SSS was famous. He had a lot of devotees - from the rich to the poor and from the famous to the anonymous - and he was literally treated as a demigod by each one of them. Like the proverbial rose flower, he had a few thorns up his crown. There were quite a few of his detractors as well.
When I woke up on Sunday, someone had shared some snippets of an old documentary which accused SSS of fake materialization. I immediately realized that SSS had passed away and this is just a crude attempt at maligning him. A few other articles digging some old dirt found its way through the blogosphere as well.
Personally, I am not a devotee of SSS -- I neither adore him nor do I abhor him. For me, he is someone whom I am just aware of - just like I am aware of any other famous personality. So, considering that I have nothing to lose, I started digging through the dirt to see if some truth can be unearthed.
I watched the video from the documentary carefully and could see that solely based off what was shown in that documentary, something iffy was going on. With every passing minute of the video, my doubts were gaining conviction and I was getting convinced of the accusations. I got angry of how these self proclaimed enlightened individuals, with same number of limbs and organs like us, trick a common man and earn crores and crores and live lavishly.
Thats when the rational part of the brain got stimulated and I started thinking of something on an entirely tangential trajectory. Why does the common man believe in these godmen? Why is it that he/she is ready to donate thousands or lakhs or sometimes even crores. Why is it that sportsmen, politicians, doctors, engineers, lawyers, CAs -- and no average individuals, the most respected and successful ones -- are such big devotees of SSS? There has to be something more than what meets the eye.
And then I realized - you dont need a publicized proof to believe in someone. Ask a mother who finally gave birth to a baby after umpteen heart wrenching failed attempts. Ask a businessman who is successful today after almost contemplating bankruptcy. Ask a sportsman who is tired of perennially ending up with the runner up's trophy. Ask a politician who can leap frog from the post of Leader of Opposition to the Chief Minister's chair. Ask a engineer who can get a job which can fulfill all his dreams. Or ask a student who gets admission to a good medical school.
In a scientific world, the concept of faith does not exist because faith can not be measured in hormones and serums. But in a spiritual world, faith does exist. Faith in an entity can tune the mind to perform miracles. And once a miracle happens, it gets attributed to a magician. Probably, SSS was the lucky magician who was at the right place at the right time when these miracles happened in the lives of millions of his followers, however implausible it sounds. Probably, he really did have the charisma to make life better.
I will never know the real truth - but if there is a debate, I know what side of the dais I am going to sit. The only reason why I am going to speak for SSS -- he built lots and lots of hospitals which tend to the poor and needy, all for free.
Personally, I have seen the SSS hospital in Whitefield Bangalore where world class medical care is given for free. The best doctors in the world visit the hospitals and take care of poor patients who could have never even considered visiting these super specialists in their dreams. The facilities are so much cleaner, hygienic and professional compared to the government clinics. No wonder people throng in hundreds to each of these centers.
If one SSS, however fake the documentary make thinks him to be, can create such a miracle in a poor man's life, I would never mind one SSS in each city of India. It is going to make my country such a better place to live.
And I would never question why people "fall" for his "fake materialization".
3 comments:
I agree with you Nikhil. I am not going to get into the arguement of whether he is God or not - but he did do a lot of good to a lot many needy people. And for that alone he deserves some respect...
Very said Nikhil...
Nikhil, life is incidental and faith is what keeps it going. So there is no rationality in the faith that people had on Baba but he provided solace to a lot of grieved souls and that alone is enough to validate his greatness.
His greatness also stems out of all the social service he rendered unselfishly, day-in and day-out for the last so many years and this is what will be missed in the days and years to come.
I read somewhere that the Anantapur district was facing acute water shortage some years ago and the govt had also given up hope when Baba took it in own hands to resolve this issue. Today, Anantapur boasts of one of the best water supply systems with back-up plans catering to any eventuality and this was all because of Baba's single-minded determination.
The world is poorer by his absence...May his soul rest in peace and may the legacy continue.
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