Of Magicians and Godmen

One need not sit nor sleep under the apple tree like Newton did to understand the law of gravity nor does one need to run naked out of water screaming Eureka like Archimedes to understand the great truths. In my over four decades of life, I have had the opportunity to learn some of the guiding principles of my life not from the preachings of any new age Guru or the profound thoughts published in some inspirational literature. These ‘lessons of life’, if one may call them so, came from mundane experiences, from very ordinary individuals. I would like to narrate few here.

It was during a bus ride from the college back to home that I asked the driver of the Delhi Transport Corporation Bus whether the bus would stop at a particular stand, where not all buses used to stop. His response was very spontaneous unlike the great sermons delivered by some Godmen, punctuated with pregnant pauses and deep breaths. ‘Rukwaoge to Rukegi’ (if you ask me to stop, the bus will halt at the stand). Nothing profound, nothing philosophical, yet they gave me an altogether different meaning. To me, it meant if you want to get anything, you have to work for it. You can’t leave life to assumptions and presumptions.

Second was my very bad habit of giving loans, small amounts (of course, without interest) to all friends and acquaintances. This also included my personal collection of books. However, not many bothered to return them and even if they did, it was in instalments and months or even years later. I had a dear friend who came from a business community and was pursuing business administration and I shared with him my dilemma. His response, like that of our DTC driver, too was spontaneous. “It is not in your culture to ask and it is not in their culture to return without being asked’.

The third one was when I entered working life. I found that there were camps and groups in all offices and despite my earnest efforts to keep everyone in good humour, I found many arraigned against me. I was deeply upset when a friendly counsel came from a colleague, again something that kept me in good stead all along. “You can’t make every one happy all the time. Some will be happy and some angry. You do what you think is best”.

Then came a professional advice, when I was pursuing my journalism course. “Write not to impress, but to express”. This was from late Shailendra Sahi of Hindi Hindustan, who was teaching Reporting. I not only scrupulously followed it throughout my career but also have religiously passed on the same to my students all over.

Again, during my official life, when I found the atmosphere to be exploitative, I told a friend and he asked me then why was I continuing there. My response was typical – for my daily bread. He laughed and asked when ants, spiders and lizards can fend for themselves without a salary or job, why can’t you, a human being, the ultimate creation of nature?
Since then, I have resigned from five jobs and I have absolutely no regrets and yes, I am doing better.

I can go on giving more such examples because, as the then President R Venkataraman told me once “I have no advice worth to give except that keep your eyes and ears open and take life as it comes”, I have tried to learn all my life from the ordinary and mundane. And the latest was from a magic show.

O P Sharma’s Magic

Last week, I had taken by little daughter to a simple, ordinary auditorium at NOIDA, on the outskirts of the national capital, to show her a full-fledged magic show for the first time, since she had only seen some on television. Everything was on expected lines as the magician O P Sharma Junior, who claimed to have the highest record of magic shows by any performer anywhere in the world, took out everything from his hat – cat, rabbit and even a dog; cut bikini clad women into pieces and stuck them back, poured water endlessly out of a jug and even raised himself and another girl from the audience mid-air without any support whatsoever. And yes, he also dressed up as a sage and produced ash from his bare palm and gave it to his artists dressed up as devotees.

But he did not claim to be a God Man, blessed with divine powers. On the contrary, after this show, he took off his saffron robes and said his magic shows had only three objectives: to provide clean and healthy entertainment, to promote magic as a pure science and to expose Godmen, who used these simple tricks to fool people under the guise of spirituality.

O P Sharma could have actually put on saffron robes for good. He could have turned his simple magic trick into a divine experience. He could have claimed to be an avatar of God and could have had a huge following across the globe. He could have set up Ashrams, exploited women devotees and sold Ayurvedic products. He could have shared stage with the high and mighty. Politicians would have made a beeline to his ashram to pay obeisance. He would have had a garage full of limousines and private jets.

But instead he chose to organize magic shows in schools and colleges, sell tickets ranging from Rs 75 to Rs 300, perform continuously for six hours a day changing his attire at least a dozen times, sell small magic box to children for Rs 200/- and even appeal to the audience to recommend his show to friends if they liked it.

Sharma is only doing his job. He is a showman who has mastered a science and is earning his livelihood the hard way, like I do out of writing and the Editor of this magazine does by publishing – doing what one knows best but he is neither cheating nor claiming to be God.

In an era when some of these so-called Godmen are caught indulging in flesh trade and even with their pants down and others are venturing into cleansing ‘politics’, Sharma stands out as a model and a role model for that. May we have more of O P Sharmas rather than fraudulent Godmen, who bring a bad name both to the saffron robes they wear and the religion they represent.

If Danish Cartoonist and Rushdie were Wrong, So is Husain

Well-known Indian artist Maqbool Fida. Husain, who has been on a self-imposed exile, living outside the country for four years after his controversial paintings of Hindu goddesses led to widespread protests, was recently conferred Qatari nationality which he gladly accepted but the ‘secular fundamentalists’ (like Mani Shankar Aiyer, who describes himself as such) are up in arms demanding that the Indian Government fall at his feet, seek apology and facilitate his return.
Undoubtedly, Hussain brought glory to the country, notwithstanding his eccentricities such as the fad for Madhuri Dikshit but so did K P S Gill, former Director General of Punjab Police, who was a one-man army which demolished the very foundations of militancy in Punjab. And certainly his contribution was much more than that of Hussain. Now one may wonder, why the comparison between the two?
While Gill was the supercop who fought and eliminated the Pak-sponsored militancy, putting his own life to grave risk, his indecent pass on fellow civil servant Rupan Deol Bajaj was most uncalled for, so was his undemocratic style of functioning as the chief of Hockey India.
Now, just because Gill did a good job in Punjab, one cannot overlook his other indiscretions.
The same holds true for Husain. Notwithstanding his ‘greatness’ as a painter (he made tons of money but has not made any worthwhile contribution either for the cause of promoting art or any other social cause), Husain did err in painting nude portraits of Hindu Goddesses. Let us accept it and not just overlook it just because he happens to be from the minority community who is “under attack from Hindu fundamentalists”.
India was the first country in the world (even before Islamic countries) to ban Salman Rushdie because he dared to describe the Prophet of Islam in uncharitable terms. If Rushdie’s case does not come under freedom of speech and expression, how can protests against Husain be termed as an assault on freedom of speech and expression?
Iran had pronounced a death sentence on Rushdie and several crores of rupees were put on the head of a Danish cartoonist who dared to draw a caricature of the Prophet. While as a liberal, democratic society, one may not agree with the extreme reactions of some of the faithful, one cannot but agree that in a pluralistic, multi-ethnic, multi-racial and multi-religious society such as ours, freedom of expression cannot include freedom to offend anyone’s religious sensibilities.
Take the case of exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen, who in her book ‘Lajja’ (shame) dwelt at length on the atrocities perpetrated on the Hindu minority in the neighbouring country, particularly on the women folk. Yet, she was abused and attacked within India by groups claiming that she had offended the sentiments of Muslims. Rightly or wrongly, event the then BJP Government in Rajasthan expressed inability to provide her protection and the author has now been granted a non-extendable visa for one year now, despite her repeated requests for Indian citizenship.
Fair enough. Even if she has exposed the plight of minorities in her country, if she has in the process insulted any religion, don’t give her sanctuary in this country. But why cry foul when there are protests against Husain? Is it that Hindu deities can be insulted in the name of freedom of speech and expression and any criticism of other religions is unacceptable?
Unfortunately that seems to be the case. Interestingly, even Muslim organisations and intellectuals have not shown any sympathy for Husain’s cause but our professional secularists don’t think so. It is the attitude of such people which have given birth and legitimacy to the likes of Pragya Thakur and Praveen Togadiya in an extremely tolerant and liberal society such as Hinduism.
This country has bestowed honours on Husain no end. The Government has repeatedly offered to provide him all possible security. And last but not the least, except for some protests, so-called Hindu extremists groups unlike their Jehadi counterparts do not have the wherewithal to physically harm him. At worst, he may face some protests and that is quite legitimate in a democratic country. Now even the so-called liberal champions of freedom of expression cannot demand that there should not be any protests at all to ensure that the great painter returns to his homeland. That would be curtailing the freedom of speech and expression of some citizens.
Moreover, the intelligentsia in this country has all along supported Husain yet if he quitely accepted the citizenship of Qatar over some protests back home, fingers should be pointed at him not us as Indians. It is not India that failed him. He failed India. Several countries have offered citizenship to many of our leading artists but they continue to be proud Indian passport holders though they may be spending more time in those countries.
Husain’s acceptance of Qatari citizenship is not just a commentary on his patriotic credentials but also his opportunistic persona. There are credible reports that the Qatar Government has offered him a 60 million dollar project for a museum. Now that was too attractive a proposition for the maverick artist. One is reminded of the recent statements of Shah Rukh Khan, a Pathan who has been loved to the hilt by Indian fans, purely aimed at promoting his film in Pakistan though he himself did not select a player for his own team from that country.
Our artistic fraternity, which has hardly anything to do with popular sentiments and live in ivory towers of their own, have always practiced double standards. Take the great Anjolie Ela Menon for instance. This lady described Husain’s Qatar escapade as a dark day in India’s history yet when questioned whether the artist was correct in accepting Qatari nationality said without battling an eyelid “You know, artists are like nomads. They don’t believe in the borders or barriers”. If that be the case, why this hullabaloo? If Mr Husain is not bothered about Indian citizenship, why on earth are we bothered about it?