Near God, yet so far

LIFESTYLES HAVE changed in Chennai over the years. Visiting temples on all festival and auspicious days has become a must as it was in the earlier years.

If you do not follow this practice religiously, you will be looked down upon, dubbed unrighteous for not cleansing off the sins and may be even labelled blasphemous.

Can visiting temples help attain salvation? Is it only a farce?

A temple is a generalised term for any place of worship, but temples today have ceased to be that and have become anything but a place for meditation, prayers and self-introspection.

On special occasions, the crowd of devotees literally breathe down your neck making you feel unclean and breathless. Can you be religious in such an atmosphere?

Standing in the crowd you realise that the lady looking over your head, standing on the tip of her toes like a ballet dancer is not only trying to get a glimpse of the Almighty but can't stop admiring the diamond earring that another lady standing nearby has on her ears.

The designs and patterns of the ornaments are discussed more than in any jeweller's shop. Saris too come in for introspection and comparison - who's the brightest of them all!

You wonder whether the temple is a fashion centre to know of the latest trends? Or is it a gossip square or a marriage bureau?

Meanwhile, the ladies behind are engrossed in talking about Lalitha mami's daughter, who you learn is going around with a Muslim boy. Or did you hear that Sethu mama's son is coming from the US to choose an Indian bride to suit his anglicised taste. It is announced that he also owns a house.

For the senior citizens harassed at home by their daughters-in- law, this is a sacred platform to narrate their sob stories. In the midst of all these, you have to be pushy enough to push your way through for a good darshanam.

Suddenly, you realise that a heavy-weight woman is actually standing on your feet, no, not for the prasadam, but just to wave out to her friend.

Then from the blue arrives a special (or wealthy) devotee with his entire family, who gets a privileged darshanam. Is it not that all are equal in the eyes of the God? You see the sastrigal mama pampering him with extra prasadam, vibhuti, flowers, coconut and also a plastic bag to carry them home.

Finally, you brave it and inch forward at snail's pace to stand before the Almighty and by the time you are totally exhausted.

Realisation then dawns on you that you cannot imprison God in a temple. He resides everywhere - in every human. The musk deer, it is said goes around the forest to find out from where the intoxicating perfume is coming from, blissfully unaware that the perfume is emanating from its navel.

We humans, like the musk deer, go in a futile search of Him in the temple when there is a spark of divinity in each one of us.

You can see God in every act of kindness. Is it not true then that sometimes the closer you are to the temple..... the farther you are from God?

THARA MOHAN RAO

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