Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Caricatures

13.God men: ( Their existence is proof of the gullibility of human beings )

Trade marks: Flowing beard, long mane or perpetually shaved head, Hindu religious mark on the forehead, loose shirt and dhoti, preferably ochre coloured or white. Wooden or leather sandals. Since public these days accept their luxurious living, can be seen traveling in upper end car or staying in luxury hotels, etc., In short he should stand apart in a crowd and more so while flying.

Functioning style: Rudimentary knowledge of magic, ability to speak for hours without dozing off, not getting ruffled when difficult or awkward questions are posed, ability to quote from scriptures of own religion, mildly ridiculing customs and practices of other religions, never quoting approvingly other religions, neatly side tracking issues, sati, child marriage, caste system, etc., never criticizing cum-patriots, i.e., other god men of same religion, etc.,

To be shunned in public: Smoking, drinking, eating non-vegetarian food, speaking in loud voice, making lewd remarks, ogling at female specie, making disparaging comments about other religions or comrades of the religion to which the God man belongs.



Private life: Safely guarded secret, more so in respect of matters related to income and wealth.

Essential requirements: A few acolytes, both Indian and foreigner, and followers of money bags variety / politicians / cine stars. Rudimentary knowledge of own religion and scriptures. At the same time able to quote from religious stories. Only superficial understanding of other religions which in essence means absolute ignorance of other religions. Occasional traveling abroad is a must. Having followers abroad increases the aura in the domestic turf.

Nom de plume: A new name like Swami Bhoga varjithanda. ( While the Godman selects his own acronym, he never says so in the public. It is the job of disciples to propagate the name. It is sort of safety belt. If any snoopy journalist questions him on the same, the Godman can shrug it off indicating that name is not important and in any case it is the name given by his followers).

Demeanour: Poor and wretched are suffering on account of their karma. My giving money to them by way of relief is going against their karma. Mingle with wretched only when there is a photographer around.

Summing up: Because of the gullibility of human beings, in the recent times this specie has been proliferating. And gauging by the mood of the public, it is safe to assume that there is opening for more such men.





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15.Male Chauvinist Pig ( MCP ) ( Forgive them, Oh, Lord, for they do not know who they are )
Both species unfortunately abound this wonderful earth. Most of my friends and relatives fall in both the categories, though they masquerade these traits and if I label them with these epithets, I would be subject to all type of name calling, if not physically abused. I am taking that risk in the name of truth.

MCP: ‘This has been the tradition, for eons this has been the position and the same has worked well, all follow this dictum, it has the stamp of approval of society and family and elders, that women accept their role happily and willingly, it has worked well for millennia, our sacred books have set out this pattern, our sages have said, etc., would be trotted out by those defending themselves against the label of MCP. Otherwise, we would also become decadent like the West. Look what happened to our friend’s family when the girl there was given full freedom, it will bring stigma to our family, boys would shun marrying her, parents of boys would not positively respond to our proposal, too much of freedom would go into her head, later her marriage will be on the rocks, etc.,

Man and woman are different, not merely in physical structure but psychologically also. There are assigned roles for both in the family and society. Breaking that delineation would be no good for the individual, family and society. In any case my wife and daughter are content with the current position. So why change it. So and so forth.’

Most of the sacred books have not said so. In any case one should not be surprised if this or that sage had said so because many of them were out and out MCPs.

‘ Equality in every respect between man / boy and woman / girl’ as a concept most of the people would agree, more so in these days, when they find that quietly woman / girl has upstaged MCPs. But they are wary. And hence they adopt all tricks of the trade to place obstacles in this approach further progressing. Divorce, revealing dress, late marriage, deciding to have children later or not at all having children, frequent change of jobs, having male friends, asserting their position and expressing their views candidly in the family conversation, occasional drinking / smoking, asserting independence, etc., are quoted to justify why they should be reigned. To the question why can’t woman / girl do whatever has been said above when man / boy can do it, sheepish and lame answers are adduced.

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