The Pushkarams phenomenon

The Pushkarams Phenomena


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/visakhapatnam/The-Pushkarams-phenomenon/articleshow/48129734.cms

The death of several devotees at a stampede at the Pushkar Ghat on the banks of the Godavari on the first day of the Pushkara earlier this week has left everyone shocked. There are two aspects to the disaster; (a) the failure of the administration to manage the crowds and (b) the way the crowd itself behaved leading up to the stampede. There is enough being said on how the administration did not anticipate the numbers of devotees, how standard crowd control systems were ignored and the role of VVIPs in this fiasco. It is never politically correct to speak ill of the victims but it is quite clear that the mindless surge of humanity intent on being at the precise place at the most auspicious time contributed to the tragedy.

Is timing everything?

Relevant to this issue is our belief in the notion of “most auspicious” moment. It is difficult to justify the concept of precise propitious moments in space and time. The world is so big with so many time zones that a precise time in Vizag could be so different in say Auckland. Does the Indian community in Auckland go by the Indian auspicious time in New Zealand? Our forefathers must have certainly identified specific dates for different occasions based on the movement of the sun, moon or weather conditions during the year. Auspicious dates may have been selected so as to not clash with other auspicious times so as to give the performing pujari a breather between occasions. Since we were almost entirely an agrarian society, the practical Brahmin avoided auspicious dates at a time when the farmer was super busy. Weddings a hundred years ago would have taken place in a village temple, or a field or under a tree when the farmer parents had money to spend. Now with climate controlled Kalyana Mandapams and urban professions you could have a wedding anytime. The point is that if seeing the crowds, the devotees decided to go away and come back later they would have avoided this appointment with tragedy.

When push comes to shove

We as a nation are pushers. We like to jostle and hustle and push to get ahead of the person in front of us. Even if the clerk at the reservation counter is doing his work quickly we believe that if you shove the person in front of us the line will magically move quicker. Then there are those who don’t stand behind you in a queue but alongside as if ready to overtake you when you are distracted. They do this in meal buffets, banks, supermarket cash counters you name it. While there is no major danger emanating from such behavior in normal circumstances things can go horribly wrong when the crowd starts acting like a herd and is in a state of hyper excitement. In fact all it needs is a few raised voices and some vigorous pushing by a few over enthusiastic people to set off a chain reaction leading to a catastrophe. Since 1954 around 2000 people have lost their lives at religious events due to stampedes.

It’s in our stars

The planet Jupiter is mentioned in connection with the Godavari Pushkara. It is believed that the occasion coincides with that planet, biggest in our solar system, being in the constellation Leo. In physical terms, how on earth a planet (even a big one) can impact earthlings is a big question. Before someone yells that it is all about gravity let us consider that Jupiter, even when it is nearest to the earth, is still 365 million kilometers away. Take for example an average 50kg devotee; the Earth on which he stands will exert a gravitational force of 500 Newton on him. The gravitational force of Jupiter on that same person will be equal to 0.00035 of the gravitational force of Earth. It’s like saying that a tennis ball in play at Wimbledon will somehow affect a batani tossed into a mouth on Vizag beach. Furthermore the stars forming the constellation against which we see Jupiter is billions of kilometers away from Jupiter and from each other. Constellations themselves are configuration of far off stars that form a shape in human minds. They were there billions of years before we came and will be there billions of years after the human species has vanished.

Of sins and ancestors

The reason of the holy Pushkara dip is to said to cleanse us of our past sins and to pray to our ancestors. The human tendency to sin and then ask forgiveness is wonderful. It puts us in a cycle of sin-atone-sin-atone-sin. It helps calm the mind knowing that you can always sin because we have a RESET option. Ancestor praying is good as it helps us remember those who came before us and pass on the information to the next generation. It is certainly important to pray to thata garu, who we ignored when he got sick and bed ridden, but left us 20 acres of land in the suburbs of Vizag, which we sold off in bits and got rich. The question is why can’t we simply stay home and do the same thing? After all God is everywhere. It is surprising that people’s beliefs are incompatible with other beliefs the same people have.

Understanding our surroundings

We must assume that human beings in our recent form have been on the surface of this planet for at least 100 thousand years and have achieved some understanding of the natural phenomena that surround us on our home planet. The constant movement of planets above, the position of the stars and the ebb and tide of nature has been around for many eons, it has been observed and cherished by generations. Keeping tradition alive is desirable but It is quite unthinkable that we should be still be enveloped in ritual, myth and hearsay instead of awe, appreciation and deep respect for something so wonderful.

Scientific temperament

We are on thin ice here. In the realm of faith no one likes to be doubted or questioned. However the propensity of hyping every festival, every ritual into a huge tamasha is growing by the day. Last year most of the idols being taken for immersion to the Vizag beach had “Macarena” and disco songs as accompaniments. Devotees screamed and howled in excitement all through the night. With increase in intensity of festivals gaining ground are we going down a path from where there is no return? We had great scientific minds in Bharat, where are the great minds now?  The more modern our country gets the more lemming like large sections of our population are becoming. The centre spent Rs. 1,642 crores of our tax money on the Pushkara. It would have been wonderful if a portion of the money went into a media campaign on responsible festivities and encouraging a modicum of scientific temperament suited for the 21^st century. There it has been said; I am wearing my helmet and ducking the brickbats.