With the pace life has taken in general, not taking into account a city like Mumbai, fastracking has become a way of life. Whether with online banking, home delivery of everything from groceries to pizzas to medicines, we are increasingly finding ways to save time and effort. In a city like Mumbai, every moment saved is celebrated with a sigh of satisfaction. Whether it is catching a fast train instead of a slow one, the bus reaching faster than expected—a rare feat, considering the jam-packed traffic scenario in peak hours—or finding the exact thing you are looking at first go; if a Mumbaikar manages to save even half an hour of a tightly-packed day, he will be happy to call it a good day. The essence of time is nowhere as stressed as it is in Mumbai. And while fastracking is a good option for spending that extra time with family or for pursuing a hobby, somewhere, a line has to be drawn. I felt we have gone too far with saving time when I went to the Siddhivinayak temple with my family recently.
Siddhivinayak is known for its numerous devotees. From celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar to the lowest strata of society, the Ganesha at Siddhivinayak boasts of a wide range of people as its devotees.
The patient devotees
These devotees range from the lower class to the middle class, who might be coming here each week. They wait in the mile-long snake-like line, which takes hours to reach the inside of the temple. This is the commoner’s line, for those who have lots of time and patience (and little or no money, I might add!). Couples with new-born babies, regular visitors every Thursday-Friday, senior citizens, etc. make up this crowd of devotees.
The privileged ones
This line is a bit shorter, mostly due to the Rs 50 charge taken for the apparently quicker way to get in. This is for people who run on a tightly packed schedule and have to search their very souls to dredge up the patience to wait in a long line. Not surprisingly, they have the resources and do not mind shelling out money to get to the God quickly and avoid spending hours waiting for a peek at God. This section obviously includes the upper middle class, NRIs, tourists in a hurry and teenagers who are running late for their lunch date with friends. You also get to see newly-weds with an oh-so-decked up bride (I wouldn’t be caught dead in so many accessories in a wedding, let alone a visit to the temple! However, I digress…) The point here is an actual charge for getting to the God. If you find it reasonable, you may be the seasoned Mumbaikar I talked about before.
The iconic ones
And then there are the ones who are up there, very close to God in the eyes of us mortals. The likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Amitabh Bhachhan define this category. The world needs to be stopped for these icons, temples included. This was evident when some celebrity chose to pay his respects to Siddhivinayak on the day of our visit, and the lines elongated even farther. The screens showing the God outside the temple were switched off temporarily while the celebrity was being ‘blessed’.
Siddhivinayak is only a small example. The payment phenomenon is fast catching up in popular temples in other parts of the world, like Thirupathi. Typically, if you are willing to shell out 5 crisp notes of Rs 1000, you can cut your waiting period from 3 days to 6 hours in Thirupathi. The money factor entering the religious places of India is a telling sign of either the close proximity of rich people to God or the increasing commercialisation of devotion. If paying a charge gets me even an inch closer to having my prayers heard, I would be glad to pay Rs 10,000 for ‘darshan’. However, this is not the case. And I am afraid that if this goes on for long, temples will become a completely commercial venture, with entry fee et al. Even if this enables saving of time, I think this is the wrong kind of progress for us.
PS: In the visit that triggered this post, my family and I were in the Rs 50 line for—you guessed it right—saving time.
Siddhivinayak is known for its numerous devotees. From celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar to the lowest strata of society, the Ganesha at Siddhivinayak boasts of a wide range of people as its devotees.
The patient devotees
These devotees range from the lower class to the middle class, who might be coming here each week. They wait in the mile-long snake-like line, which takes hours to reach the inside of the temple. This is the commoner’s line, for those who have lots of time and patience (and little or no money, I might add!). Couples with new-born babies, regular visitors every Thursday-Friday, senior citizens, etc. make up this crowd of devotees.
The privileged ones
This line is a bit shorter, mostly due to the Rs 50 charge taken for the apparently quicker way to get in. This is for people who run on a tightly packed schedule and have to search their very souls to dredge up the patience to wait in a long line. Not surprisingly, they have the resources and do not mind shelling out money to get to the God quickly and avoid spending hours waiting for a peek at God. This section obviously includes the upper middle class, NRIs, tourists in a hurry and teenagers who are running late for their lunch date with friends. You also get to see newly-weds with an oh-so-decked up bride (I wouldn’t be caught dead in so many accessories in a wedding, let alone a visit to the temple! However, I digress…) The point here is an actual charge for getting to the God. If you find it reasonable, you may be the seasoned Mumbaikar I talked about before.
The iconic ones
And then there are the ones who are up there, very close to God in the eyes of us mortals. The likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Amitabh Bhachhan define this category. The world needs to be stopped for these icons, temples included. This was evident when some celebrity chose to pay his respects to Siddhivinayak on the day of our visit, and the lines elongated even farther. The screens showing the God outside the temple were switched off temporarily while the celebrity was being ‘blessed’.
Siddhivinayak is only a small example. The payment phenomenon is fast catching up in popular temples in other parts of the world, like Thirupathi. Typically, if you are willing to shell out 5 crisp notes of Rs 1000, you can cut your waiting period from 3 days to 6 hours in Thirupathi. The money factor entering the religious places of India is a telling sign of either the close proximity of rich people to God or the increasing commercialisation of devotion. If paying a charge gets me even an inch closer to having my prayers heard, I would be glad to pay Rs 10,000 for ‘darshan’. However, this is not the case. And I am afraid that if this goes on for long, temples will become a completely commercial venture, with entry fee et al. Even if this enables saving of time, I think this is the wrong kind of progress for us.
PS: In the visit that triggered this post, my family and I were in the Rs 50 line for—you guessed it right—saving time.
My heartfelt congratulations on finally launching the much awaited "musings of a demented mind" :P Ladies and gentlemen, a toast. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteConsidering how "bitter" I can get, won't go on to comment on how commercialised religion as a whole has become. However, I don't really blame people in trying to save time in whatever way they can. Come on, do you seriously think that pest up there (pardon my blasphemy) gives a rat's ass (pardon my language as well) as to who is going to the temple and who is not, least of all HOW they are getting the much hyped darshan?! I don't really think so! The only reason people get into that 50 rupee queue is because they can. I do not see the point of toiling in the heat and going through endless misery just to snatch a peak. But yes, I do hate it when the so called icons hog all the attention and inconvenience the others who have traveled a decent distance to get their fair share.
Coming back to the point of the post, I agree, we are little lab rats trying to find that shortest and fastest possible route through life, never realising what it is we're saving time for, coz we just keep saving, and never really spending.
I love to disagree, get used to it.
- He Who Was, Is And Never Shall Be Anything Less Than God Himself
thenks... although i feel it could have been much better... but come to think of it, what couldn't? :)
ReplyDeletethe arguments you've given point to a true mumbaikar, like i have written about, for whom shelling out money for saving time seems totally worth it. however, when it comes to religion, i feel we have crossed a line somewhere.
".... never realising what it is we're saving time for, coz we just keep saving, and never really spending..." hmmmm that can make a whole new blogpost, i think :P
Don't you dare call me a Mumbaikar! :P And I didn't shell out the money any of the 7 times I went to Siddhivinayak! I reiterate, its a matter of convenience and I personally think religion does not deem any preferential treatment. Its become routine for mankind to visit a place of worship, so why should it figure otherwise in the larger scheme of things? You save time elsewhere, you'd do it here as well.
ReplyDeleteAnd seriously, would you wait 2 whole days in a queue at Tirupati?
Plus I'm an agnostic, what do I care. :)
i dunno.. a place of worship is a bit different from routine stuff, don't you think? i treat it a bit differently, i dunno about others though...
ReplyDeletesee, the thing is, i m not even that religious... i rarely visit temples, much to the disapproval of my mom... however, if i m not ready to wait 2 days at tirupati, i wouldn't go there in the first place... paying money just seems wrong.. but again, that's just my perspective.. :)