabotage the official business though the same act in a closed gathering evokes unrestrained giggles and sniggers.

            However, it is exceedingly hazardous and foolhardy to break the wind when you are afflicted with loose motions. If not anything, you may end up walking the distance to the comfort station for some emergent sartorial changes. Be it kindly noted that the flatulence is very much gender and ethnicity neutral. Any thought to the contrary reflects on the unenlightened nature of the thinkers.

            Prejudices underline our perception when we differentiate between our minions and close family members when it comes to accepting their flatulent habits as if flatus of the subordinates is blue murder while those of the kith and kin is a manna from the paradise. A fart is a fart is a fart. Whatever name may we call it, it stinks nevertheless. Any thought of an affirmative action for equitable flatulence distribution for the disadvantaged is simply unnecessary as none of us is flatulence impaired. So, any superstition about beautiful girls not indulging in flatulence is nothing but an exaggeration of those struck by Cupid.

            The experts have classified the practitioners of flatulence into different categories including the civilized and uncivilized. While the uncouth and uncivilized break their winds laced with the foulest odour brazenly, the civilized folks do the same on the sly, in the most decent fashion with least chances of anyone doubting their involvement in making the gas chamber of a social gathering.

            The silent and discrete performance by those with stiff upper lips has everyone looking at everyone else with suspicion and distrust. The intensity, foulness and spread of your gaseous discharges and the acoustic pitch of the same determine the level of your sophistication amongst the civilized gentry though it is the silent variety which is always the killer. The latter kills the mood and often the fun, depending upon the frequency of the same. A new line of undergarment employs chemical warfare technology to filter out the smell of its users’ flatulence.

            Being unbreathable air, if we were to stuff a tank with flatulent gases, and then make someone breathe the resulting output, they would surely die from lack of oxygen. Promotions, opportunities and money have often been lost due to one’s innate intolerance to flatulence. A District of Colombia judge awarded a 54-year old man four lakh dollars in damages in his age-discrimination law suit against his former employer. According to the plaintiff, his supervisor continuously made references to his old age, including addressing him as an ‘Old Fart’.

            The small babies and senior citizens are supposedly the most innocent of flatulence practitioners who, after a loud blast or a stinker, continue as usual feigning as if nothing has happened while the world around them runs helter-skelter for shelter. In these health conscious times, effective Yoga postures are being prescribed for facilitating healthful expulsion of body gases. The doctors and physiotherapists are often making money for the same at the expense of others.

            According to the ‘Theory of Relational Determinism of Flatulence’, it is believed that the comfort and frequency of breaking winds among our loved ones are determined by the proximity and comfort of a relationship. One of the central tenets of this Theory suggests that you exercise caution and don’t fart brazenly among the strangers. The classic example could be the rapport between the husband and the wife. A newly married couple typically takes a lot of pain to restrain their flatulent urges.

            But as they get closer and comfortable with each other, it is the Worse Half between the two who breaks the ice while breaking the wind with a sheepish smile laced with a guilt conscious look. The smile is returned by the shy Better Half. With time, the Worse Half gets worst, brazen and frequent while letting lose the reigns of his restraining discretions. The marriage is supposed to become consummated the day the Better Half does the honour with an impish smile, deigning as if nothing ever happened. The more unrestrained and recurrent practice of flatulence by the two spouses underline the success of the nuptial knot becoming further strong.

            One of my friends often jokingly complained of having lost all her hair because of the polluting effects stemming from uninhibited use of chemical weapons by a colleague during a prolonged training session. It is well known that in space, there is no convection because of non-existent gravity. Without gravity, the cool air does not sink or warm air does not rise above. So if you fart in space, the gas stays right there. It does not go anywhere. It signifies huge sacrifice by the astronauts for the sake of their countries; it also imparts them some lessons in peaceful coexistence.

            Amidst the unrestrained laughter and suffering of those at the receiving end, the flatulence remains a physiological reality and a social gaffe. Whatever be the case, we simply cannot wish it away and need to accept it as an inalienable part of our corporate life.

*Dr. Saumitra Mohan is an IAS officer, presently working as the Commissioner of School Education, Govt of West Bengal.