Baba Ji Ki Jai Ho

Recently I stumbled upon the video of a Samagam (a congreggation) of some random baba while flipping through the channels. I would refrain from divulging the name of the great soul for obvious reasons.

He sat on an enormous couch decorated with a profusion of flowers, big enough to accomodate a "ham do hamare do" kind of family. In front of him was a beeline of followers who took turns to narrate how the baba's miraculous powers rescued them from the pangs of misery and despair. The baba reciprocated by raising his hands to bless them. The followers responded by bowing in gratitude.

On many ocassions the Baba just blessed without even uttering a word. The funny part was when he started speaking to his followers. He offered them unique prescriptions to get rid of their problems. A poor guy admitted to having made an offering of 100 bucks at some sacred shrine but his problems still persisted. To this the Baba's answer was that 100 bucks was a much meagre amount to expect any blessings which would make any difference. Therefore the Baba suggested the poor soul to make a commensurate offering if he wanted an end to his recurring problems.

To the uninitiated, the interest with which I watched this phoney show would give them the impression that I am a religious person, which for the record I am not. As a matter of fact I watched the programme as I was on a lookout for some comedy show but none was being aired at that moment. I am not suggesting that these programmes can act as a substitute to comedy shows, but seriously, they do come very close.

But the question remains whether God is really impressed by someone vulgarly flaunting their wealth and whether God really feels obliged to reciprocate. This is something to be left to a person's subjective judgement as it concerns one's faith. But there is indeed need for some unbiased introspection. After all there isn't any rocket science in all this.