Only Gods can help
When Ganesha plays civic role

By Meha Mathur
I had written a different piece for this column, but this morning, a spectacle in the office lift made me postpone that piece for a later issue, and write this piece afresh. The site of deities lined up along the boundary wall of a posh colony or the office gate or the stairs is already a common site in Indian cities now, but today, I saw Gods bless every nook of the lift. Big panels of Ganesha, Lakshmi and Mahadeva, these. Not to ward off evil, but to ward off filth. Filth, in the form of betel nut stains, and certain body fluids. So now, our building has Gods adorning the corridors, Gods adorning the stairs, and now, the lift. A religious centre, our building has become.

Does the divine inoculation work? Do these installations make the building filth-proof? Not really. I can still spot stains in the vicinity. One panel has Sai Baba blessing the world, and the ray of blessing falls directly on the stains. As if that is what he is blessing. And one of the most repulsive sites I have come across in recent months is that of a poor devotee on these stairs, resting his temple at the feet of Lord Ganesha, while the base of the wall was red with stains.

At one level, it leaves me angry even with those who install these deities. I might not be a devoted person, but I do associate religion with aesthetics. Those who built majestic temples to house the deities were perhaps moved by similar sentiments. And I have strong objection to the Gods being given a place of residence in such shady, filthy corners. God created a beautiful world. We spoilt it. We have no business to make him do our dirty job.

But perhaps that is not how most believers feel. Visit a pilgrimage and you will understand what I am saying. Open drainage, certain four-legged animals mingling with devotee queues, cow dung, the churning of water and flower petals under your feet, not my idea of devotion. But I am supposed to keep finger on my lips. ‘This is not what you say about a place of worship. You are supposed to ignore these things. You are there to worship, not to notice these external things,’ I am told. But how can I ignore these external factors? How can devotion come in such a squalour? And why should one take my remarks on the pilgrim centre, as anything to do with God? God did not create this mess!

This brings me back to the panels in the lift, and to the issue of hygiene in India. While we gasp with wonder at the majestic structures and beautiful landscapes adorning Western cities, we never pause for a moment before spitting, blowing and throwing in public. It’s a birth right that Indians have. Who cares for the concern for hygiene of others? Spoiling the façade of a public structure, or a public means of transport like Metro, actually gives a great high. It’s taken as a sign of empowerment. At the cost of being politically incorrect, yes, uneducated folks contribute the bulk of this sight, but are educated folks far behind? We do gasp at Eiffel Towers or the World Trade Centre, but do we realise, that it takes great effort to build beautiful things, and still more, to maintain it.

Why should things come to such a point, that not even a Gandhi act in Lage Raho Munnabhai can send across the message to the evil-doers, that finally Gods have to come to our rescue? Even as we clamour for more rights, more freedom and more consumer goods, why ignore the duty? The duty to facilitate better surroundings for ourselves and others, and in that process, a higher living standard?